the Maldives recorded a total of 555,000 tourists in 2020, ranking 122nd in the world in absolute terms.
That smaller countries regularly perform lower in a comparison of the absolute number of guests, is obvious. By putting the tourist numbers in relation to the population of the Maldives, the result is much more comparable picture: With 1.1 tourists per resident, the Maldives ranked 44th in the world. In South Asia, it ranked 1st.
In 2020, the Maldives generated around 1.41 billion US dollars in the tourism sector alone. This corresponds to 26.07 percent of its the gross domestic product and approximately 8 percent of all international tourism receipts in South Asia.
On average, each of the tourists arriving in 2020 spent about 2,411 US dollars.
Development of the tourism sector on the Maldives from 1995 to 2020
The following chart shows the number of tourist arrivals registered on the Maldives each year. Anyone who spends at least one night in the country but does not live there for more than 12 months is considered a tourist. Insofar as the survey included the purpose of the trip, business trips and other non-tourism travel purposes have already been excluded. The number of people passing through within the same day, and e.g., crew members of ships or flights are also not considered tourists in most countries. If the same person travels in and out more than once within the same year, each visit counts again.
The red line represents the average of all 8 countries in South Asia.
Revenues from tourism
In 1995, tourism revenues amounted to 211.00 million USD, or about 52.88 percent of the gross national product. This corresponded to about 315,000 tourists at that time and roughly 670 USD per person. Within 25 years, the country's dependence on tourism has increased slightly. Before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, sales were $3.17 billion billion, 56.53 percent of gross national product. Thus, each visitor spent an average of $1,862 on their vacation on the Maldives.
In 2020, tourist receipts plummeted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the $3.17 billion billion (2019), only $1.41 billion billion remained. This is a 56 percent decrease on the Maldives.
All data for the Maldives in detail
Year
Number of tourists
Receipts
% of GNP
Receipts per tourist
2020
555,000
1.41 bn $
37.61 %
2,539 $
2019
1.70 m
3.17 bn $
56.53 %
1,862 $
2018
1.48 m
3.05 bn $
57.61 %
2,058 $
2017
1.39 m
2.77 bn $
58.29 %
1,994 $
2016
1.29 m
2.64 bn $
60.29 %
2,053 $
2015
1.23 m
2.69 bn $
65.48 %
2,181 $
2014
1.21 m
2.81 bn $
76.03 %
2,333 $
2013
1.13 m
2.42 bn $
73.51 %
2,153 $
2012
958,000
2.03 bn $
70.40 %
2,121 $
2011
931,000
1.97 bn $
70.86 %
2,112 $
2010
792,000
1.71 bn $
66.19 %
2,163 $
2009
656,000
1.47 bn $
62.81 %
2,245 $
2008
683,000
1.56 bn $
68.63 %
2,283 $
2007
676,000
1.52 bn $
81.09 %
2,241 $
2006
602,000
1.24 bn $
78.40 %
2,051 $
2005
395,000
826.00 m $
71.00 %
2,091 $
2004
617,000
471.00 m $
38.39 %
763 $
2003
564,000
402.00 m $
38.21 %
713 $
2002
485,000
337.00 m $
37.57 %
695 $
2001
461,000
327.00 m $
37.58 %
709 $
2000
467,000
321.00 m $
51.41 %
687 $
1999
430,000
314.00 m $
53.29 %
730 $
1998
396,000
303.00 m $
56.10 %
765 $
1997
366,000
286.00 m $
56.27 %
781 $
1996
339,000
266.00 m $
59.06 %
785 $
1995
315,000
211.00 m $
52.88 %
670 $
Our data on tourist numbers, revenues and expenditures are based on information from the World Tourism Organization. However, to ensure international comparability, the data for some years or countries were manually researched and corrected if they obviously included visitors without overnight stays. In these cases, the data were taken from the official communications of the respective national tourism authorities.
The World Tourism Organization additionally points out that in some countries, the number of tourists is only counted at airports, while in others they are also counted at border crossings or even hotels. A comprehensive and reliable indication is therefore hardly possible in any country.
Quality of life 2023 in country comparison
Mega cities - the biggest cities all over the world
Inflation rates in Venezuela