Italy vs Malta
Italy is ahead on safety, cost of living, housing. Malta is ahead on language, infrastructure. Full criterion-by-criterion data below.
VerifiedUpdated
Scoreboard
The key numbers head-to-head — the stronger side is marked. The overall score stays decoration; what matters is which facts fit you.
Headline result
Malta leads on 3 of 6
Italy
2
Malta
3
ISTAT — Spese per consumi delle famiglie, Anno 2024 (Prospetto 4, tavole allegate)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- ISTAT household budget survey 2024: average monthly household spending €2,755.09, of which imputed rent (affitti figurativi) €617.39 → monetary spending €2,137.70. Actual rentals removed using Italy's 2025 HICP weight for COICOP 04.1 (29.51 per 1,000 = 2.951%, Eurostat prc_hicp_inw) = €63.08 → €2,074.62 excluding all rent. Divided by the average household size of 2.2 (Eurostat ilc_lvph01) = €943.01 per person per month; uplifted by HICP annual averages 2024→2025 (122.3 → 124.3, ×1.0164) = €958.43; converted at 1 EUR = 1.1399 USD (ECB, 2026-07-02) → $1,093.
- Notes
- Per-capita basis, to match how Spain, Czechia, Austria and France are computed in this dataset. ISTAT also publishes the real single-person household basket, which is what a solo mover actually faces: €1,931.70/month total, €1,347.48 after removing imputed and actual rent — about $1,561/month on the same uplift and FX. A person living alone has no household economies of scale, so read the $1,093 as the comparable cross-country figure and the $1,561 as the realistic personal one. No extrapolation into 2026 was applied beyond the 2025 annual average.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Method
- One-adult households spent PPS 13,633 a year in Malta's 2020 Household Budget Survey; at the survey's own euro-to-PPS ratio (€23,770 against PPS 26,528 for the average household) that is €12,216. Uplifted by Malta's HICP from the 2020 to the 2025 annual average (106.37 → 125.90, ×1.1836) and divided by 12: €1,205 a month, × 1.1206 USD/EUR (ECB, 2026-10-09) = $1,350. Actual rentals, 5.4% of a single adult's spending in the survey, are removed (imputed rent is not part of Malta's HBS), and the remaining COICOP divisions are summed from cost-breakdown.
- Notes
- Malta's latest Household Budget Survey is the 2020 wave, so the basket reflects a pandemic year, when spending on restaurants, travel and recreation was depressed; the inflation uplift corrects prices, not that pattern, so the figure is more likely low than high. A one-adult household in the survey includes pensioners as well as working people.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 revenue for an IT freelancer = it-forfettario-it-67. Taxable base 67% × 60,000 = 40,200 (ATECO group 9 coefficient; expenses never reduce the base). INPS Gestione Separata 26.07% = 10,480.14, deducted from the forfeitary income → 29,719.86. Imposta sostitutiva 15% = 4,457.98. Levies 14,938.12 → 24.9%. The first five years of a new activity run at 5% instead (19.9%); the ordinary IRPEF route on the same profile is near 41%.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Method
- Scheme mt-self-employed-standard at €60,000 revenue with 10% deductible expenses (net profit €54,000): Class 2 social security at its 2026 cap, €83.89 × 52 = €4,362.28; income tax at the single rates, 54,000 × 25% − 3,400 = €10,100. Levies €14,462.28 → 24.1%. The standard regime is the one open to every resident, EU citizens included, and without a time limit.
- Notes
- A non-EU remote worker on the Nomad Residence Permit pays 10% on the same profit after the first twelve months — €5,400, or 9.0% — and nothing in the first twelve (scheme mt-nomad-residence-permit), but only while the permit lasts, four years at most, and only on work for clients or employers outside Malta.
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (2023 was also 0.57). Dataset last updated by Eurostat 2026-04-29. Among the safest large countries in Europe — roughly half the French rate and a fifth of the global average — and down from 1.05 in 2008.
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (ICCS0101, per 100k)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Notes
- 2024: 5 homicides, 0.89 per 100,000 (Eurostat, updated 2026-04-29). With about 570,000 residents each case moves the rate by about 0.18, so the series swings: 2019 0.81, 2020 1.17, 2021 0.39, 2022 1.54, 2023 0.37.
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Italy
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 344 daily country-median download values for IT in 2023 (17.42M download tests; daily medians ranged 8.6–29.9 Mbps). M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads well below advertised or Ookla-style figures — comparable only within this criterion. 2023 is the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API.
- Notes
- Low by Western European standards on this metric: Italy's copper legacy is long and FTTH rollout, while accelerating under the national broadband plan, still lags France and Spain. Fibre is available in the three modelled cities; rural and southern coverage is where the national median is lost.
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Malta
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 343 daily country-median download values for MT in 2023 (14,854 download tests; daily medians ranged 34.0-287.3 Mbps). 2023 is the year used across the dataset.
