Immigration to Malta has increased significantly over the past decade. In 2011, immigration contributed to 4.9% of the total population of the Maltese islands in 2011, i.e. 20,289 persons of non-Maltese citizenship, of whom 643 were born in Malta. In 2011, most of migrants in Malta were EU citizens (12,215 or 60.2 per cent), predominantly from the United Kingdom (6,652 persons).[citation needed] 
 By the beginning of 2021, figures released by Malta's National Statistics Office showed that 20% of Maltese residents, or 103,718 people were foreigners. According to Malta's national employment agency, 70,402 of these non Maltese nationals were employed. Workers from EU countries made up 44% of the employed foreigners resident in Malta, while non-EU nationals represented 56% of Malta's foreign workforce. As of September 2021, foreign workers made up 27.9% of Malta's total workforce. The top employer for these foreign workers is the gambling and betting sector, which in Malta is made up of 58.6% of non-Maltese nationals. 
 Demographically, non-Maltese residents in Malta are predominantly males (52.5%) and younger than average (40.6 years of average age).[citation needed]
 As of the end of 2020, the most popular location for foreigners to live in Malta was St Paul's Bay, where non-Maltese nationals made up 52% of the population. Sliema also has a substantial foreign population, with 43% of residents holding foreign passports as of the end of 2020.
 The current Maltese people, characterised by the use of the Maltese language and by Roman Catholicism, is the descendant - through much mixing and hybridation via different waves of immigration - of the Siculo-Arabic colonists who repopulated the Maltese islands in the beginning of the second millennium after a two-century lapse of depopulation that followed the Arab conquest by the Aghlabids in AD 870.
A genetic study by Capelli et al. indicates that Malta was barely inhabited at the turn of the tenth century and was likely to have been repopulated by settlers from Sicily and Calabria who spoke Siculo-Arabic, the progenitor of modern Maltese.
This is consistent with linguistic finding of no further sub-stratas beyond Arabic in the Maltese language, a very rare occurrence which may only be explained by a drastic lapse. Previous inhabitants of the islands - Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines - did not leave any traces, as all nameplaces were lost and replaced.  Modern historiography thus contest the traditional "Christian continuity thesis", positing instead a period of total depopulation of Malta at the end of the late antiquity.
 The Maltese islands remained largely Muslim-inhabited long after the end of Arab rule. The Arab administration was also kept in place and Muslims were allowed to practise their religion freely until the 13th century. 
As a result of this favourable environment, Muslims continued to demographically and economically dominate Malta for at least another 150 years after the Christian conquest.
 Between 1194 and 1530, the Kingdom of Sicily ruled the Maltese islands and a process of full latinisation started in Malta. The conquest of the Normans would lead to the gradual Romanization and Latinization of the Siculo-Arabic Muslim population of Malta, and the subsequent firm establishment of Roman Catholicism. 
Until 1224, however, there remained a strong Muslim segment of society. By the end of the 15th century all Maltese Muslims would be forced to convert to Christianity and had to find ways to disguise their previous identities by Latinizing or adopting new surnames.
 After the Norman conquest, the population of the Maltese islands kept growing mainly through immigration from the north (Sicily and Italy), with the exile to Malta of the entire male population of the town of Celano (Italy) in 1223 (though most of them returned home few years later), the stationing of a Norman (Swabian) and Sicilian garrison on Malta in 1240, the arrival of several thousands Aragonese soldiers in 1283 to 1425, and the settlement in Malta of noble families from Sicily and the Crown of Aragon between 1372 and 1450. As a consequence of this, Capelli et al. found in 2005 that "the contemporary males of Malta most likely originated from Southern Italy, including Sicily and up to Calabria."
 Malta was then ruled by the Order of Saint John as a vassal state of the Kingdom of Sicily from 1530 to 1798. For the next 275 years, these famous "Knights of Malta" made the island their domain and made the Italian language official. The members of the Order came from the various noble families of Europe, thus providing Malta with a steady influx of affluent immigrants.
Together with the Knights, in 1530, 400 (or up to several thousands according to other sources) Rhodian sailors, soldiers and slaves moved to Malta, possibly bringing along the few Byzantine words in Maltese language. Further immigration of several thousand Greek-rite Christians from Sicily in 1551 and again in 1566 may also have helped.
