Infant deaths, interest bills and divorces: stories from the 2026 statistical yearbook

Plus fewer pension members, more foreign workers and falling births.

Artwork: Dosain

3 hours ago

Seventy-three infant deaths. Sixty-nine divorces for every 100 marriages. More than 10,000 fewer people on the pension scheme. Quadrupled interest payments on government debt. These were among the most telling figures from the Statistical Pocketbook of 2026, the Statistics Bureau's annual digest of official data.

The report covers everything from rainfall to pension payouts. This year's edition was published last week with most series carrying figures up to 2025. Here are the key takeaways beyond the headline numbers of 2.25 million tourist arrivals and 6.3 per cent GDP growth.

Infant deaths at highest rate since 2006

Infant mortality rose to 13 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2025, up from eight the year before. It is the highest rate since 2006.

The neonatal mortality rate, which counts deaths in the first 27 days, rose from seven to 10 per 1,000. That is also the highest since 2006.

Based on the 5,625 births registered in 2025, about 73 babies are estimated to have died before their first birthday, compared with about 47 in 2024.

Maternal deaths also rose. The maternal mortality ratio reached 137 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2024, the highest in the 20 years covered, before falling to 89 in 2025.

With fewer than 6,000 births a year, each maternal death adds about 17 points to the ratio, which means about eight maternal deaths in 2024 and five in 2025.

In 2025, government spending on the Aasandha universal health insurance scheme fell 22 per cent to MVR2.58 billion (US$167 million), the lowest since 2021. The number of people who used it rose slightly to 381,107.

Spending on emergency medical welfare fell 26 per cent to MVR360 million, even as the number of recipients rose seven per cent to 19,026. Lower spending may also reflect unpaid bills and arrears rather than the provision of care.

Fewer births, more divorces, smaller households

There were 3,546 divorces in 2025, the highest number in the past two decades. Marriages fell to 5,148, lower than in any year except 2019 and 2020.

The 69 divorces registered for every 100 marriages were up from 39 in 2006.

Births fell to 5,625 in 2025, the lowest in the series and 24 per cent below the 2012 peak of 7,431. At the 2022 census, the was 1.7 children per woman.

The number of households more than doubled between the 2006 and 2022 censuses, from 46,194 to 94,424. Over the same period, the average household shrank from 6.5 people to 4.7.

In the atolls, households averaged 9.8 people at the 1990 census and 4.8 in 2022.

Interest bill quadrupled

Interest on government debt more than quadrupled in seven years, from MVR1.1 billion in 2017 to MVR4.59 billion in 2024. It now takes 13 per cent of the government's revenue and grants, up from 5.5 per cent.

In 2024, interest payments were equal to more than a third of the government's capital spending of MVR13.1 billion.

Total debt nearly tripled over the same period to MVR138.6 billion (127 per cent of GDP). Domestic borrowing drove most of the increase. It tripled to MVR82.2 billion and now makes up 59 per cent of the total.

Monetary figures show the banking system's net claims on the central government more than tripled from MVR13.3 billion in 2019 to MVR46.2 billion in 2025. Lending to the private sector rose from MVR24.8 billion to MVR38.9 billion over the same period, an increase of 57 per cent.

Since 2022, the banking system's net lending to the government has been larger than its lending to all private businesses and households combined.

Pension scheme records 10,000 fewer employees

The Maldives Retirement Pension Scheme recorded 107,206 employees at the end of 2025, down 10,457 or nine per cent from a year earlier. It is the largest annual fall in the 15 years covered, nearly double the drop of 5,767 during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The number of employers in the scheme fell by 167 to 2,278.

The pocketbook does not say whether the figure counts active contributors or all registered members.

However, contributions rose five per cent to MVR1.92 billion. The average contribution per recorded employee rose 15 per cent.

Civil service shrinks for the first time since 2017

The civil service had 31,584 employees at the end of 2025, down 1,666 or five per cent. The fall came a year after it reached its largest size since it was formed in 2008.

Most of the fall was among men. The number of male civil servants fell 11 per cent to 10,158, while the number of women fell two per cent to 21,426. Women now make up 68 per cent of the civil service, up from 52 per cent in 2008.

The smaller civil service accounts for at most 1,666 of the 10,457 fewer employees in the pension scheme.

More foreign workers than foreign residents

The number of foreigners employed in the Maldives rose 14 per cent in 2025 to 204,917. That is a third more than in 2022. Over the same three years, the Maldivian population grew 2.5 per cent.

The employment figure is now larger than the bureau's estimate of the entire foreign population, which it puts at 189,892 for 2025. The gap is about 15,000, before counting any foreigners who are not working, such as family members.

The two numbers come from different sources. The employment figure comes from immigration records. The population figure is a projection based on the 2022 census. In every year from 2018 to 2024, the employment figure was the smaller of the two.

By the bureau's estimate, foreigners make up a third of the people living in the Maldives. The pocketbook projects that the figure will be two in five by 2062.

Honourable mentions:

Cars. Registered cars rose 76 per cent in three years, from 8,606 in 2021 to 15,178 in 2024. That includes a 26 per cent rise in 2024 alone. There are five times as many cars as in 2010. Motorcycles rose 16 per cent in 2024 to 164,307. Figures for 2025 are not yet available.

Hulhumalé. Since 2022, more electricity has been produced in Hulhumalé than in Malé: 437 million kWh compared to 324 million in 2025. Malé used a record 450 million kWh last year, far more than it produced. Water distributed in Hulhumalé has grown 2.7 times since 2019.

Tourism. Arrivals (2.25 million) and tourism receipts (US$5.57 billion) both hit records in 2025. But beds in operation have grown 43 per cent since 2019, while bed-nights grew 29 per cent. Bed utilisation was 58.5 per cent, down from 62.3 per cent in 2019. Guest houses now hold a quarter of all registered beds, 16,824 in total, up from 481 in 2006.

Schools. Two in five students now study in Malé, including Hulhumalé and Villimalé, up from fewer than three in 10 in 2010. Enrolment in the atolls fell to 59,240 in 2024. The gross enrolment ratio for grades 11 and 12 was 41 per cent.

Welfare. The number of people receiving the disability allowance has more than quadrupled since 2011 to 14,989. Spending on it more than doubled between 2022 and 2025 to MVR624 million. Basic pension recipients rose 47 per cent since 2019 to 25,650.

Bank loans. Loans that the pocketbook lists as "not adequately described" reached MVR10.1 billion in 2025. That is more than a quarter of all lending to the private sector and 14 times the 2010 figure. Lending for real estate jumped 58 per cent in 2024 to MVR3.5 billion.

Fisheries. The fish catch recovered 39 per cent to 150,133 tonnes in 2025 after falling a third in 2024. The yellowfin catch was still 41 per cent below its 2016 level, and the catch of non-tuna marine fish has fallen 87 per cent since 2013.

Heat. The three hottest years in Malé in the 21 years covered were the last three. The average daily maximum was 32.8°C in 2023, 32.1°C in 2024 and 31.9°C in 2025.

Phone calls. Minutes spent on international phone calls fell 94 per cent between 2014 and 2025.

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