MigrantoMigration trends in the Maldives
Asia
Maldives takes in more people than it loses: 70.2K immigrants against 2.8K emigrants. Net balance +67.4K — 13% of the country's population
527.8K
Population
70.2K
Immigrants
2.8K
Emigrants
+67.4K
Inflow
1 in 8 residents of the Maldives was born abroad — and 1 in 191 people born in the Maldives lives abroad
#147 in the world by net migration gain
Top corridors
The largest migration flows in the Maldives
Where people come from
Key moments
How migration has changed since 1990
1990
8.4K immigrants · 1.7K emigrants
1995
- India overtook Bangladesh as the largest source of new arrivals
- A surge of arrivals — the foreign-born population jumped 111%
- The exodus eased — the diaspora shrank by 35%
- Roughly 1 in 20 residents was now foreign-born
2005
- Bangladesh overtook India as the largest source of new arrivals
- A surge of arrivals — the foreign-born population jumped 64%
- Roughly 1 in 10 residents was now foreign-born
2010
- An accelerating exodus — the diaspora grew by 83%
Today
- Since 1990: 61.7K more foreign-born residents and roughly the same number of emigrants
Data source: International Migrant Stock 2024 (UN DESA, Population Division)
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