- Notes
- M-Lab NDT is a single-stream test and reads well below advertised fibre speeds; it is comparable only within this criterion.
EF EPI 2025 — Italy (score 513, rank 59/123, Moderate band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Italy score 513, global rank 59, 'Moderate' band (EF cutoffs: Moderate 500–549), down 15 points on the previous edition. Reading scores highest (534) and speaking lowest (417), which matches the lived experience: written and technical English is workable in Milan's professional world, but Italian is required for administration, healthcare and most daily life, and proficiency falls sharply from north to south.
Constitution of Malta, article 5 — Maltese and English are the official languages
Official source
- Data as of
- Oct 10, 2026
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Notes
- Maltese is the national language, but Maltese and English are both official languages: the administration may use either, and anyone may address it in English and must be answered in English. The courts are the exception: their language is Maltese, and Parliament may provide for the use of English in particular cases.
Verdict
Each lens weighs only the facts that matter to that plan, and names the side it favours.
Remote IT / freelancer
Contract or freelance in tech, billing clients abroad.
Malta fits better — 3 of 5
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 revenue for an IT freelancer = it-forfettario-it-67. Taxable base 67% × 60,000 = 40,200 (ATECO group 9 coefficient; expenses never reduce the base). INPS Gestione Separata 26.07% = 10,480.14, deducted from the forfeitary income → 29,719.86. Imposta sostitutiva 15% = 4,457.98. Levies 14,938.12 → 24.9%. The first five years of a new activity run at 5% instead (19.9%); the ordinary IRPEF route on the same profile is near 41%.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Method
- Scheme mt-self-employed-standard at €60,000 revenue with 10% deductible expenses (net profit €54,000): Class 2 social security at its 2026 cap, €83.89 × 52 = €4,362.28; income tax at the single rates, 54,000 × 25% − 3,400 = €10,100. Levies €14,462.28 → 24.1%. The standard regime is the one open to every resident, EU citizens included, and without a time limit.
- Notes
- A non-EU remote worker on the Nomad Residence Permit pays 10% on the same profit after the first twelve months — €5,400, or 9.0% — and nothing in the first twelve (scheme mt-nomad-residence-permit), but only while the permit lasts, four years at most, and only on work for clients or employers outside Malta.
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Italy
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 344 daily country-median download values for IT in 2023 (17.42M download tests; daily medians ranged 8.6–29.9 Mbps). M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads well below advertised or Ookla-style figures — comparable only within this criterion. 2023 is the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API.
- Notes
- Low by Western European standards on this metric: Italy's copper legacy is long and FTTH rollout, while accelerating under the national broadband plan, still lags France and Spain. Fibre is available in the three modelled cities; rural and southern coverage is where the national median is lost.
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Malta
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 343 daily country-median download values for MT in 2023 (14,854 download tests; daily medians ranged 34.0-287.3 Mbps). 2023 is the year used across the dataset.
- Notes
- M-Lab NDT is a single-stream test and reads well below advertised fibre speeds; it is comparable only within this criterion.
EF EPI 2025 — Italy (score 513, rank 59/123, Moderate band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Italy score 513, global rank 59, 'Moderate' band (EF cutoffs: Moderate 500–549), down 15 points on the previous edition. Reading scores highest (534) and speaking lowest (417), which matches the lived experience: written and technical English is workable in Milan's professional world, but Italian is required for administration, healthcare and most daily life, and proficiency falls sharply from north to south.
Constitution of Malta, article 5 — Maltese and English are the official languages
Official source
- Data as of
- Oct 10, 2026
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Notes
- Maltese is the national language, but Maltese and English are both official languages: the administration may use either, and anyone may address it in English and must be answered in English. The courts are the exception: their language is Maltese, and Parliament may provide for the use of English in particular cases.
ISTAT — Spese per consumi delle famiglie, Anno 2024 (Prospetto 4, tavole allegate)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- ISTAT household budget survey 2024: average monthly household spending €2,755.09, of which imputed rent (affitti figurativi) €617.39 → monetary spending €2,137.70. Actual rentals removed using Italy's 2025 HICP weight for COICOP 04.1 (29.51 per 1,000 = 2.951%, Eurostat prc_hicp_inw) = €63.08 → €2,074.62 excluding all rent. Divided by the average household size of 2.2 (Eurostat ilc_lvph01) = €943.01 per person per month; uplifted by HICP annual averages 2024→2025 (122.3 → 124.3, ×1.0164) = €958.43; converted at 1 EUR = 1.1399 USD (ECB, 2026-07-02) → $1,093.
