National Statistics Office,

Lascaris, Valletta.

VLT 2000

MALTA

Labour Market and Information Society Statistics Unit

National Statistics Office

Lascaris

Valletta

VLT 2000

The EU survey on the use of ICT in households and by individuals is an annual survey conducted since 2002. In Malta, it has been conducted since 2005.

In 2022, the survey collects data on the access to information and communication technologies (ICT), on the use of the internet, e-government, e-commerce, internet of things, as well as green ICT.

National language: ICT Usage in Households and by Individuals

English: ICT Usage in Households and by Individuals

Questionnaire(s) in national language(s) and the translation in English are available in the Annexes.

The following common concepts and definitions apply under the Integrated European Social Statistics (IESS):

• the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 2011 published in the following breakdowns: low (ISCED levels 0-2: no formal education, primary education or lower secondary education), medium (ISCED levels 3-4: upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education) and high (ISCED levels 5-6: tertiary programmes which normally need a successful completion of ISCED 3 or 4, or second-stage tertiary education leading to an advanced research qualification);
• the International Standard Classification for Occupation ISCO-08 at the 2-digit level;
• the Classification of Economic Activities (NACE Rev.2-2008), at section level;
• the Common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS 1) – finer granularity of NUTS 2 is provided on optional basis by some Member states;
• the SCL - Geographical code list;
• information about household income is provided at lower level of detail. 

Additional classifications used in the national questionnaire:

No additional classifications used in the national questionnaire.

The ICT survey in households and by individuals covers those households having at least one member in the age group 16 to 74 years old. Internet access of households refers to the percentage of households that have an internet access, so that anyone in the household could use the internet.

No difference in coverage sector.

The survey is collecting data on internet users, individuals who have used the internet in the three months prior to the survey. Regular internet users are individuals who used the internet, on average, at least once a week in the three months prior to the survey.

This annual survey is used to benchmark ICT-driven developments, both by following developments for core variables over time and by looking in greater depth at other aspects at a specific point in time. While the survey initially concentrated on access and connectivity issues, its scope has subsequently been extended to cover a variety of subjects (for example, the use of e-government and e-commerce) and socio-economic analysis (such as regional diversity, gender specificity, differences in age, education and the employment situation). The scope of the survey with respect to different technologies is also adapted so as to cover new product groups and means of delivering communication technologies to end-users.

For more details on the methodology applicable in each survey year, please consult the Methodological Manual for the respective year on CIRCABC - Methodological Manual - Information society statistics (europa.eu).

Deviations from standard ICT concepts: None

Households and Individuals

In the ICT usage survey, the target population for the different statistical units is:

- individuals: all individuals aged 16 to 74;

- households: all (private) households with at least one member aged 16 to 74. 

Target population composed of households and/or individuals:

• Number of households:  191,544
• Number of individuals:  399,965

Non-compulsory age groups also included in the target population:

The collected data refers to the entire geographic location of Malta 

Year 2022

Not applicable

Percentages of ‘Households’ and Percentages of ‘Individuals’

The reference period is in line with the one suggested in the Eurostat model questionnaire. This can vary from three to twelve months prior to the data collection.

1 April till 30 June 2022

The legal basis for the 2022 EU survey on the use of ICT in households and by individuals is the Regulation (EU) 2019/1700 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 October 2019 establishing a common framework for European statistics relating to persons and households, based on data at individual level collected from samples (OJ  L 261 I, 14.10.2019, p. 1), as implemented by the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1223 of 27 July 2021 specifying the technical items of the data set, establishing the technical formats for transmission of information and specifying the detailed arrangements and content of the quality reports on the organisation of a sample survey in the use of information and communication technologies domain for reference year 2022 pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/1700 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 2269, 27.07.2021, pp. 1-45).

Complementary national legislation constituting the legal basis for the survey on the use of ICT in households and by individuals:  

The survey is mandatory and is carried out under the provisions of the Malta Statistics Authority Act (Cap. 422 of the laws of Malta).

https://msa.gov.mt/en/legislation_and_policy/Documents/Malta_Statistics_Authority_Act.pdf

NSO Access to Microdata https://nso.gov.mt/en/Services/Microdata/Pages/Access-to-Microdata.aspx

https://nso.gov.mt/commitment-on-confidence/

https://nso.gov.mt/commitment-on-confidence/

The News Release Calendar is publicly available on the National Statistical Office Malta (NSO) Website https://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/Release_Calendar/Pages/News-Release-Calendar.aspx

The News Release Calendar is publicly available on the NSO Website https://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/Release_Calendar/Pages/News-Release-Calendar.aspx

News Releases are published on the NSO website at 11am as per the News Release calendar on: https://nso.gov.mt/en/Pages/NSO-Home.aspx