 The 19th and first half of the 20th century were for Malta marked by membership in the British Empire. Its excellent harbours became a prized asset for the British, especially after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. The island became a military and naval fortress, the headquarters of the British Mediterranean fleet, with some 22,000 British servicemen posted in Malta from 1807 to 1979, as well as other British and Irish that settled in Malta over the decades.
The islands also saw a steady influx of labourers from the other parts of the Empire, such as Indian textile traders from Sindh (see: Indians in Malta). 
In the same period, the learned class of Maltese society often identified with the Italians, particularly from the late 19th century Risorgimento period up to the Second World War (see: Italian irredentism in Malta). Up to 891 Italian exiles also sought refuge in Malta in the late 19th century.
 At the same time, overpopulation and poverty pushed the Maltese to emigrate well into the 1960s and 70s, particularly to other British colonies such as Australia, South Africa, Canada and Egypt, but also to Great Britain, Gibraltar, Corfu and the United States.
 The late 20th century saw the independence of Malta. Since this period, retired British servicemen and their families constitute the greatest part of foreign residents in Malta. 
Since 1959, Malta's British governor started to pursue a plan of economic development based on promoting tourism and tax competition, particularly offering very low tax rates on pensions, royalties and dividends to attract retired British settlers (referred to as ‘sixpenny settlers’) from other former colonies of the Empire. Malta saw a large influx of Britons from Rhodesia after 1967.
 Closer links to Qaddafi's Libya since the 1970s saw a growth of Libyans in Malta, while around 800 Ugandan Indians were resettled in Malta after they had been expelled by Idi Amin in 1972. In the early 1990s Malta was a first stop for refugees from Iraq and Kuwait during the first Gulf War, later often resettled to North America. Landing of Sub-Saharan asylum seekers grew from 2001 onwards, particularly of citizens of Somalia, Nigeria, Eritrea
 Membership of the European Union in 2004 led to the growth of a community of Maltese in Belgium, while skilled workers from other EU (Italy, Bulgaria, Germany, Sweden) and non-EU countries (Serbia, Pakistan) moved to Malta to contribute to the growing industries, from construction to hotel services, banking and ICT. Malta's EU accession also prompted a renewed public discussion about Maltese identity and its role of bridge between Europe and the Mediterranean. As noted by Schembri in 2004, the Maltese tended to stress their belonging to Europe as a way of distinguishing themselves from North Africans, and the public debate on immigration has reflected entrenched xenophobic stereotypes. The public attitudes of the Maltese towards both North Africans and Sub-Saharan Africans - including refugees and asylum seekers - have worsened over time, paralleled by the government's strict detention policies for irregular migrants.
 Among the main immigrant communities in Malta:
 Immigration to Malta is mainly regulated by the Immigration Act and by the Asylum Act. The Immigration Act, passed in 1970, was reformed in the run-up to Malta's EU accession, in 2000 and 2002, in order to align it with the EU acquis. Maltese law maintains a rigid protectionist approach to labour migration. A Work Permit Scheme permits immigrants to reside and work in the country for a certain period of time, if their skills are absent locally or in short supply. Permits are issued by the Department for Citizenship and Expatriate Affairs. Applications are examined by a cross-governmental board in a process taking three to four months. Permits are usually yearly and can be renovated; applications for renewal should be submitted five months in advance. Foreign investors holding substantial shares in the manufacturing or financial services can apply for indefinite-time permits of stay. 
 Work permits holders in Malta were 2,928 in 2003, of which 813 women. Most of them were issued to British citizens (387), then to "Yugoslavs"(306), Chinese (232), Indians (166), Bulgarians (146), Italians (143), Libyans (141).
 The number of residence and work permits delivered by the Maltese authorities has steadily grown since, in particular under the Labour governments since 2013, from 653 in 2014 to 32,106 in 2021, with an average of 17,000 and a cumulative total of 134,324 in the 2014-2021 period.
 At the 2005 census, the non-Maltese population numbered 12,112 (3.0% of the total population). It grew to 20,289 (4.9%) at the 2011 census, and to 115,449 (22.2%) at the 2021 census. 