- Notes
- Per-capita basis, to match how Spain, Czechia, Austria and France are computed in this dataset. ISTAT also publishes the real single-person household basket, which is what a solo mover actually faces: €1,931.70/month total, €1,347.48 after removing imputed and actual rent — about $1,561/month on the same uplift and FX. A person living alone has no household economies of scale, so read the $1,093 as the comparable cross-country figure and the $1,561 as the realistic personal one. No extrapolation into 2026 was applied beyond the 2025 annual average.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Method
- One-adult households spent PPS 13,633 a year in Malta's 2020 Household Budget Survey; at the survey's own euro-to-PPS ratio (€23,770 against PPS 26,528 for the average household) that is €12,216. Uplifted by Malta's HICP from the 2020 to the 2025 annual average (106.37 → 125.90, ×1.1836) and divided by 12: €1,205 a month, × 1.1206 USD/EUR (ECB, 2026-10-09) = $1,350. Actual rentals, 5.4% of a single adult's spending in the survey, are removed (imputed rent is not part of Malta's HBS), and the remaining COICOP divisions are summed from cost-breakdown.
- Notes
- Malta's latest Household Budget Survey is the 2020 wave, so the basket reflects a pandemic year, when spending on restaurants, travel and recreation was depressed; the inflation uplift corrects prices, not that pattern, so the figure is more likely low than high. A one-adult household in the survey includes pensioners as well as working people.
Poste Italiane — Rete Punto Poste (punti di ritiro e Locker)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 28, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Poste Italiane's Punto Poste network lists over 18,000 pickup points and lockers, and more than 30,000 proximity points counting post offices, alongside private networks — BRT, GLS, SDA, DHL, UPS and InPost Italia. Home delivery is nationwide with next-day options in the north and centre. Rated 'good' rather than 'excellent': locker density is far below Poland's or France's (Poste's own locker estate is in the low thousands, against ~26,000 InPost lockers in Poland), and delivery reliability is noticeably weaker in the south and on the islands.
- Notes
- Cash on delivery (contrassegno) is still a mainstream consumer option in Italy, unlike in France — a legacy of lower card penetration that remains useful for anyone without an Italian bank card yet.
MaltaPost — Easipik parcel lockers and local courier
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Oct 10, 2026
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Method
- Classified from MaltaPost's own pages, read on 2026-10-10: a 24/7 network of Easipik parcel lockers around Malta and Gozo, free for MaltaPost deliveries (€3.50 for other couriers' parcels), lockers in three sizes up to 30 kg; a tracked local courier service to any address in Malta and Gozo, with optional pick-up from lockers or post offices and cash-on-delivery collection. No source for next-day delivery as a standard was found, so the top band is not given → 'good'.
Family
Relocating with a partner and school-age children.
A close call for this plan
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (2023 was also 0.57). Dataset last updated by Eurostat 2026-04-29. Among the safest large countries in Europe — roughly half the French rate and a fifth of the global average — and down from 1.05 in 2008.
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (ICCS0101, per 100k)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Notes
- 2024: 5 homicides, 0.89 per 100,000 (Eurostat, updated 2026-04-29). With about 570,000 residents each case moves the rate by about 0.18, so the series swings: 2019 0.81, 2020 1.17, 2021 0.39, 2022 1.54, 2023 0.37.
EF EPI 2025 — Italy (score 513, rank 59/123, Moderate band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Italy score 513, global rank 59, 'Moderate' band (EF cutoffs: Moderate 500–549), down 15 points on the previous edition. Reading scores highest (534) and speaking lowest (417), which matches the lived experience: written and technical English is workable in Milan's professional world, but Italian is required for administration, healthcare and most daily life, and proficiency falls sharply from north to south.
Constitution of Malta, article 5 — Maltese and English are the official languages
Official source
- Data as of
- Oct 10, 2026
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Notes
- Maltese is the national language, but Maltese and English are both official languages: the administration may use either, and anyone may address it in English and must be answered in English. The courts are the exception: their language is Maltese, and Parliament may provide for the use of English in particular cases.
Money & crypto
Optimising tax, banking and crypto rules.
Malta fits better — 1 of 3
Official source
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Legal and fully regulated, but taxed harder than most of Europe from 2026: the substitute tax on crypto capital gains (art. 67(1)(c-sexies) TUIR) rose from 26% to 33% on gains realised from 1 January 2026, and the previous €2,000 annual exemption threshold was abolished from 2025 — so the first euro of gain is taxable. Euro-denominated e-money tokens stay at 26%. Service providers operate under the EU MiCA regime, supervised by CONSOB and the Bank of Italy. Note that the regime forfettario's substitute tax does not cover capital gains: crypto is declared separately in quadro RT whatever your business regime.
Markets in Crypto-Assets Act (Cap. 647) — Act XXXVI of 2024, as amended by Act XI of 2025
Official source
- Data as of
- Jun 30, 2024
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Notes
- Legal and licensed under the EU's MiCA regulation. The Markets in Crypto-Assets Act sets the national rules MiCA leaves to member states and names the Malta Financial Services Authority as competent authority for crypto-asset service providers and token issuers; it also provided for the repeal of the earlier Virtual Financial Assets Act. Nothing restricts individuals holding or trading crypto-assets.
