Main article: Countries of the world
Population
Migration
2021: Net population inflow in 4 years
Government
2022: Ex-Maldives president sentenced to 11 years in prison and $5m fine for laundering money through island lease
On December 25, 2022, it became known that the Criminal Court of the Maldives found former President Abdulla Yameen guilty of money laundering and taking a bribe. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison and a fine of $5 million. Read more here.
Economy
GDP
2023: 4th in the world in terms of economic growth
Tourism
2025: The tourist flow of Russians to the Maldives for the year increased by 24% and reached 279 thousand people
For the period from January 1 to December 31, 2025, the number of tourist visits from Russia to the Maldives reached 278,760, which is 23.8% more than in 2024 (225,204 visits). These data of the Ministry of Tourism of the Maldives were published and commented on by the Analytical Service of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) on January 8, 2026.
The Russian market ranked second in the ranking of key countries supplying tourists to the Maldives, second only to China (329,428 visits). The cumulative increase in tourist flow from Russia and China, which amounted to about 119 thousand people, provided 60% of the total increase in the number of foreign guests in the Maldives in 2025. The share of Russian tourists in the total volume reached 12.4%. This means that one in eight visitors to the archipelago comes from Russia.
Growth dynamics is supported by an increase in the share of tourists organized through tour operators. Companies report an increase in bookings exceeding the market average of 23.8%. Intourist had an increase of 19%, Spectrum Group of Intourist - 25%, PAC Group - 30%. Tour operators "Russian Express" and Space Travel recorded an increase of 40%, and the aggregator "Слетать.ру" - by 45.3%.
A significant trend was the popularization of summer holidays in the Maldives among Russians. The tourist flow in the summer months, such as July and August, was equal to the indicators of the traditional high winter season. Experts of the tour operator "Russian Express" associate this trend with the price factor.
Summer discounts in hotels reach 70%, and the average cost of a weekly tour to a 4 * -5 * all-inclusive hotel with flights from Air Arabia and Gulf Air was about 312 thousand rubles for two. This price category has become comparable to the cost of holidays in high-end Turkish hotels, which has attracted a new audience considering the Maldives as an alternative to other resorts.
Of the 2,246,516 foreign tourists who visited the Maldives in 2025, 73.4% were accommodated in resort hotels, 21.8% in gesthouses on local islands, 2.1% in city hotels in Male and 2.1% rested on cruises.[1]
2024: Tourist flow from Russia to Maldives up 7.7% to 225,205 visits
In mid-January 2025, the Maldives Immigration Service published a statistical report, according to which the number of Russian tourists in 2024 reached an all-time high of 225,205 visits, which is 7.7% more than in 2023 and 1.25% more than the previous record in 2021.
According to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, in the first half of 2024 there was a lag behind the indicators of 2023, but since the beginning of the summer season there has been a sharp increase, which has intensified in autumn and winter. The peak of visits occurred in October, and the minimum was recorded in May.
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Russia ranked second among key tourist markets in the Maldives, behind only China, where 263,189 tourists came from. In third place is the UK with 180,917 visits, followed by Germany and Italy with 156,608 and 145,609 visits, respectively.
It is noteworthy that about 45% of Russian tourists arrive in the Maldives by connecting flights, mainly through the airports of the United Arab Emirates. The total number of tourists visiting the Maldives in 2024 was 2,046,579, up 8.94% from 2023.
According to the publication, the most popular months for travel of Russian tourists were January, February, March, July, August and the period from October to December. At the same time, the Maldives shows less pronounced seasonality compared to other directions of Asia and the Indian Ocean, showing in the summer months figures comparable to the high winter season.
India, which led in terms of tourist flow in 2023, fell to sixth position with 130,488 visits, which is 37.6% less than the previous 2022, which is associated with political conflict between the countries.[2]
2023: The growth of the Russian flow of tourists by 3.6% to 209 thousand people
In 2023, 209,146 Russian tourists visited the Maldives, which is 3.6% more than a year earlier, when 201,954 arrivals were measured from the Russian Federation. 2021 remains a record year, when 220,424 tourists from the Russian Federation visited the Maldives. This was reported in the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) in January 2024.
