Malta

v0.1 · 2022–2024 · 6/6 axes

Composite Score

ISI Composite

0.5175

Highly Concentrated

Cohort Rank

1 / 27

Less concentrated than 4% of cohort

Axes Coverage

6 / 6

All axes available

Cohort Mean: 0.3444 · Δ +0.1731

Position in Cohort Distribution

Malta's composite score relative to the EU-27 cohort.

Multi-Axis Profile

Deviation from Cohort Mean

Bars show deviation from cohort composite mean (0.3444). Red = above mean. Green = below mean.

Axis

−0.30EU Mean+0.30

ScoreΔ Mean

Financial External Supplier Concentration

0.1400−0.2044

Energy External Supplier Concentration

0.3507+0.0063

Technology External Supplier Concentration

0.2055−0.1389

Defense External Supplier Concentration

1.0000+0.6556

Critical Inputs External Supplier Concentration

0.4087+0.0644

Logistics External Supplier Concentration

1.0000+0.6556

Structural Exposure Summary

Malta records a composite ISI of 0.5175, classified as Highly Concentrated (rank 1 of 27). Structural exposure is led by Defense Industrial Dependency (1.0000) and Logistics / Freight Dependency (1.0000), which together represent the primary concentration vectors. The lowest axis score is Financial Sovereignty at 0.1400, indicating relative diversification in this domain and a score below the cohort composite mean. The 0.8600 spread between the highest and lowest axes signals an uneven exposure profile across domains.

Most Diversified (Lowest HHI)

Financial External Supplier Concentration0.1400

Technology External Supplier Concentration0.2055

Most Concentrated (Highest HHI)

Logistics External Supplier Concentration1.0000

Defense External Supplier Concentration1.0000

Axis 1

Financial External Supplier Concentration

0.1400Unconcentrated

Malta scores 0.1400 on financial sovereignty (unconcentrated). This reflects the concentration of inward banking claims and portfolio debt holdings across foreign creditor countries.

Audit Breakdown

Channel A Concentration

0.1609

Channel A Volume

15.11K

Channel B Concentration

0.1243

Channel B Volume

20.14K

Score

0.1400

Basis

Both

Channels

Ch. A: Banking Claims Concentration

23 partners

BIS — International Banking Statistics · Bank for International Settlements

Top Partners

22.2%

21.6%

19.9%

13.8%

5.0%

3.0%

2.4%

2.2%

1.5%

Other

22.2%

21.6%

19.9%

13.8%

5.0%

Other

12.3%

Ch. B: Portfolio Debt Concentration

IMF — Financial Statistics · International Monetary Fund

Warnings

◆ [Medium]BIS creditor coverage gap: non-BIS-reporting countries absent as creditors; concentration may be biased upward.
◆ [Medium]IMF CPIS participation is voluntary; China does not participate. Portfolio debt concentration may understate true exposure.
● [Low]Partial overlap between Channel A (bank claims) and Channel B (portfolio debt securities held by banks).
● [Low]Croatia (HR) absent from Channel B (IMF CPIS). Score reduces to Channel A only.

Axis 2

Energy External Supplier Concentration

0.3507Moderately Concentrated

Malta scores 0.3507 on energy dependency (moderately concentrated). This reflects the concentration of fossil fuel imports (gas, oil, solid fossil fuels) across supplier countries.

Channels

Ch. gas: Natural Gas Import Concentration

12 partners

Eurostat — Natural Gas Trade · European Commission, Eurostat

Top Partners

33.8%

33.7%

16.3%

33.8%

33.7%

16.3%

Other

16.3%

Ch. oil: Oil Import Concentration

386 partners

Eurostat — Oil Trade · European Commission, Eurostat

Top Partners

50.0%

Ch. solid_fossil: Solid Fossil Fuel Import Concentration

Eurostat — Solid Fossil Fuels Trade · European Commission, Eurostat

Fuel Concentrations

Gas

0.3900

Oil

0.2788

Warnings

◆ [Medium]Pipeline gas and LNG not separated. A country importing 50% pipeline gas from Russia and 50% LNG from multiple sources scores as if partially diversified.
◆ [Medium]Re-exports and transit flows may distort bilateral attribution across all fuel types.
● [Low]No price or contract-duration effects captured. Volume-based concentration only.

Axis 3

Technology External Supplier Concentration

0.2055Mildly Concentrated

Malta scores 0.2055 on technology/semiconductor dependency (mildly concentrated). This reflects the concentration of semiconductor imports across supplier countries.

Audit Breakdown

Channel A Concentration

0.2038

Channel A Volume

1.76B

Channel B Concentration

0.2071

Channel B Volume

1.76B

Score

0.2055

Basis

Both Channels

Channels

Ch. A: Aggregate Supplier Concentration

64 partners

Eurostat Comext — Detailed Trade Statistics · European Commission, Eurostat

Top Partners

34.5%

19.3%

15.0%

13.9%

5.4%

4.1%

2.1%

1.6%

1.5%

0.9%

Other

34.5%

19.3%

15.0%

13.9%

5.4%

Other

10.1%

Ch. B: Category-Weighted Supplier Concentration

Eurostat Comext — Detailed Trade Statistics · European Commission, Eurostat

Subcategories

Category	HHI	Volume
Legacy Discrete	0.3039	4.39M
Legacy Components	0.4440	6.72M
Integrated Circuits	0.2060	1.75B

Warnings

◆ [Medium]Re-export blindness: bilateral trade records shipping country, not country of origin.
● [Low]Trade concentration does not capture domestic fabrication capacity.
● [Low]HS 8542 at HS4 aggregate: integrated circuits not decomposed into subcategories.
● [Low]Intra-EU trade included: EU partners appear as suppliers (by design).
● [Low]Three-year window (2022–2024) may include pandemic-era distortions.