Official source
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Composite: Italy uses the euro, with EU free movement of capital and no exchange or capital controls. The binding constraints are ordinary anti-money-laundering rules — a ceiling on cash transfers between parties (art. 49 of D.Lgs. 231/2007), a reporting duty on large cash tourism sales, and the RW section of the tax return, in which residents must declare foreign accounts and assets including crypto. Non-resident banking is available with standard KYC. None of this restricts moving your own money, so the classification is 'low', the same as France and Spain.
- Notes
- Two official sources disagree on the general cash ceiling and we flag rather than hide it: the 2023 Budget Law (law 197/2022) raised it from €1,000 to €5,000 from 1 January 2023, and this Agenzia delle Entrate page tracks that by setting the tourism cash-sale reporting threshold at €5,000 ('previously €1,000 until 2025'), while the Treasury's own prevention-of-financial-crime FAQ still displays €1,000 as the limit in force since 2022. Either figure lands Italy in the same band. Worth knowing separately: Italy's declaration duty for foreign-held assets is broad, and penalties for undeclared foreign accounts are real.
Composite — euro-area free movement of capital + S.L. 373.04 Use of Cash (Restriction) Regulations
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Mar 9, 2021
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Method
- Malta is a euro-area member of the EU, so capital moves freely under EU law and no currency or capital controls apply. The one restriction on personal money flows found is the Use of Cash (Restriction) Regulations (Legal Notice 81 of 2021): no cash payment of €10,000 or more, in one transaction or several linked ones within six months, for the purchase or sale of antiques, immovable property, jewellery and precious metals and stones, motor vehicles, sea-craft and works of art, on pain of a fine of at least 40% of the excess. There is no general cash ceiling on other payments. Classified 'low'.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 revenue for an IT freelancer = it-forfettario-it-67. Taxable base 67% × 60,000 = 40,200 (ATECO group 9 coefficient; expenses never reduce the base). INPS Gestione Separata 26.07% = 10,480.14, deducted from the forfeitary income → 29,719.86. Imposta sostitutiva 15% = 4,457.98. Levies 14,938.12 → 24.9%. The first five years of a new activity run at 5% instead (19.9%); the ordinary IRPEF route on the same profile is near 41%.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Method
- Scheme mt-self-employed-standard at €60,000 revenue with 10% deductible expenses (net profit €54,000): Class 2 social security at its 2026 cap, €83.89 × 52 = €4,362.28; income tax at the single rates, 54,000 × 25% − 3,400 = €10,100. Levies €14,462.28 → 24.1%. The standard regime is the one open to every resident, EU citizens included, and without a time limit.
- Notes
- A non-EU remote worker on the Nomad Residence Permit pays 10% on the same profit after the first twelve months — €5,400, or 9.0% — and nothing in the first twelve (scheme mt-nomad-residence-permit), but only while the permit lasts, four years at most, and only on work for clients or employers outside Malta.
Calm lifestyle
Prioritising safety, air, and an easy daily life.
Italy fits better — 2 of 2
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (2023 was also 0.57). Dataset last updated by Eurostat 2026-04-29. Among the safest large countries in Europe — roughly half the French rate and a fifth of the global average — and down from 1.05 in 2008.
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (ICCS0101, per 100k)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Notes
- 2024: 5 homicides, 0.89 per 100,000 (Eurostat, updated 2026-04-29). With about 570,000 residents each case moves the rate by about 0.18, so the series swings: 2019 0.81, 2020 1.17, 2021 0.39, 2022 1.54, 2023 0.37.
ISTAT — Spese per consumi delle famiglie, Anno 2024 (Prospetto 4, tavole allegate)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- ISTAT household budget survey 2024: average monthly household spending €2,755.09, of which imputed rent (affitti figurativi) €617.39 → monetary spending €2,137.70. Actual rentals removed using Italy's 2025 HICP weight for COICOP 04.1 (29.51 per 1,000 = 2.951%, Eurostat prc_hicp_inw) = €63.08 → €2,074.62 excluding all rent. Divided by the average household size of 2.2 (Eurostat ilc_lvph01) = €943.01 per person per month; uplifted by HICP annual averages 2024→2025 (122.3 → 124.3, ×1.0164) = €958.43; converted at 1 EUR = 1.1399 USD (ECB, 2026-07-02) → $1,093.
- Notes
- Per-capita basis, to match how Spain, Czechia, Austria and France are computed in this dataset. ISTAT also publishes the real single-person household basket, which is what a solo mover actually faces: €1,931.70/month total, €1,347.48 after removing imputed and actual rent — about $1,561/month on the same uplift and FX. A person living alone has no household economies of scale, so read the $1,093 as the comparable cross-country figure and the $1,561 as the realistic personal one. No extrapolation into 2026 was applied beyond the 2025 annual average.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Method
- One-adult households spent PPS 13,633 a year in Malta's 2020 Household Budget Survey; at the survey's own euro-to-PPS ratio (€23,770 against PPS 26,528 for the average household) that is €12,216. Uplifted by Malta's HICP from the 2020 to the 2025 annual average (106.37 → 125.90, ×1.1836) and divided by 12: €1,205 a month, × 1.1206 USD/EUR (ECB, 2026-10-09) = $1,350. Actual rentals, 5.4% of a single adult's spending in the survey, are removed (imputed rent is not part of Malta's HBS), and the remaining COICOP divisions are summed from cost-breakdown.
