World Factbook
Maldives
Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa
Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)
Literacy
male
98.2% (2019 est.)
female
98.3% (2019 est.)
total population
98.2% (2019 est.)
Languages
Dhivehi (official, closely related to Sinhala, script derived from Arabic), English (spoken by most government officials)
Religions
Sunni Muslim (official)
Sex ratio
at birth
1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years
1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years
1.06 male(s)/female
total population
1.04 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
65 years and over
0.77 male(s)/female
Birth rate
14.77 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Death rate
4.3 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Median age
male
31.3 years
total
32.4 years (2025 est.)
female
32.4 years
Population
male
197,739
total
388,858 (2024 est.)
female
191,119
Nationality
noun
Maldivian(s)
adjective
Maldivian
Tobacco use
male
41.5% (2025 est.)
total
28% (2025 est.)
female
9.2% (2025 est.)
Urbanization
urban population
42% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization
2.34% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Age structure
0-14 years
22.4% (male 44,321/female 42,626)
15-64 years
71.5% (male 143,021/female 135,044)
65 years and over
6.1% (2024 est.) (male 10,397/female 13,449)
Ethnic groups
homogeneous mixture of Sinhalese, Dravidian, Arab, Australasian, and African resulting from historical changes in regional hegemony over marine trade routes
Child marriage
men married by age 18
2.2% (2017)
women married by age 15
0% (2017)
women married by age 18
2.2% (2017)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio
39.8 (2024 est.)
youth dependency ratio
31.3 (2024 est.)
potential support ratio
11.7 (2024 est.)
elderly dependency ratio
8.6 (2024 est.)
Physician density
2.24 physicians/1,000 population (2019)
Health expenditure
Health expenditure (as % of GDP)
10% of GDP (2021)
Health expenditure (as % of national budget)
18.2% of national budget (2022 est.)
Net migration rate
-12.85 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Hospital bed density
5 beds/1,000 population (2020 est.)
Total fertility rate
1.7 children born/woman (2025 est.)
Drinking water source
improved: rural
rural: 99.9% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 99.6% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 99.1% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 0.1% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 0.4% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 0.9% of population (2022 est.)
Education expenditure
Education expenditure (% GDP)
5.2% of GDP (2023 est.)
Education expenditure (% national budget)
9.6% national budget (2025 est.)
Infant mortality rate
male
27.3 deaths/1,000 live births
total
23.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)
female
21.3 deaths/1,000 live births
Population growth rate
-0.24% (2025 est.)
Gross reproduction rate
0.83 (2025 est.)
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
Life expectancy at birth
male
75.1 years
female
79.9 years
total population
77.4 years (2024 est.)
Maternal mortality ratio
32 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Sanitation facility access
improved: rural
rural: 100% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 100% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 100% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 0% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 0% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 0% of population (2022 est.)
Alcohol consumption per capita
beer
0.33 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine
0.59 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total
1.38 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits
0.45 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols
0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Major urban areas - population
177,000 MALE (capital) (2018)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
8.6% (2016)
Mother's mean age at first birth
23.2 years (2016/17 est.)
note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49
Currently married women (ages 15-49)
68.4% (2022 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
14.8% (2017 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
male
11 years (2022 est.)
total
13 years (2022 est.)
female
15 years (2022 est.)