 Of these, in 2005 people with British (4,713), Italian (585), German (518) and Libyan (493) citizenship were most common.
 In 2011, the main foreign place of birth of residents in Malta included the United Kingdom (10,480) and other former British colonies like Canada (1,766) and Australia (4,354), as well as Italy (1,511), USA (1,246), Somalia (1,003) and Germany (951). 
 In 2021, the main communities included residents born in the UK (15,082), Italy (13,361), India (7,946), the Philippines (7,784) and Serbia (5,935).
 The citizenship of resident foreign nationals is shown below: 
 The most common foreign places of birth for all residents are shown below:
 As an EU member state and a party to the Schengen Agreement, Malta applies the EU's visa policy. This means that to enter the country:
 Historically Malta gave refuge (and assisted in their resettlement) to eight hundred or so East African Asians who had been expelled from Uganda by Idi Amin and to just under a thousand Iraqis fleeing Saddam Hussein's regime.
In 1990–1991, Malta hosted a number of Iraqi asylum-seekers, that were later resettled elsewhere, especially in North America.
 A Refugee Act was passed in Malta only in 2001, replacing the Catholic Church-based Emigrant Commission, which had till then partnered with UNHCR. The Refugee Act implement Malta's obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, establishing a Refugee Commission (REFCOM). In its first year of implementation, the Commission had to deal with 1,680 asylum seekers who reached Malta by boat in 2002. Persons who are recognised asylum or humanitarian protection are issued a residence permit and, upon request, a work permit.
 As from 2001, Malta has received a high number of landings of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, many of whom were entitled to international protection. 2006 and 2007 saw about 1800 arriving each year. Landings included 1173 people in 2009, 28 in 2010, 1577 in 2011, 2023 in 2012, and 741 up to mid July 2013. Most of such persons were then resettled elsewhere in Europe or North America.
Around 45% of immigrants landed in Malta have been granted refugee (5%) or protected humanitarian status (40%). A White Paper suggesting the grant of Maltese citizenship to refugees resident in Malta for over ten years was issued in 2005.
 Between 2008 and 2012 Malta received, on average, the highest number of asylum seekers compared to its national population: 21.7 applicants per 1,000 inhabitants. In 2011, most of these asylum applications were submitted by nationals of Somalia, Nigeria, Eritrea and Syria. In 2012, more than half of the requests were by Somalian nationals alone. During this period, Malta was criticized for its reception of asylum seekers, particularly those who were accommodated in open and closed reception centres (often referred to as "detention centers").
 As a member of the European Union and of the Schengen agreement, Malta is bound by the Dublin Regulation to process all claims for asylum by those asylum seekers that enter EU territory for the first time in Malta.
 Since the late 20th century, Malta has become a transit country for migration routes from Africa towards Europe.
The estimated net inflow (using data for 2002 to 2004) was of 1,913 persons yearly. Over the last 10 years, Malta accepted back a yearly average of 425 returning emigrants.
During 2006, 1,800 irregular migrants reached Malta making the crossing from the North African coast. Most of them intended to reach mainland Europe and happened to come to Malta due to their sub-standard vessels breaking down or being caught by Maltese and other EU officials. In the first half of 2006, 967 irregular immigrants arrived in Malta – almost double the 473 who arrived in the same period in 2005. Many immigrants have perished in the journey across the Mediterranean, with one notable incident being the May 2007 Malta migrant boat disaster. Since that time, there have been several additional boat sinkings, and only as recently as April 2015, some 700 immigrants perished en route to Italy when their boat capsized. During 2014 alone, approximately 3,500 migrants drowned in their attempt to reach Europe.
 Very few migrants arrived in Malta in 2015, despite the fact that the rest of Europe was experiencing an acute migrant crisis during that period. Most migrants who were rescued between Libya and Malta were taken to Italy, and some refused to be brought to Malta.
 Malta has in the past considered adopting a push-back policy towards approaching migrants, pushing their boats back to Libya. Such a policy, contrary to international law and the principle of non-refoulement, has been condemned by the European Court of Human Rights in a case against Italy, as it does not allow prospective asylum seekers to file their claims for international protection.