- Notes
- Malta's latest Household Budget Survey is the 2020 wave, so the basket reflects a pandemic year, when spending on restaurants, travel and recreation was depressed; the inflation uplift corrects prices, not that pattern, so the figure is more likely low than high. A one-adult household in the survey includes pensioners as well as working people.
Details
Taxes
01+−Freelancer tax burden% effective burden at €60k/year self-employed profileItaly24.9Maltastronger24.1
What this measures
Effective total burden (income tax + mandatory social and health contributions) for a solo IT freelancer with €60,000/year revenue and 10% deductible expenses, using the most favourable eligible scheme in the country's tax-schemes data. Computed by the SettleMetric tax engine; recorded as a curated value with the winning scheme id in method.
Italy
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 revenue for an IT freelancer = it-forfettario-it-67. Taxable base 67% × 60,000 = 40,200 (ATECO group 9 coefficient; expenses never reduce the base). INPS Gestione Separata 26.07% = 10,480.14, deducted from the forfeitary income → 29,719.86. Imposta sostitutiva 15% = 4,457.98. Levies 14,938.12 → 24.9%. The first five years of a new activity run at 5% instead (19.9%); the ordinary IRPEF route on the same profile is near 41%.
Malta
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Method
- Scheme mt-self-employed-standard at €60,000 revenue with 10% deductible expenses (net profit €54,000): Class 2 social security at its 2026 cap, €83.89 × 52 = €4,362.28; income tax at the single rates, 54,000 × 25% − 3,400 = €10,100. Levies €14,462.28 → 24.1%. The standard regime is the one open to every resident, EU citizens included, and without a time limit.
- Notes
- A non-EU remote worker on the Nomad Residence Permit pays 10% on the same profit after the first twelve months — €5,400, or 9.0% — and nothing in the first twelve (scheme mt-nomad-residence-permit), but only while the permit lasts, four years at most, and only on work for clients or employers outside Malta.
Legalization
01+−Remote-work legalization easeItalyDedicated nomad visaMaltaDedicated nomad visa
What this measures
Best available legalization route for a location-independent earner with a median (non-EU, non-US) passport, classified from this country's legalization-paths data: dedicated digital-nomad visa; general freelance/self-employment permit; realistic long-stay path (e.g. renewable temporary residence); only short visa-free/tourist stays; effectively none.
Italy
Official source
- Data as of
- Apr 4, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Italy has run a dedicated digital-nomad and remote-worker visa since the decree took effect on 4 April 2024. It sits outside the decreto-flussi quotas, needs no nulla osta, is issued for up to a year and renews annually. It is not a low bar: the work must be highly qualified in the sense of art. 27-quater of the immigration act, with at least six months of prior experience in the activity.
Malta
Residency Malta Agency — Nomad Residence Permit
Official source
- Data as of
- Apr 17, 2026
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Notes
- Malta's Nomad Residence Permit is a dedicated permit for third-country nationals who work remotely for foreign employers or clients, with a €42,000 gross income threshold; it lasts a year, can be renewed three times and does not lead to long-term residence (see mt-nomad-residence-permit).
Cost of living
01+−Cost of living (single, excl. rent)USD/month, single person, excluding rentItalystronger1,093Malta1,278
What this measures
Monthly cost of a defined single-person basket (food, transport, utilities, mobile+internet, modest leisure) excluding rent, curated from national statistics office price data and large local retailers' published prices, converted to USD at the ECB rate recorded in fx-rates. The method field of each value itemizes the basket inputs.
Italy
ISTAT — Spese per consumi delle famiglie, Anno 2024 (Prospetto 4, tavole allegate)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- ISTAT household budget survey 2024: average monthly household spending €2,755.09, of which imputed rent (affitti figurativi) €617.39 → monetary spending €2,137.70. Actual rentals removed using Italy's 2025 HICP weight for COICOP 04.1 (29.51 per 1,000 = 2.951%, Eurostat prc_hicp_inw) = €63.08 → €2,074.62 excluding all rent. Divided by the average household size of 2.2 (Eurostat ilc_lvph01) = €943.01 per person per month; uplifted by HICP annual averages 2024→2025 (122.3 → 124.3, ×1.0164) = €958.43; converted at 1 EUR = 1.1399 USD (ECB, 2026-07-02) → $1,093.
