Official results show the MLP garnered 51.8 per cent of the vote, defeating the conservative Nationalist Party (PN) which took 44.7 per cent.
"We have made history by winning for the fourth time in a row," Abela said in a television interview on Sunday after initial results showed his party in the lead.
Abela is set to be sworn in for another term by President Myriam Spiteri Debono on Monday.
Fireworks were set off in several locations across the Mediterranean island, and a large crowd dressed in party red gathered outside the MLP headquarters in the town of Hamrun.
Many held up four fingers to celebrate the party's fourth consecutive election victory since 2013.
Opposition leader Alex Borg of the PN said in a video message posted on social media that he had called Abela to concede defeat and wish him well.
"The people have spoken, and we must respect their will," Borg said.
Voter turnout stood at more than 87 per cent, according to official figures.
Abela, 48, had called Saturday's snap election a year ahead of schedule in late April, citing global geopolitical concerns arising from the war in Iran.
He said his government needed a new mandate to guide Malta and its citizens through a looming energy crisis.
However, observers believe that the decision was a political manoeuvre intended to prevent Borg, who was only elected leader of the PN last September, from establishing himself as a serious rival.
During the campaign, Abela's centre-left MLP focused on continuity and pointed to Malta's strong economy as proof of its ability to govern.
Borg's PN meanwhile presented itself as a force that would improve the country's infrastructure and reduce Malta's dependence on foreign labour.
The party portrayed 30-year-old Borg - a lawyer and former Mr World Malta winner - as a fresh political alternative capable of bringing change after more than a decade of Labour rule.
Abela first took office in 2020. He is the son of a former Maltese president.
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