POPULATION OF THE MALDIVES
Population: 391,904 (July 2020 estimated); compared with other countries in the world: 177. [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2020]
The population of the Maldives rose from 155,300 in 1980; to 195,000 in 1986; to 261,310 in 1995; to 289,117 in 2000; to 294,000 in 2005, when it ranked 169th in population among the 193 nations of the world. At that time the United Nations estimated that 27 percent of the population lived in urban areas, mostly in capital city of Malé, and that urban areas were growing at a rate of 4.56 percent a year. Malé had a population of 83,000 in 2005. [Source: “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations”, Thomson Gale, 2007]
The population of Maldives increased rapidly through the 1960s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s and have leveled off in recent years. In the mid 2010s, the population of theMaldives was 341,256, plus close to 60,000 registered foreigners in the country.
More than 200 of the 1,190 islands in the Maldives are inhabited but only five islands have a population of more than 3,000. The majority have a population of 500 or less. Despite this the country has a very high population density (See Below) More than a quarter of Maldivians live on the overcrowded capital island of Malé, where there were an average of 10 persons per household compared with a national average of 6.5 in the early 2000s. [Source: “Worldmark Encyclopedia of National Economies”, The Gale Group Inc., 2002]
Population History in the Maldives
The population of the Maldives roughly quintupled since 1911 when a census recorded 72,237 people on 217 inhabited islands. The population had traditionally been kept in check by epidemics, food shortages caused by droughts and interruptions of food imports and cerebral malaria. But after malaria was brought under control and food supplies were stabilized the population started growing at a very fast clip. [Source: Clarence Maloney and Nils Finn Munch-Petersen, “Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume 3: South Asia,” edited by Paul Hockings, 1992 |~|]
Based on the 1990 census, the population was 213,215. The country's population in mid-1994 was estimated at 252,077. The high 1994 birthrate of 44 per 1,000 will lead to a population of more than 300,000 by the year 2000 and 400,000 by 2020. Although the high population growth rate was a serious problem, Maldives lacks an official birth control policy. The population growth rate also poses problems for the country's future food supply because the dietary staple of rice is not grown in the islands and must be imported. [Source: Helen Chapin Metz, Library of Congress, 1994 *]
The first accurate census was held in December 1977 and showed 142,832 persons residing in Maldives, an increase of 37 percent over a 1967 estimate. The next census in March 1985 showed 181,453 persons, consisting of 94,060 males and 87,393 females. This pattern has continued in Maldives, with the 1990 census listing 109,806 males and 103,409 females.*
The government has done little to push birth control and family planning because of Islamic traditions. Clarence Maloney and Nils Finn Munch-Petersen wrote in the “Encyclopedia of World Cultures”: “As of 1991 there were 228,000 Divehis — 220,000 Maldivians and roughly 8,000 on Maliku. The 1990 census showed a crude birthrate of 43 per 1,000 and a growth rate of 3.5 percent a year. Male has 57,000 people, a quarter of all Divehis, though it is only 1.6 kilometers long and the thin groundwater lens has become polluted, so the government tries to curb migration there. Life expectancy is about 62 years for males and 60 for females. |~|
Population Density and Distribution
About a quarter of the population of the Maldives lives in Malé. Outside Male’ the largest population are in Hithadhoo in Addu Atoll, Fuamulah and Kulhudhufushi in Haa Dhaalu Atoll with 9,640, 7243 and 6,354 respectively. The rest is dispersed sparsely in the rest of the 200 or so inhabited islands. [Source: Oceana Maldives Holidays visitmaldives.info ]
Population distribution: about a third of the population lives in the centrally located capital city of Male and almost a tenth in southern Addu City; the remainder of the populace is spread over the 200 or so populated islands of the archipelago Population distribution is a summary description of the population dispersion within a country. While it may suggest population density, it does not provide density figures. [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2020]
The population density of the Maldives is 1,300 people per square kilometer (3,410 per square mile). The population density was 1,071 per square kilometer (2,774 per square mile) in the mid 2000s, compared to 80 in low-income countries; 30 in high high income countries; and 32 in the United States. At that time 27 percent of the population resided in urban areas. [Source: “Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations”, Thomson Gale, 2007]
The Maldives population density is among the highest in world. By comparison the population density is 2 per square kilometer in Mongolia, 35 per square kilometer in the United States, and 511 in South Korea and 5 per square mile in Mongolia, 93 per square mile in the United States, and 2,890 in Bangladesh). The world's most crowded countries in the 1990s (people per square kilometer) were: 1) Macao (25,882); 2) Monaco (15,789); 3) Hong Kong (5,308); 4) Singapore (4,228); 5) Vatican City (2,500); 6) Bermuda (1,322); 7) Malta (1,076); 8) Bangladesh (824); 9) Bahrain (772); 10) Maldives (762). [Source: World Population Review]
The largest concentration of Maldives' population is in Male, a small island of approximately two square kilometers, whose 1990 population of 55,130 represented slightly more than 25 percent of the national total. Giving meaningful average population density is difficult because many of Maldives' approximately 1,200 islands are uninhabited. Of the approximately 200 inhabited islands in 1988, twenty-eight had fewer than 200 inhabitants, 107 had populations ranging from 200 to 500, and eight had populations between 500 and 1,000. A government study in the mid1980s listed twenty-five places with a population of more than 1,000. Maldives has few towns besides the capital of Male. Villages comprise most of the settlements on the inhabited islands. The 1990 census recorded an average population density for the Maldives of 706 persons per square kilometer. [Source: Helen Chapin Metz, Library of Congress, 1994]
Age Structure and Dependency Ratio of the Maldives
Age structure:
0-14 years: 22.13 percent (male 44,260/female 42,477)
15-24 years: 17.24 percent (male 37,826/female 29,745)
25-54 years: 48.91 percent (male 104,217/female 87,465)
55-64 years: 6.91 percent (male 12,942/female 14,123)
65 years and over: 4.81 percent (male 8,417/female 10,432) (2020 estimated)
[Source: CIA World Factbook, 2020]
The age structure of a population affects a nation's key socioeconomic issues. Countries with young populations (high percentage under age 15) need to invest more in schools, while countries with older population while countries with older populations (high percentage ages 65 and over) need to invest more in the health sector.