- Notes
- Per-capita basis, to match how Spain, Czechia, Austria and France are computed in this dataset. ISTAT also publishes the real single-person household basket, which is what a solo mover actually faces: €1,931.70/month total, €1,347.48 after removing imputed and actual rent — about $1,561/month on the same uplift and FX. A person living alone has no household economies of scale, so read the $1,093 as the comparable cross-country figure and the $1,561 as the realistic personal one. No extrapolation into 2026 was applied beyond the 2025 annual average.
Malta
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Method
- One-adult households spent PPS 13,633 a year in Malta's 2020 Household Budget Survey; at the survey's own euro-to-PPS ratio (€23,770 against PPS 26,528 for the average household) that is €12,216. Uplifted by Malta's HICP from the 2020 to the 2025 annual average (106.37 → 125.90, ×1.1836) and divided by 12: €1,205 a month, × 1.1206 USD/EUR (ECB, 2026-10-09) = $1,350. Actual rentals, 5.4% of a single adult's spending in the survey, are removed (imputed rent is not part of Malta's HBS), and the remaining COICOP divisions are summed from cost-breakdown.
- Notes
- Malta's latest Household Budget Survey is the 2020 wave, so the basket reflects a pandemic year, when spending on restaurants, travel and recreation was depressed; the inflation uplift corrects prices, not that pattern, so the figure is more likely low than high. A one-adult household in the survey includes pensioners as well as working people.
Monthly spending by category (excl. rent)
ISTAT — Spese per consumi delle famiglie, Anno 2024 (Prospetto 4, divisioni di spesa)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Each ISTAT 2024 spending division for all households, divided by the average household size 2.2, uplifted ×1.0164 (HICP 2024→2025) and converted at 1.1399 USD/EUR. The housing line is shown net of both imputed rent (€617.39/household) and actual rentals (€63.08, from the 2.951% HICP weight), leaving water, energy, maintenance and condominium charges. Items sum to $1,094 against the $1,093 headline; the €1 gap is rounding.
- Notes
- Food is the largest single line at a quarter of the basket — a high share for Western Europe, and one reason Italy's overall cost sits below France and Austria despite comparable incomes. Health is out-of-pocket only: the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale covers residents, with co-payments (ticket) and private consultations making up this line.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Method
- Each COICOP division's share of one-adult households' spending (per mille: food 215, transport 109, restaurants and hotels 91, miscellaneous 91, furnishings 78, health 68, clothing 63, recreation 61, communication 48, energy 36, dwelling maintenance 33, alcohol and tobacco 33, water and other dwelling services 16, education 4) applied to the CPI-uplifted monthly total including rent, $1,350. Actual rentals (54 per mille) are left out; the items sum to $1,278, the cost-of-living-single figure.
Housing
Rent by apartment type
Asking rent, central price with outside-centre in parentheses ($/mo).
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jun 30, 2026
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Population-weighted mean of the rent-breakdown matrices of Bologna, Florence, Genoa, Milan, Naples, Rome; each cell averages the cities that report it. See each city page for its exact local matrix.
SettleMetric — population-weighted average of covered cities (Valletta)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jun 30, 2026
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Method
- Population-weighted mean of the rent-breakdown matrices of Valletta; each cell averages the cities that report it. See each city page for its exact local matrix.
Safety
01+−Homicide rateintentional homicides per 100,000/yearItalystronger0.6Malta0.9
What this measures
Intentional homicide victims per 100,000 population, latest available year. Country level: UNODC national series. City level: official municipal/police statistics where published; otherwise null (country value shown as country-level).
Italy
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (2023 was also 0.57). Dataset last updated by Eurostat 2026-04-29. Among the safest large countries in Europe — roughly half the French rate and a fifth of the global average — and down from 1.05 in 2008.
Malta
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (ICCS0101, per 100k)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Notes
- 2024: 5 homicides, 0.89 per 100,000 (Eurostat, updated 2026-04-29). With about 570,000 residents each case moves the rate by about 0.18, so the series swings: 2019 0.81, 2020 1.17, 2021 0.39, 2022 1.54, 2023 0.37.
Healthcare
01+−Private healthcare costUSD/year, comprehensive private insurance premium, healthy 35-year-oldItalyno verified dataMaltano verified data
What this measures
Median of at least three publicly quoted annual premiums for comprehensive private medical insurance (outpatient + inpatient, ~$100k coverage, small deductible) for a healthy 35-year-old resident foreigner, from local and international insurers. Method field lists the insurers quoted.
Italy
No verified premium. Italian insurers do not publish individual health-policy tariffs the way French mutuelle comparators do, and the figures circulating on broker blogs (roughly €300–500 a year for a basic individual policy at 35) are not traceable to a named tariff table, so they are not recorded here. What is certain is the structure: residents — including foreigners with a residence permit — enrol in the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale, which covers GP care, hospital treatment and subsidised specialist care against a co-payment (ticket). Private policies in Italy are supplementary, bought mainly to skip public waiting lists, not a replacement. Non-residents on a digital-nomad or elective-residence visa must instead hold private travel/health insurance for the visa itself.