Annual

The NSO publishes an annual news release from the findings of the ICT in Households survey: https://nso.gov.mt/ict-usage-by-households-2022/

Some indicators emerging from the survey on ICT in Households data will be included in the Malta in Figures publication which is published anually by NSO: https://nso.gov.mt/published-publications/

Not applicable

Not applicable

Anonymised Micro Data can be accessed by researchers. Each request is handled individually, and only the required variables are provided in an anonymised format: https://nso.gov.mt/en/Services/Microdata/Pages/Access-to-Microdata.aspx

Not applicable

Not applicable

Not applicable

Not applicable

An internal document 'Generic Statistical Business Process Model (GSBPM)' is available for the ICT in Households survey, highlighting all procedures involved in the project.

This document is available for internal purposes only.

All key variables are checked with their respective timeseries in order to assure consistency over time.

All key variables are collected and the rate of imputations is low. Data is compared with previous years in order to check reliability over time.

Data was collected during the established time window as indicated in Eurostat's methodological manual. 

All data was transmitted to Eurostat in a timely manner.

The main users of the data derived from the ICT in Households survey are:

1. International organizations (such as UNESCO, OECD and EU)
2. Public Entities (such as ministries, authorities)
3. Private entities (research organizations, unions, businesses)
4. Individuals

ICT in Housholds statistics are mainly used for Policy making, market research, dissertations and business making.

A user satisfaction survey was carried out by the NSO to measure the degree with which obligations towards its users are met.  The survey was last held in 2014, and results for the total statistical output for the Education and Information Society Statistics Unit, not specifically for ICT statistics, were as follows:

News Releases:

• Quality – 62.9 % high/good
• Timeliness – 77 % timely
• Usefulness – 80.3 % useful

Requested data:

• Quality – 54.8 % high/good
• Frequency – 5.4 % regular
• Timeliness –73.1 % timely

A dedicated news release outlines main results from this survey, and can be accessed through: https://nso.gov.mt/user-satisfaction-survey/

All required variables are collected and transmitted the Eurostat in the format required.

All required variables are collected and transmitted the Eurostat in the format required.

The sample is derived using the stratified random sample approach. This is done in order to minimize the risk of having a bias towards any particular subgroup.

Other errors which might occur during the data collection stage are:

- Data entry errors, as the interviewer might tick one answer instead of the other 

- Respondent might not understand the question correctly, thus his/her answer might not reflect the real picture.

The sampling error reflects the fact that only a particular sample was surveyed rather than the entire population. It is estimated by the standard error and can be expressed by the square root of the estimate of the sampling variance. The estimation of the sampling variance should ideally take into account the sampling design (e.g. the stratification).

Sampling error – estimation method

SE = Standard Error

n = Sample Size

N = Population Size

p = Proportion of successes

q = Probability of failure

Precision estimates for the question "Individuals having ordered goods or services for private use over the internet in the last 12 months" (individuals who ticked 'Within the last 3 months' or 'Between 3 months and a year ago' in question D1 of the 2022 model questionnaire):

Number of respondents (absolute value for ‘Yes’ answers):   1,124

Estimated proportion (in %):   67.7%

Standard error (in percentage points):   2.259

Details of the breakdowns are available in the table in the excel file in the Annexes. 

See more details on non-sampling error below.

The sample for the ICT HH survey is derived from the NSO's in-house population register.

The sample is extracted about 30 days before the collection starts. 

The sample is selected according to the following criteria : Age, Sex and Locality of Residence. The sample size is sufficiently large to obtain reliable responses for the selected subgroups.

The main cases where the population frame may vary from the target population is when an individual my have his 75th birthday before the interview takes place (making him outside of the scope of the survey) or if an individual has recently relocated to an institutional household.

Only units which fall within the scope of the survey are interviewed.

Not requested in the ICT survey.

1)       Measurement errors:  

- Data entry errors, as the interviewer might tick one answer instead of the other 

- Respondent might not understand the question correctly, thus his answer might not reflect the real picture.

2)       Questionnaire design and testing:  

The questionnaire is extensively checked to be certain that it mirrors Eurostat's model questionnaire. All  question routings are checked to make sure that they apply correctly under various scenarios.

3)       Interviewer training:  

Interviewers are trained on how to contact the survey with the household. During the briefing sessions the questionnaire and terminology are extensively discussed in order to make sure that the interviewer is able to assist the household in compiling the survey. 

4)       Proxy interview rates:  

All possible efforts are made to ensure that the survey is conducted directly with the target respondent. However, under special circumstances (difficulty in communication or medical reasons) proxy surveys are allowed. Less then 1% of the interviews are done via proxy.

