Manufacturing for export, ship construction and repair, and tourism are Malta’s chief industries. Major manufactures include processed food and beverages, textiles and clothing, furniture and wood products, printing and publishing, tobacco products, transportation equipment (especially ships), machinery, rubber and plastic goods, and chemicals. Tourism is increasingly important; the country had 1.2 million visitors in 1999. Shipping-related industries are vital to Malta’s economy. These industries include shipbuilding facilities, naval construction and repair facilities, and transshipment centers.

Economic plans professed to build on a tripod basis of industry, agriculture, and tourism. In fact, however, industrial growth lagged behind these plans, resulting in the successful establishment of only a few multinational corporations (mainly producing textiles). From 1971 the government increasingly took over weak enterprises, sometimes closing them. Since 1987 new development has concentrated on manufacture of industrial components, including computer parts, instruments, and other high-tech goods, as well as a large variety of consumer products (toys, cosmetics, detergents, processed foods) and more traditional goods such as lace, silver filigree, pottery, glassware, and canework. Foreign investment in manufacturing is encouraged and facilitated by the Malta Development Corporation.

Major resources are limestone, a favorable geographic location, and a productive labor force. Malta produces only about 20% of its food needs, has limited freshwater supplies, and has no domestic energy sources. The economy is dependent on foreign trade, manufacturing (especially electronics and textiles), and tourism. Malta is privatizing state-controlled firms and liberalizing markets in order to prepare for membership in the European Union. However, the island is divided politically over the question of joining the EU. The sizable budget deficit remains a key concern.