Malta
Not priced. Malta's health insurers (Atlas, Bupa Malta, GasanMamo, MAPFRE MSV Life) publish benefit limits but no premiums; prices are given only on a quote. The one rate card found belongs to a staff group scheme of the University of Malta, which is not comparable with an individual policy. For reference, the Nomad Residence Permit requires a prepaid policy with at least €100,000 of cover in the EU and the UK.
Money & crypto
01+−Crypto regulationItalyLegal regulatedMaltaLegal regulated
What this measures
Own classification of the legal status of holding, trading and cashing out cryptocurrency for individuals: legal-friendly (legal with clear, favourable rules or explicit tax exemptions), legal-regulated (legal under standard licensing/AML and taxation), restricted (partial bans: payments or banking access prohibited), banned (holding/trading prohibited). Classified from national regulators' and central banks' official positions.
Italy
Official source
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Legal and fully regulated, but taxed harder than most of Europe from 2026: the substitute tax on crypto capital gains (art. 67(1)(c-sexies) TUIR) rose from 26% to 33% on gains realised from 1 January 2026, and the previous €2,000 annual exemption threshold was abolished from 2025 — so the first euro of gain is taxable. Euro-denominated e-money tokens stay at 26%. Service providers operate under the EU MiCA regime, supervised by CONSOB and the Bank of Italy. Note that the regime forfettario's substitute tax does not cover capital gains: crypto is declared separately in quadro RT whatever your business regime.
Malta
Markets in Crypto-Assets Act (Cap. 647) — Act XXXVI of 2024, as amended by Act XI of 2025
Official source
- Data as of
- Jun 30, 2024
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Notes
- Legal and licensed under the EU's MiCA regulation. The Markets in Crypto-Assets Act sets the national rules MiCA leaves to member states and names the Malta Financial Services Authority as competent authority for crypto-asset service providers and token issuers; it also provided for the repeal of the earlier Virtual Financial Assets Act. Nothing restricts individuals holding or trading crypto-assets.
02+−Financial control levelItalyLowMaltaLow
What this measures
Own composite of state control over personal money flows: currency/capital controls (IMF AREAER), restrictions on foreign accounts and transfers, mandatory income declaration scope for residents, cash payment limits, banking access for foreigners. Low = free movement of personal funds and easy non-resident banking; very-high = strict capital controls and pervasive reporting. Method field on each value lists the inputs used.
Italy
Official source
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Composite: Italy uses the euro, with EU free movement of capital and no exchange or capital controls. The binding constraints are ordinary anti-money-laundering rules — a ceiling on cash transfers between parties (art. 49 of D.Lgs. 231/2007), a reporting duty on large cash tourism sales, and the RW section of the tax return, in which residents must declare foreign accounts and assets including crypto. Non-resident banking is available with standard KYC. None of this restricts moving your own money, so the classification is 'low', the same as France and Spain.
- Notes
- Two official sources disagree on the general cash ceiling and we flag rather than hide it: the 2023 Budget Law (law 197/2022) raised it from €1,000 to €5,000 from 1 January 2023, and this Agenzia delle Entrate page tracks that by setting the tourism cash-sale reporting threshold at €5,000 ('previously €1,000 until 2025'), while the Treasury's own prevention-of-financial-crime FAQ still displays €1,000 as the limit in force since 2022. Either figure lands Italy in the same band. Worth knowing separately: Italy's declaration duty for foreign-held assets is broad, and penalties for undeclared foreign accounts are real.
Malta
Composite — euro-area free movement of capital + S.L. 373.04 Use of Cash (Restriction) Regulations
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Mar 9, 2021
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Method
- Malta is a euro-area member of the EU, so capital moves freely under EU law and no currency or capital controls apply. The one restriction on personal money flows found is the Use of Cash (Restriction) Regulations (Legal Notice 81 of 2021): no cash payment of €10,000 or more, in one transaction or several linked ones within six months, for the purchase or sale of antiques, immovable property, jewellery and precious metals and stones, motor vehicles, sea-craft and works of art, on pain of a fine of at least 40% of the excess. There is no general cash ceiling on other payments. Classified 'low'.
Infrastructure
01+−Domestic delivery qualityItalyGoodMaltaGood
What this measures
Quality of in-country parcel delivery. excellent = nationwide next-day widely available, dense parcel-locker network, real-time tracking standard; good = 1–3 day delivery, lockers in major cities; basic = reliable but slow (3–7 days), mostly to-door or post-office pickup; poor = unreliable delivery, street addresses often unusable, informal workarounds common. Classified from official service/coverage data of the national postal operator and the two largest private carriers; inputs itemized in each value's method field.