Information about non-respondents:  

Given that that survey is conducted via personal interviews, we have a very low number of missing values for each variable. There are usually less then 3 cases for key variables and less then 10 cases for other questions. 

This low number of missing responses has a very low effect on the non response error.

The unit response rate is the ratio of the number of in-scope respondents (= the number of achieved interviews or the net sample size to the number of eligible elements selected from the sampling frame).

Unit non-response rate for

• Households:   23.5%
• Individuals (aged 16-74):   23.5%

 Comments, if any:

1)       Methods used for dealing with unit non-response: 

The interviewing process adopted the following steps:

• In the first instance, selected individuals were notified by post and invited to cooperate in the study. Respondents were informed that participation was mandatory by law (Malta Statistics Act). They were also assured that the data provided was going to remain confidential. 
• Interviewers were briefed to carry out telephone interviews given the restrictions implemented due to Covid-19.

2)       Methods used for minimizing unit non-response:  

Office staff intervened in particularly difficult cases, when faced with extremely non cooperative respondents

3)       Substitution permitted:  No

4)       Substitution rate (in %):  0%

Items with low response rates (observed rates in %):  Not applicable

Data trends are usually checked for all the variables collected. Trends are checked also at age and sex level. This ensures that data is comparable over time. 

Imputations are kept to a minimum and mainly used for missing or erronous data. 

The imputation rate is less then 1% per variable.

Not requested for ICT Survey

Data is transmitted to Eurostat by 5 October of the survey year.

Delays in data transmission are not usually the norm.

Data was transmitted on time to Eurostat.

Data was submitted and validated before Eurostat deadline

Data is collected for the whole geographical area of Malta. Thus results are comparable over time.

Not relevant

Possible limitations in the use of data for comparisons over time:  

For the past 2 years, the NSO shifted from face-to-face interviews to CATI interviews. This change didn't seem to affect the quality or reliability of the data collected.

The length of comparable time series depends on the module and variable considered within each of the modules of the survey.

Not applicable

Not applicable

Not applicable

All statistics are coherent within the dataset.

MANDATORY questions in the Eurostat model questionnaire 2022:

The table in the excel file in the Annexes lists the questions that do not reflect the coverage of subjects and characteristics of Annex 2 of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1898 of the 20 July 2021. 

Adoption of OPTIONAL questions and items in the Eurostat model questionnaire 2022:

The table in the excel file in the Annexes lists the optional questions from the annual Eurostat model questionnaire 2022 included in the national questionnaire and their coverage for age groups beyond the standard scope. 

Additional questions introduced in the national questionnaire:  None

Effects of deviations from the routing used in the Eurostat model questionnaire:  

No deviation from Eurostat model questionnaire

No data revision policy is available. Data from the ICT HH survey is not normally subject to revisions.

ICT HH Data has been only revised when the NSO received an update from the population register. In such cases only the Individual weights and the household weights have been revised.

Not relevant

The source of the raw data is described with more details in the paragraphs below.

An in house population register is used to extract the relevant sample. This register is updated with all deaths and births.

The ICT HH survey takes the form of a Stand alone survey, which is mandatory by law.

A stratification random sample is used to obtain the sample for the ICT HH survey. The sample is stratified by gender, age and locality of residence

Only households with at least one individual between the age of 16 and 74 are selected for the sample. Only one individual is selected from each household. 

Annual

1) Methods used to gather data: CATI

2) Short description of the survey method: 

Usually the ICT Survey was collected via face to face interviews, however for the past 2 years (due to Covid-19), the NSO had to shift to telephone interviews.

3) Variables completed from an external source: None

Data is checked and it is ensured that all data follow the questionnaire routing. 

Data is validated according to Eurostat's standards.  

Data is imputed using the Hot Deck imputation technique. This is done only for missing or erronous data. imputation rate is usually less then 1%.

Given the small amount of imputed figures, the impact of imputation is minimal. However the distribution of results is checked both before and after imputation, to ensure no distortion of the data.

All the required data is collected from the ICT HH survey, therefore their is no need to amalgamate data from different sources.  

For the target indicator "Individuals having ordered goods or services for private use over the internet in the last 12 months" (individuals who ticked 'Within the last 3 months' or 'Between 3 months and a year ago' in question D1 of the 2022 model questionnaire):

Imputation rate (% of observations): less then 1%

Imputation rate (share of estimate): less then 1%

Methods used to impute item non-response: Hot Deck imputation

Grossing up procedures have been applied to: 

Both Households and Individuals are weighted separately. Each with their respective weights.

Description of the weighting procedures:

Post-stratification weighting by age, sex and district was made in order to adjust for non-response both at household and individual level

Not relevant

Not relevant