For comparison sake the population 14 and under is 40 percent in Kenya, 19 percent in the United States and 13 percent in Japan. The Population 65 and above is 3 percent in Kenya, 15 percent in the United States and 27 percent in Japan). [Source: World Bank data.worldbank.org ]
In 2005, in the Maldives, approximately 4 percent of the population was over 65 years of age, with 36 percent was 14 or under. of the population under 15 years of age. In the 1990s, almost half the population was under fifteen years of age, and about three percent was sixty five years and older. [Sources: “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations”, Thomson Gale, 2007; “Countries and Their Cultures”, The Gale Group Inc.. 2001]]
Dependency ratios are a measure of the age structure of a population. They relate the number of individuals that are likely to be economically "dependent" on the support of others. Dependency ratios contrast the ratio of youths (ages 0-14) and the elderly (ages 65+) to the number of those in the working-age group (ages 15-64). Changes in the dependency ratio provide an indication of potential social support requirements resulting from changes in population age structures.
Dependency ratios in the Maldives: total dependency ratio: 30.2
youth dependency ratio: 25.5
elderly dependency ratio: 4.7
potential support ratio: 21.4 (2020 estimated)
Median age: total: 29.5 years; male: 29.2 years; female: 30 years (2020 estimated); compared with other countries in the world: 129
Population Growth in the Maldives
Population growth rate: -0.08 percent (2020 estimated); compared with other countries in the world: 203. Birth rate: 16 births per 1,000 population (2020 estimated); compared with other countries in the world: 111. Death rate: 4.1 deaths per 1,000 population (2020 estimated); compared with other countries in the world: 213. [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2020 =]
The census in 1990 recorded a birth rate of 4.3 percent and a growth rate of 3.5 percent. The annual population growth rate in 2000 was 3.06 percent, one of the highest population growth rates in the world. At that time the Maldives population was expected nearly double in 2010. In the mid 2000s, the population growth rate in the Maldives was 2.8 percent compared to 2 percent in low-income countries; 0.8 percent in high-income countries; and 1.2 percent in the United States. In 2000, the birth rate stood at 38.96 per 1,000, while the death rate was 8.32 deaths per 1,000. If that rate continued the population of the Maldives would fail to stabilize for at least another 50 years. Efforts to combat population growth were hampered by problems in health care and social and economic development.
The costs of a high population growth are high. According to the “Worldmark Encyclopedia of National Economies”: The traditional construction material, coral, is near its point of full depletion. More importantly, the fresh water held beneath the soil surface is in rapid decline. This means that the Maldives faces the prospect of importing a large percentage of its water needs to support the growing population, unless there are fast developments in desalination services on the islands. [Source: “Worldmark Encyclopedia of National Economies”, The Gale Group Inc., 2002]
But after 2000, population growth rates dropped dramatically. The population growth rate was 1.66 percent in 2008 and below 0 in 2020. The population, in terms of new births, is now declining.
Sex Ratio and Fertility Rate of the Maldives
Total fertility rate (the average number of children born per woman): 1.71 children born per woman (2020 estimated); compared with other countries in the world: 171. A rate of 2.1 children per woman is considered the level to keep the population the same. If it is below that then the population is expected to shrink unless people from the outside move in. The fertility rate was 5.1 births per woman in the early 2000s. [Source: = “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations”, Thomson Gale, 2007]
Mother's mean age at first birth: 24.5 years (2009 estimated). The mean (average) age of mothers at the birth of their first child is a useful indicator for gauging the success of family planning programs aiming to reduce maternal mortality, increase contraceptive use — particularly among married and unmarried adolescents — delay age at first marriage, and improve the health of newborns. =
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.27 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.19 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female
total population: 1.13 male(s)/female (2020 estimated) =
There were 106 males for every 100 females in the mid 2000s. in the country.