Axis 4

Defense External Supplier Concentration

1.0000Highly Concentrated

Malta scores 1.0000 on defense industrial dependency (highly concentrated). This reflects the concentration of major conventional arms imports across supplier countries.

Audit Breakdown

Channel A Concentration

1.0000

Channel A Volume

45.0000

Channel B Concentration

1.0000

Channel B Volume

45.0000

Score

1.0000

Basis

Both Channels

Channels

Ch. A: Aggregate Supplier Concentration

1 partners

SIPRI Arms Transfers Database · Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)

Top Partners

100.0%

Ch. B: Capability-Block Weighted Concentration

SIPRI Arms Transfers Database · Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)

Subcategories

Category	HHI	Volume
Naval Combat	1.0000	45

Warnings

◆ [Medium]SIPRI TIV is a volume indicator, not a financial value. Comparability across weapon types is approximate.
◆ [Medium]SIPRI covers major conventional weapons only. Small arms, ammunition, MRO, and sustainment contracts are excluded.
● [Low]Six-year delivery window (2019–2024) may include legacy contracts not reflecting current strategic posture.
● [Low]Regex-based weapon classification may cause edge-case misclassification across capability blocks.
● [Low]Countries with no bilateral SIPRI supplier entries are assigned score=0 (zero external concentration). This reflects licensed production, joint EU procurement, or domestic manufacturing.

Axis 5

Critical Inputs External Supplier Concentration

0.4087Moderately Concentrated

Malta scores 0.4087 on critical inputs dependency (moderately concentrated). This reflects the concentration of critical raw material imports across supplier countries.

Audit Breakdown

Channel A Concentration

0.2759

Channel A Volume

3.59M

Channel B Concentration

0.5416

Channel B Volume

3.59M

Score

0.4087

Basis

Both

Channels

Ch. A: Aggregate Supplier Concentration

23 partners

Eurostat Comext — Detailed Trade Statistics · European Commission, Eurostat

Top Partners

35.3%

32.2%

21.3%

3.1%

2.3%

2.2%

1.2%

0.5%

0.4%

35.3%

32.2%

21.3%

3.1%

2.3%

Other

4.9%

Ch. B: Material-Group Weighted Supplier Concentration

Eurostat Comext — Detailed Trade Statistics · European Commission, Eurostat

Subcategories

Category	HHI	Volume
Rare Earths	0.5611	43.48K
Battery Metals	0.8942	805.83K
Defense Industrial Metals	0.5304	104.17K
Semiconductor Inputs	0.4364	2.6M
Fertilizer Chokepoints	0.2215	33K

Warnings

▲ [High]Re-export and entrepot masking: bilateral trade records shipping country, not origin. 13 of 27 reporters source >50% from EU partners.
◆ [Medium]Small-economy amplification: CY, MT, LU produce mechanically high HHI values due to low total import volumes.
◆ [Medium]CN8 scope covers upstream materials only. Midstream processing and downstream products excluded. China's role understated.
● [Low]Confidential trade suppression: Q-prefix partner codes excluded. May cause underestimation for some partners.

Axis 6

Logistics External Supplier Concentration

1.0000Highly Concentrated

Malta scores 1.0000 on logistics/freight dependency (highly concentrated). This reflects the concentration of international freight across transport modes and bilateral partners.

Audit Breakdown

Channel A Concentration

1.0000

Channel A Volume

12.1K

Channel B Concentration

0.0000

Channel B Volume

0.0000

Score

1.0000

Basis

A Only

Channels

Ch. A: Transport Mode Concentration

Eurostat — Statistical Database · European Commission, Eurostat

Ch. B: Partner Concentration Per Transport Mode

Eurostat — Statistical Database · European Commission, Eurostat

Warnings

▲ [High]Entrepot/hub masking: NL and BE scores understate their systemic importance as continental freight hubs; countries trading through NL/BE have inflated partner concentration masking true origin.
◆ [Medium]Geographic determinism: MT (Channel A HHI = 1.0), CY, and landlocked countries have structurally constrained scores reflecting geography, not policy choices.
◆ [Medium]Maritime-energy overlap: maritime tonnage includes energy commodity transport, creating partial redundancy with Axis 3 (Energy).
◆ [Medium]Tonnage blindness: all freight is treated equally per tonne regardless of commodity type; strategic commodity differentiation is absent.
● [Low]No route/chokepoint data: the axis cannot detect Suez, Bosporus, or any physical corridor dependency.

Cite: Drazsky, S., & International Sovereignty Institute. (2026). International Sovereignty Index (ISI) — EU-27 Founding Cohort (v1.0). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18764170