South Asia · Upper middle income
Maldives: the economy in numbers
Per person: $14,615, or $28,555 at purchasing power parity. Population: 529,676 (2025).
$7.74B+6.3%real GDP growth, 2025
GDP in 2025, current US dollars: #160 of 204 economies. IMF forecast for 2026: +1.0%.
GDP per capita
$14,615
2025 · #86 of 204
GDP per capita, PPP
$28,555
2025 · #83 of 197
Inflation
4.0%
2025 · IMF forecast 2026: 4.0%
Government debt
129.4%
2025 · % of GDP, general government
Population
530K
2025 · #171 of 217
Unemployment
4.5%
2025 · ILO estimate
Life expectancy
81.3 years
2024
GDP
Adjusted for US inflation, in 2025 dollars: $160 million in 1970, $7.74 billion in 2025.
GDP per capita
In 2025 dollars: $1,302 per person in 1970, $14,615 in 2025.
GDP per capitaGDP per capita, PPP (international $)
Real GDP growth
Average over 2016–2025: 4.8% a year. Years of falling GDP since 1971: 6 of 55.
Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook (October 2026)
Inflation
Consumer prices rose 2.12 times from 2000 to 2025. Highest annual inflation: 27.9% in 1980.
Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook (October 2026)
Government debt, % of GDP
Highest since 1997: 150.3% of GDP in 2020. IMF forecast for 2031: 130.6%.
General government (IMF)Central government only (World Bank)
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)
Population
1960: 91,189 · 2025: 529,676.
Unemployment rate
1991: 0.8% · 2025: 4.5%.
Life expectancy at birth
1960: 38.2 years · 2024: 81.3 years.
Exports of goods and services
2014: 91.3% · 2024: 78.2%.
Data by year
Show the year-by-year table
| Year | GDP | GDP per capita | Per capita, PPP | Real growth | Inflation | Gov. debt, % GDP | Population | Unemployment | Life expectancy | Exports, % GDP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2031 | 4.0%f | 2.0%f | 130.6%f | |||||||
| 2030 | 4.0%f | 2.0%f | 130.5%f | |||||||
| 2029 | 4.0%f | 2.0%f | 130.1%f | |||||||
| 2028 | 3.9%f | 2.0%f | 130.1%f | |||||||
| 2027 | 3.8%f | 2.5%f | 130.3%f | |||||||
| 2026 | 1.0%f | 4.0%f | 130.7%f | |||||||
| 2025 | $7.74B | $14,615 | $28,555 | 6.3% | 4.0% | 129.4% | 530K | 4.5% | ||
| 2024 | $7.06B | $13,379 | $26,221 | 3.5% | 1.4% | 133.4% | 528K | 4.3% | 81.3 | 78.2% |
| 2023 | $6.62B | $12,588 | $24,807 | 4.9% | 2.9% | 122.4% | 526K | 4.0% | 81.0 | 74.0% |
| 2022 | $6.18B | $11,786 | $22,877 | 13.8% | 2.3% | 111.6% | 524K | 4.3% | 80.8 | 82.7% |
| 2021 | $5.25B | $10,176 | $19,053 | 37.5% | 0.5% | 123.4% | 516K | 5.0% | 78.1 | 76.1% |
| 2020 | $3.71B | $7,394 | $13,425 | −32.9% | −1.4% | 150.3% | 502K | 5.4% | 78.7 | 48.2% |
| 2019 | $5.73B | $11,740 | $23,077 | 6.9% | 0.2% | 77.2% | 488K | 4.6% | 79.7 | 65.5% |
| 2018 | $5.4B | $11,423 | $21,899 | 8.6% | −0.1% | 70.7% | 473K | 5.0% | 79.4 | 66.4% |
| 2017 | $4.82B | $10,510 | $19,768 | 7.1% | 2.8% | 63.8% | 458K | 5.4% | 79.2 | 69.1% |
| 2016 | $4.41B | $9,948 | $18,770 | 6.4% | 0.5% | 62.0% | 443K | 5.8% | 78.9 | 71.6% |
