Tourism, fisheries, construction and other output oriented activities
Real
Fiscal Sector
Government accounts and budget information
Fiscal
Financial Sector
Financial statistics of MMA, commercial banks and other financial corporations in Maldives
Financial
External sector
Transactions with the rest of the world
External
Advanced Release Calender
Tourist arrivals
In March 2026, total tourist arrivals stood at 161,259, registering a decline of 20.7% compared with the same period of last year. During the month, the highest number of tourist arrivals were recorded from Russia, followed by China and United Kingdom.
The rate of inflation (annual percentage change in the national CPI) decelerated to -1.7% in March 2026, from 0.0% in February 2026. The largest contribution to the annual rate of inflation during the month came from Electricity (-2.75 percentage points); Passenger transport by sea and inland waterway (0.32 percentage points); and Fish (0.30 percentage points).
The volume of fish exports decreased by 80.6% in March 2026 compared with the same period of last year. This was mainly driven by the decrease in the export of Fresh, chilled or frozen Skipjack tuna by 93.5% (5,534.5 metric tonnes).
Total government revenue and grants is estimated to be increased by MVR2.5 billion (6.6%) in 2026 when compared to 2025, mostly driven by Tax revenue (an increase of MVR2.7 billion).
Total government expenditure is estimated to be increased by MVR4.9 billion (11.1%) in 2026 when compared to 2025, driven by current expenditure (an increase of MVR2.7 billion) and capital expenditure (an increase of MVR2.2 billion).
The annual broad money (M2) growth rate decelerated to 19.6% at the end of March 2026 from 21.4% in February 2026. During the month, the annual growth in broad money was primarily driven by the increase in quasi money.
Annual growth of credit to private sector by commercial banks accelerated to 13.6% at the end of March 2026 from 12.9% in February 2026. During the month, the largest contribution to the annual growth was from credit allocated for tourism sector, construction sector and personal loans.
Official reserve assets stood at USD 717.9 million at the end of April 2026, reflecting 46.1% decrease from USD 1,331.8 million at the end of March 2026. Similarly, official reserve assets decreased by 16.2% in annual terms during the review period.
Total exports (f.o.b.) in March 2026 increased by 32.4% compared to the same period last year. This stemmed primarily from the rise in re-exports, despite fish exports observing a decline during the period.
Total imports (c.i.f.) in March 2026 increased by 30.9% compared to the same period last year. This stemmed primarily from the rise in imports of petroleum products and wood, metal, cement and aggregates.
The current account deficit is expected to narrow to 6.2% of GDP in 2025, after recording 17.8% of GDP in 2024. However, it is projected to widen to 7.8% of GDP in 2026.