Vice-President of the Russian Union of Travel Industry (PCT) Dmitry Gorin said that Russians began to buy tickets to the Maldives more often. He explained the interest of compatriots in his beloved resort of the rich, including the soft "covid" (we are talking about the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic) state policy . Since most countries were inaccessible to travelers, the Russians rushed there, Gorin explained.
According to the Ministry of Tourism of the Maldives, from January 1 to December 31, 2023, 1,878,537 visits of foreigners were recorded in the country. This is 12.1% more than in 2022 (1,675,303). Two markets with the same market shares (11.1% of all foreign tourists on the islands), located in the first two places in TOP-10 - India and Russia.
According to the Ministry of Tourism of the Maldives, on average, 5 thousand tourists come to the archipelago per day, and the average duration of their rest is seven days. Earlier, Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih announced plans to increase tourist flows to the country by 2028 to 3.5 million people annually.
As noted in ATOR, in the winter months and March, more Russians go to the Maldives than in the warm season, but summer no longer shows such a gap with winter, which, for example, is very pronounced in Sri Lanka. The association distinguishes two periods of clear decline in the wings of the season - May and September. In fact, in the Russian market, this is now a year-round direction (with some fluctuations), added to ATOR.[3]
2022: Russians second in number of tourists in Maldives after Hindus
By November 2022, the Russians took second place in terms of the total tourist flow to the Maldives since the beginning of the year and firmly fixed themselves in one of the leadership positions (178,934 tourists), displacing the British to the third line of the rating. The first place was taken by Indian tourists.
2021: Maldives sells off 16 private islands
On June 24, 2021, the Maldives government will auction 16 of its 1,190 islands. All this is being done as part of measures to support the tourism economy.
Interest in the islands increased significantly during the pandemic for both guests and potential owners. But a number of specific requirements apply to the load on each island.
So, for example, the islands do not have starting prices. Each island is available only for rent for 50 years (in rare cases, it can be extended to 99 years). The winning bidder must pay the cost of the purchase for rent, which ranges from USD 210,000 (Kudafarufasgandu Island with an area of 1.2 hectares on Haa Daal Atoll) to USD 1.575 million (for Maausfushi Island with an area of 10.4 hectares on Mimu Atoll).
The buyer must build a resort on the island. The concept, size and type of resort depends on the customer. Otherwise, it is necessary to adhere to general principles regarding construction, environmental standards and even the number of places for accommodation.
2020: COVID-19 hits tourism
Telecommunications and Communications
Main article: Communication in the Maldives
Trade
2025: In the Maldives, you can now pay with Mir cards
In the Maldives, they began to accept Russian Mir cards to pay for services in hotels. This was announced in December 2025 Life.ru. According to tourists, you can pay with Mir cards in one of the four-star hotels on the islands. With their help, they pay for additional services, including massages and a minibar. Payment fee is 3%. At the same time, there is no official information about the connection of the Maldives to the Russian payment system. The ability to use Mira has appeared thanks to the ClickPay service, which supports ruble cards. Read more here
2023: How Maldives, where there is "no chip market," came in second place in their supplies to Russia
On July 21, 2023, information appeared that the Maldives became the second largest supplier of semiconductor chips to Russia. This tropical state in the Indian Ocean has actually turned into a transit point for trade with the Russian Federation, bypassing American and European sanctions. Read more here.
Consumption
2023: Fish consumption is higher than meat consumption
Health care
2025: Ban on the purchase of cigarettes and smoking to all born after January 1, 2007
The Maldives banned tobacco for anyone born after January 1, 2007. They will not be able to store cigarettes, buy them, or bring them into the country. This was announced in November 2025 by the authorities of the republic. For citizens of the republic, the ban will be lifelong, and for tourists relevant for the entire rest time. Cigarette sellers will check the age of buyers, and customs checks may change at the border. Domestically, tourists can begin to look after hotel administrations. The smoking ban came into force on November 1, 2025.[4]
Education
2019: Citizens over 25 were educated for 7 years on average
Religion
2020: The country in the world leaders in the share of Muslims in the total population
Calendar
Notes
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