| 2015 | $4.13B | $9,645 | $17,875 | 3.9% | 1.0% | 55.0% | 428K | 6.6% | 78.6 | 76.4% |
| 2014 | $3.7B | $8,939 | $16,723 | 7.9% | 2.1% | 55.1% | 414K | 7.5% | 78.2 | 91.3% |
| 2013 | $3.3B | $8,236 | $15,264 | 7.0% | 3.8% | 55.9% | 400K | 8.3% | 77.8 | |
| 2012 | $2.89B | $7,461 | $13,989 | 2.4% | 10.9% | 57.1% | 387K | 9.1% | 77.5 | |
| 2011 | $2.77B | $7,425 | $13,726 | 8.8% | 11.3% | 51.9% | 374K | 10.0% | 77.1 | |
| 2010 | $2.59B | $7,174 | $12,797 | 6.8% | 6.1% | 52.7% | 361K | 10.9% | 76.8 | |
| 2009 | $2.35B | $6,734 | $12,266 | −8.3% | 4.5% | 48.4% | 348K | 11.7% | 76.4 | |
| 2008 | $2.27B | $6,757 | $13,779 | 9.0% | 12.0% | 39.0% | 336K | 10.4% | 76.0 | |
| 2007 | $1.87B | $5,758 | $12,852 | 7.1% | 6.8% | 35.8% | 324K | 9.4% | 75.7 | |
| 2006 | $1.58B | $5,019 | $12,075 | 23.6% | 2.7% | 36.8% | 314K | 8.3% | 75.3 | |
| 2005 | $1.16B | $3,797 | $9,704 | −11.2% | 1.3% | 43.2% | 306K | 7.3% | 74.8 | |
| 2004 | $1.23B | $4,070 | $10,770 | 5.9% | −1.7% | 34.7% | 301K | 6.2% | 73.0 | |
| 2003 | $1.05B | $3,549 | $10,065 | 13.8% | −1.3% | 37.6% | 296K | 5.1% | 73.3 | |
| 2002 | $897M | $3,076 | $8,823 | 7.3% | 4.2% | 44.3% | 292K | 4.1% | 72.4 | |
| 2001 | $870M | $3,034 | $8,236 | −3.9% | 0.7% | 41.8% | 287K | 3.0% | 71.7 | |
| 2000 | $624M | $2,214 | $8,526 | 3.8% | −1.2% | 39.0% | 282K | 2.0% | 70.9 | |
| 1999 | $589M | $2,124 | $8,162 | 6.2% | 3.0% | 38.9% | 277K | 1.7% | 70.2 | |
| 1998 | $540M | $1,980 | $7,710 | 7.5% | −1.4% | 39.3% | 273K | 1.5% | 69.3 | |
| 1997 | $508M | $1,898 | $7,226 | 8.4% | 7.6% | 38.1% | 268K | 1.2% | 68.5 | |
| 1996 | $450M | $1,717 | $6,687 | 7.9% | 6.2% | 262K | 1.0% | 67.7 | ||
| 1995 | $399M | $1,555 | $6,223 | 13.0% | 5.5% | 257K | 0.8% | 67.0 | ||
| 1994 | $356M | $1,419 | $5,520 | 7.7% | 3.4% | 251K | 0.8% | 66.2 | ||
| 1993 | $322M | $1,317 | $5,138 | 5.6% | 20.1% | 245K | 0.8% | 65.4 | ||
| 1992 | $285M | $1,194 | $4,881 | 6.7% | 16.9% | 239K | 0.8% | 64.7 | ||
| 1991 | $244M | $1,054 | $4,604 | 1.4% | 14.7% | 232K | 0.8% | 63.9 | ||
| 1990 | $215M | $957 | $4,528 | 17.0% | 3.6% | 225K | 63.1 | |||
| 1989 | $190M | $870 | 9.3% | 7.2% | 218K | 62.4 | ||||
| 1988 | $169M | $799 | 8.7% | 6.5% | 211K | 61.6 | ||||
| 1987 | $141M | $692 | 8.8% | 9.7% | 204K | 60.8 | ||||
| 1986 | $142M | $720 | 9.4% | 9.7% | 197K | 60.0 | ||||
| 1985 | $127M | $669 | 15.4% | −9.2% | 190K | 59.2 | ||||
| 1984 | $110M | $594 | 27.0% | 1.0% | 184K | 58.3 | ||||
| 1983 | $57.8M | $323 | 16.3% | 9.9% | 179K | 57.5 | ||||
| 1982 | $47.9M | $275 | −3.0% | −0.8% | 174K | 56.6 | ||||
| 1981 | $44.8M | $264 | 11.8% | 11.1% | 170K | 55.7 | ||||
| 1980 | $42.5M | $258 | 18.6% | 27.9% | 165K | 54.8 | ||||
| 1979 | $38.5M | $240 | 10.7% | 160K | 53.9 | |||||
| 1978 | $24.4M | $156 | 14.7% | 156K | 50.4 | |||||
| 1977 | $20.9M | $137 | 11.3% | 152K | 51.8 | |||||
| 1976 | $22.4M | $152 | 0.6% | 148K | 50.8 | |||||
