Public cultural expenditure in the Financial Estimates can be mapped to four broad categories: heritage (including archaeology, restoration, archives, UNESCO, intangible heritage, crafts, language bodies); arts (performing and visual arts, music, carnival, arts education, ACM and its PCOs, festivals); media and audiovisual (broadcasting, film, libraries, books, digital games, press); and interdisciplinary (VCA, cultural diplomacy, cultural education, Valletta 2031 candidacy, innovation prizes). The film cash-rebate allocation (capital LV 7256) dominates the media/audiovisual capital line.
Table 7: Public cultural expenditure by sector, 2025 and 2026 (EUR millions, current prices)
|
Category |
2025 recurrent |
2026 recurrent |
2025 capital |
2026 capital |
2026 total |
Share of total (%) |
|
Heritage |
19.1 |
25.3 |
12.6 |
17.3 |
42.6 |
30.7 |
|
Arts |
31.7 |
35.6 |
5.3 |
5.0 |
40.6 |
29.3 |
|
Media and audiovisual |
20.1 |
21.6 |
30.5 |
27.5 |
49.1 |
35.4 |
|
Interdisciplinary |
5.7 |
6.4 |
0.3 |
0.0 |
6.4 |
4.6 |
|
Total |
76.6 |
88.9 |
48.7 |
49.8 |
138.7 |
100.0 |
Source: Author’s compilation from Financial Estimates 2026 and 2025. Categories are derived from the line-vote descriptions and ministerial portfolio assignment; classification judgements are the author’s.
The largest single recurrent line vote is Heritage Malta at €10.05 million (2026), followed by PBS Ltd (public-service obligation) at €8.6 million and the Valletta Cultural Agency at €4.5 million. In the arts category, the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra (€3.8 million plus €250,000 Music Academy), Festivals Malta (€3.2 million), Pjazza Teatru Rjal (€2.64 million), MICAS (€2.5 million recurrent plus €1 million capital), NAPA (€2.3 million, up from €1.6 million), and Arts Council Malta itself (€2.425 million) are the principal recurrent recipients. The Malta Biennale allocation rose from €250,000 (2025) to €2.35 million (2026), reflecting Heritage Malta’s investment in the second edition. Band Club Premises capital rose from €100,000 to €900,000.
Media/audiovisual expenditure is dominated by the film cash-rebate scheme (€25 million capital, reduced from €28 million in 2025) and PBS Ltd. The Malta Film Commission recurrent allocation was halved from €3.8 million to €1.8 million, partly reflecting the transfer of screen-production funding to ACM’s Screen Support Scheme (€2 million under “Creative Malta / Screen Malta”).
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