The gender gap
Who builds Malta?
Summary
Only 15% of planning applicants are women — and the share has only risen from 12% (2000) to 23% (2022) over two decades. Yet female applicants get approved at 88.1% compared to 84.1% for men. The built environment is overwhelmingly shaped by male applicants, and women apply for different types of work: more alterations and pools, fewer garages and apartments.
Key findings
Female applicants over time
| Year | Male | Female | Female % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 5,636 | 741 | 11.6% |
| 2005 | 6,355 | 1,039 | 14.1% |
| 2010 | 4,039 | 714 | 15.0% |
| 2015 | 3,702 | 774 | 17.3% |
| 2017 | 7,312 | 1,679 | 18.7% |
| 2020 | 5,808 | 1,593 | 21.5% |
| 2022 | 4,480 | 1,308 | 22.6% |
The female share has nearly doubled, but still represents less than a quarter of individual applicants. The remaining ~30% of applications come from companies and entities without gendered prefixes.
Approval rates by gender
| Applicant type | Applications | Approval rate |
|---|---|---|
| Female (Ms/Mrs) | 27,613 | 88.1% |
| Male (Mr) | 159,123 | 84.1% |
| Other/Company | 46,286 | 92.0% |
Women get approved 4 percentage points higher than men. This may partly reflect the types of projects they apply for — more alterations (lower-risk), fewer speculative developments.
What women and men apply for
| Project type | Female | Male |
|---|---|---|
| Alterations | 34.4% | 26.8% |
| Garage | 22.6% | 27.8% |
| Sanctioning | 20.3% | 17.8% |
| Apartments | 8.2% | 9.5% |
| Demolition | 6.3% | 6.6% |
| Pool | 6.1% | 4.9% |
Women apply proportionally more for alterations (+8 points), pools (+1.2 points) and sanctioning (+2.5 points). Men apply more for garages (+5 points) and apartments (+1.3 points).
The pattern suggests women are more likely to modify existing properties while men are more likely to build new ones — though both patterns exist across genders.
The 6:1 ratio
Over the full dataset: 159,123 male applicants vs 27,613 female applicants — a ratio of nearly 6:1. In a country where women make up 51% of the population, they file only 15% of planning applications. Property development in Malta is overwhelmingly a male domain.
Note on architect gender
The database recorded architect gender (via "Perit Mr/Ms" prefixes) only until ~2010, when the format changed to omit gender prefixes. In the 2000–2010 period:
- Female architects: ~1,362 cases (just 3% of gendered architect entries)
- Male architects: ~45,201 cases
The architectural profession was even more male-dominated than the applicant pool. Post-2010 data cannot distinguish gender as the prefix was dropped.
Why this matters
Planning applications are a proxy for who shapes the physical environment. Malta's 6:1 male-to-female applicant ratio reflects deeper patterns of property ownership, investment, and decision-making. While the gap is narrowing (from 12% to 23% female over two decades), it remains substantial. The different project profiles — women modifying, men building new — may also reflect different relationships with property: inheritance vs. speculation, maintenance vs. development.