 Irregular migrants (formal Maltese: immigranti irregolari, informal: klandestini) who land in Malta are subject to a compulsory detention policy, being held in several camps organised by the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM), including those near Ħal Far and Ħal Safi. The compulsory detention policy has been denounced by several NGOs, and in July 2010, the European Court of Human Rights found that Malta's detention of migrants was arbitrary, lacking in adequate procedures to challenge detention, and in breach of its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Detention costs for the first half of 2006 cost €746,385.
 In 2005, Malta sought EU aid in relation to reception of irregular immigrants, repatriation of those denied refugee status, resettlement of refugees into EU countries and maritime security. 
In December 2005, the European Council adopted The Global Approach to Migration: Priority Actions focusing on Africa and the Mediterranean; but the deployment of said actions has been limited to the western Mediterranean, thus putting further pressure on the Central Mediterranean route for irregular immigration of which Malta forms a part.[citation needed]
 On September 7, 2020, Amnesty International alleged that the Government of Malta used "illegal tactics” against immigrants for dealing with the arrival of refugees from the sea. Under these escalation of tactics Maltese authorities may have involved criminal acts being committed, resulting in avoidable deaths, prolonged arbitrary detention and illegal returns to war-torn Libya. The criticism came after an incident in July 2020 where Maltese authorities took 33 hours to mount a rescue mission after receiving a distress call from a dinghy carrying 95 migrants from Eritrea.
 In January 2014 Malta started granting citizenship for a €650,000 contribution plus investments, contingent on residence and criminal background requirements, under the Individual Investor Programme.
Henley & Partners was originally appointed as sole agent for managing the policy, but the Muscat government later opened the scheme to Maltese firms too. The procedure is managed formally by the governmental agency Identity Malta.
 The number and background of persons granted Maltese citizenship based on investment is unknown, as the Maltese government does not publish such data. Malta's Data Protection Commissioner confirmed that the publication of the number of passport buyers and their country of origin “may prejudice relations with a number of the countries of origin” and that revealing the agencies that handled their application “could reasonably be expected to prejudice commercial interests and, ultimately, the competitiveness of approved agents as it would reveal commercially-sensitive information”.
 The list of persons who were naturalised Maltese in the year 2015 includes over 900 names (listed by first name) without indication of previous/second citizenships and of reasons for naturalisation.  This was criticised as not transparent enough. Many of the names are typical Arab, Russian, and Chinese names. 
Most "investors" are understood to be interested in acquiring Maltese citizenship only as a tool to exploit EU citizenship rights and reside elsewhere in the Union, including the UK. The European Parliament had objected to the programme as a sell-out of EU citizenship.
 The income from Malta's passport sale amounted to €163.5 million in 2016. Of this, 70% is deposited in the National Development and Social Fund (NDSF), which was set up in July 2016 for general use by the government of Malta.
 Immigration to Malta grew significantly from 2005 to 2011, though remaining marginal overall (from 3% to 5% of the total population). The impact of immigration was also geographically diversified. Urban centres in the Northern Harbour where immigrant presence was already relevant saw a growth (2,095 residents in Sliema, from 10% to 15%; Gzira from 6 to 10%) while other areas quickly turned into immigrant residence areas (1,172 residents in St Julian's, from 1% to 14.5%). The Southern Harbour area was less affected, though immigrant population also grew, particularly in Paola (from 1% to 4.8%), Vittoriosa (from 1.5% to 3.3%), Valletta (from 1.8% to 3.1%), Marsa (from 1.5% to 3%), and Floriana (from 1.8% to 3%). In the South, Birżebbuġa saw non-Maltese population swell from 3% to 19% (1,986 residents). In the north, St Paul's Bay remains the area with the highest absolute number of non-Maltese resident (3,023, or 18.5%).
 The 2011-2021 decade saw the number of foreigners in Malta increase five times, from 20,289 to 115,449, i.e. from 4.9% to 22.2% of the total population of the islands. Almost half of the foreign population lives in the Norther Harbour area (52,420 persons), where in certain localities foreign residents now outnumber (Msida, Gżira) or almost equalise (Sliema, St. Julian's) Maltese citizens. In the north, St. Paul's Bay has doubled its population in a decade, becoming Malta's most populous locality with 32,042 residents, of which over half are foreign citizens.