| 1975 | $24.5M | $171 | −8.0% | 143K | 49.6 | |||||
| 1974 | $39.1M | $281 | 5.7% | 139K | 48.5 | |||||
| 1973 | $30.9M | $229 | 1.6% | 135K | 47.5 | |||||
| 1972 | $25.2M | $192 | 2.4% | 131K | 46.4 | |||||
| 1971 | $21.6M | $170 | 5.2% | 127K | 45.5 | |||||
| 1970 | $19.3M | $157 | 123K | 44.5 | ||||||
| 1969 | 120K | 43.7 | ||||||||
| 1968 | 116K | 42.9 | ||||||||
| 1967 | 113K | 42.1 | ||||||||
| 1966 | 109K | 41.4 | ||||||||
| 1965 | 104K | 40.8 | ||||||||
| 1964 | 101K | 40.2 | ||||||||
| 1963 | 98.2K | 39.6 | ||||||||
| 1962 | 95.8K | 39.1 | ||||||||
| 1961 | 93.5K | 38.6 | ||||||||
| 1960 | 91.2K | 38.2 |
e: IMF estimate; f: IMF forecast. Inflation: IMF data for 1980–1985, World Bank for the other years.
Nearby economies in South Asia
Nearest by distance between capitals, with GDP per capita.
Bangladesh · Bhutan · India · Maldives · Nepal · Sri Lanka
Rankings
GDP by country · GDP per capita · Real GDP growth · Inflation by country · Government debt to GDP · Stock market to GDP · Population by country · Unemployment by country
Data and methods
- GDP: gross domestic product in current US dollars, converted from the local currency at market exchange rates (World Bank); not adjusted for inflation.
- Purchasing power parity (PPP): GDP per person in international dollars, which buy the same basket of goods and services in every country. It compares living standards across countries in the same year; it is not adjusted for inflation over time.
- In 2025 dollars: the charts can remove US inflation (US consumer price index, annual average) so that dollar amounts from different years compare in today's money. Exchange rate swings still show.
- Growth and inflation: World Bank data (calendar years). Years the World Bank does not cover yet, and the estimates and forecasts, come from the IMF World Economic Outlook (October 2026): its forecasts start in 2026, and the years after a country's last actual year are IMF estimates.
- Government debt: gross debt of the general government (central, state and local government and social security funds) as a percentage of GDP, IMF. The World Bank's central government debt is narrower and covers fewer countries.
- Stock market capitalization: the end-of-year value of domestic companies listed on the country's exchanges (World Federation of Exchanges via the World Bank; before 2016, Standard & Poor's), as a percentage of GDP: the “Buffett indicator”. Investment funds are excluded, and so are companies listed only abroad; companies from elsewhere that list on an exchange count for its country (Hong Kong lists many mainland Chinese companies).
- Unemployment: ILO modeled estimates (share of the labor force); comparable across countries, but they may differ from national figures.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)
Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook (October 2026)