Italy
Poste Italiane — Rete Punto Poste (punti di ritiro e Locker)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 28, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Poste Italiane's Punto Poste network lists over 18,000 pickup points and lockers, and more than 30,000 proximity points counting post offices, alongside private networks — BRT, GLS, SDA, DHL, UPS and InPost Italia. Home delivery is nationwide with next-day options in the north and centre. Rated 'good' rather than 'excellent': locker density is far below Poland's or France's (Poste's own locker estate is in the low thousands, against ~26,000 InPost lockers in Poland), and delivery reliability is noticeably weaker in the south and on the islands.
- Notes
- Cash on delivery (contrassegno) is still a mainstream consumer option in Italy, unlike in France — a legacy of lower card penetration that remains useful for anyone without an Italian bank card yet.
Malta
MaltaPost — Easipik parcel lockers and local courier
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Oct 10, 2026
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Method
- Classified from MaltaPost's own pages, read on 2026-10-10: a 24/7 network of Easipik parcel lockers around Malta and Gozo, free for MaltaPost deliveries (€3.50 for other couriers' parcels), lockers in three sizes up to 30 kg; a tracked local courier service to any address in Malta and Gozo, with optional pick-up from lockers or post offices and cash-on-delivery collection. No source for next-day delivery as a standard was found, so the top band is not given → 'good'.
02+−International delivery easeItalyMinor frictionMaltaMinor friction
What this measures
Ease of receiving goods from abroad. seamless = major international carriers deliver door-to-door, meaningful duty-free de-minimis threshold, customs clearance predictable in days; minor-friction = carriers present but low de-minimis, extra paperwork or routine delays; significant-friction = frequent customs holds, high brokerage fees, some marketplaces refuse to ship; unreliable = parcels regularly lost or blocked, informal import channels dominate. De-minimis thresholds and clearance rules from the national customs authority (official source, cite the regulation); carrier presence from carriers' official pages.
Italy
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Intra-EU shipping is frictionless under the single market — a parcel from Germany or Spain arrives like a domestic one. For non-EU imports the EU removed the €150 duty-free threshold and from 1 July 2026 applies a temporary flat customs duty per item on consignments up to €150, with VAT already collected at checkout through IOSS. The same EU-wide regime as every member state; Italian customs handling of non-EU parcels is slower than northern Europe's, which is the 'minor friction' in practice.
Malta
European Commission — temporary €3 customs duty on low-value imports (from 1 July 2026)
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 1, 2026
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Notes
- Parcels from the EU single market arrive without customs. For non-EU imports the EU abolished the duty exemption on consignments up to €150 and since 1 July 2026 charges a temporary €3 customs duty per item, until 1 July 2028. MaltaPost's SendOn service gives shoppers forwarding addresses in Italy, Germany, the UK and the USA for stores that do not ship to Malta, with customs declarations required for goods bought from the UK.
03+−Internet speedMbps, median fixed downloadItaly27.4Maltastronger85
What this measures
Median fixed-broadband download speed over the trailing 6 months from M-Lab NDT open data (CC0), aggregated at country or city level. Not comparable with Ookla figures (different test methodology) — do not mix sources within this criterion.
Italy
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Italy
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 344 daily country-median download values for IT in 2023 (17.42M download tests; daily medians ranged 8.6–29.9 Mbps). M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads well below advertised or Ookla-style figures — comparable only within this criterion. 2023 is the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API.
- Notes
- Low by Western European standards on this metric: Italy's copper legacy is long and FTTH rollout, while accelerating under the national broadband plan, still lags France and Spain. Fibre is available in the three modelled cities; rural and southern coverage is where the national median is lost.
Malta
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Malta
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 343 daily country-median download values for MT in 2023 (14,854 download tests; daily medians ranged 34.0-287.3 Mbps). 2023 is the year used across the dataset.
- Notes
- M-Lab NDT is a single-stream test and reads well below advertised fibre speeds; it is comparable only within this criterion.
Language
01+−English proficiencyItalyModerateMaltastrongerNative
What this measures
Own banding of how far English gets a resident in daily life (government offices, healthcare, housing, services). Informed by EF EPI band (research source, cited with attribution, not republished) plus official language status and service-sector realities. Values are our bands, not EF scores.
Italy
EF EPI 2025 — Italy (score 513, rank 59/123, Moderate band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Italy score 513, global rank 59, 'Moderate' band (EF cutoffs: Moderate 500–549), down 15 points on the previous edition. Reading scores highest (534) and speaking lowest (417), which matches the lived experience: written and technical English is workable in Milan's professional world, but Italian is required for administration, healthcare and most daily life, and proficiency falls sharply from north to south.
Malta
Constitution of Malta, article 5 — Maltese and English are the official languages
Official source
- Data as of
- Oct 10, 2026
- Verified
- Oct 10, 2026
- Notes
- Maltese is the national language, but Maltese and English are both official languages: the administration may use either, and anyone may address it in English and must be answered in English. The courts are the exception: their language is Maltese, and Parliament may provide for the use of English in particular cases.
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