Birth Control in the Maldives
Contraceptive prevalence rate: 34.7 percent (2009, CIA World Factbook, 2020 =). Contraceptive use (any method, women ages 15-49): 19 percent in 2017 (compared to 12 percent in Sudan and 84 percent in the United Kingdom) [Source: World Bank ]
Types of birth control used (2015); female sterilization: 12.7 percent; male sterilization: 0.6 percent; pill: 5.8 percent; injectible: 1.5 percent; Implant: 0.6 percent; IUD: 1.0 percent; male condom: 11.7 percent; early withdrawal: 3.5 percent; rhythm method: 4.3 percent; traditional: 0.1 percent; total: 42 percent [Source: Trends in Contraceptive Use Worldwide 2015 — the United Nations un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications ]
Types of birth control used (1994): female sterilization: 5.1 percent; male sterilization: percent; pill: 12.6 percent; injectible: 2.5 percent; implant: 0 percent IUD: 1.3 percent; male condom: 2.5 percent; early withdrawal: 3.7 percent; rhythm method: 4.8 percent; traditional: 0.6 percent total: 33.2 percent. [Source: Trends in Contraceptive Use Worldwide 2015 — the United Nations un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications ]
The government in the has done little to push birth control and family planning because of Islamic traditions. Despite rapid population growth, family planning programs in Maldives did not begin in a well-funded and planned manner until the UN implemented several programs in the 1980s. These programs focused on improving health standards among the islanders, including family planning education emphasizing the spacing of births and raising the customary age of marriage among adolescents. Abortion was not a legally accepted method for child spacing in Maldives. In the mid-1980s, a World Health Organization (WHO) program monitored the extent and use of various contraceptive methods over a four-year period. As of the early 1990s, the government had taken no overt actions toward limiting the number of children per couple or setting target population goals. [Source: Helen Chapin Metz, Library of Congress, 1994]
Migration in the Maldives
The Maldives has one of the world’s highest rates of migration out of the country. Net migration rate: -12.7 migrant(s) per 1,000 population (2020 estimated); compared with other countries in the world: 221 This figure represents the difference between the number of persons entering and leaving a country during the year per 1,000 persons (based on midyear population). An excess of persons leaving the country as net emigration is expressed by a negative figure. The net migration rate indicates the contribution of migration to the overall level of population change. It does not distinguish between economic migrants, refugees, and other types of migrants nor does it distinguish between lawful migrants and undocumented migrants. [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2020]
On outsiders in the Maldives, the United Nations reports: Migration plays a the key role in the Maldives economy, where migrants mainly from South Asia, but also from the Philippines, Egypt, Iran and the Russian Federation, represent nearly a third of the country’s population of 378,000. Migrants – an estimated 63,000 of whom are believed to be undocumented – are particularly dominant in the tourism, construction, health and education sectors. In construction, one of the key engines of Maldivian economic growth, migrant workers, primarily from Bangladesh, account for about 88 per cent of the workforce. [Source: “Maldives Migration Profile Highlights Key Role of Foreign Migrant Workers”, United Nations, June 28, 2019]
In regard to internal migration, “ nearly half of the country’s population has moved to Male – the capital – from outlying islands within the last few decades.” Concerns include “excessive recruitment fees, migrants’ misconceptions about working and living conditions, a lack of pre-departure employment information, unlawful subcontracting of workers, unsafe working conditions, ineffective monitoring of recruitment and employment practices, and weak sanctions for labour law violations.
The growth rate in Malé atoll has been high as a result of employment opportunities offered by growth in the service sector. According to ”Countries and Their Cultures” and the “Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations”: : “Even though income in Malé is significantly higher than that in the atolls, the resulting rural-urban migration has led to increasing unemployment. Emigration from the republic is rare except for educational purposes or to work as a crew member on Maldivian ships...People migrate between islands mainly to settle in Malé. Between 1967 and 2000, the population in the capital rose from one-tenth to more than one-quarter of the national total. The total number of migrants in 2000 was 3,000. In 2005, the estimated net migration rate was zero. [Source: “Countries and Their Cultures”, The Gale Group Inc.. 2001; “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations”, Thomson Gale, 2007]
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Lonely Planet Guides, Library of Congress, Republic of Maldives Department of Information, the government site (maldivesinfo.gov.mv), Ministry of Tourism Maldives (tourism.gov.mv), Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC, visitmaldives.com), The Guardian, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Wikipedia and various books, websites and other publications.
Last updated February 2022