Demographics of the Maldives

This article is about the demographic features of the population of the Maldives, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Demographics of the Maldives, from 2000 to 2012

Population by locality (2012)

Demography

Vital statistics

UN estimates[1]

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR^1	CDR^1	NC^1	TFR^1	IMR^1
1950-1955	3 000	2 000	1 000	43.2	27.7	15.5	6.03	233.4
1955-1960	4 000	2 000	2 000	53.0	28.2	24.8	6.81	221.6
1960-1965	5 000	3 000	3 000	55.0	27.2	27.9	7.12	205.5
1965-1970	6 000	3 000	3 000	52.2	23.4	28.8	7.22	175.5
1970-1975	6 000	2 000	4 000	47.4	19.3	28.1	7.17	146.5
1975-1980	6 000	2 000	4 000	44.1	15.7	28.3	6.86	121.5
1980-1985	8 000	2 000	6 000	47.8	12.7	35.1	7.26	97.2
1985-1990	9 000	2 000	7 000	45.4	10.5	34.8	6.81	77.1
1990-1995	8 000	2 000	6 000	35.6	8.0	27.6	5.25	62.5
1995-2000	7 000	1 000	5 000	25.1	5.5	19.6	3.52	41.7
2000-2005	6 000	1 000	4 000	19.7	4.1	15.6	2.49	26.5
2005-2010	5 000	1 000	4 000	17.2	3.7	13.5	1.90	9.8
^1 CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births

Registered births and deaths[2]

	Average population (x 1000)	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)
1975	136	5 002	1 386	3 616	36.8	10.2	26.6
1976	140	5 232	1 565	3 667	37.4	11.2	26.2
1977	144	6 131	1 652	4 479	42.7	11.5	31.2
1978	148	5 667	1 971	3 696	38.4	13.4	25.0
1979	152	6 308	2 044	4 264	41.5	13.5	28.1
1980	157	6 822	1 787	5 035	43.6	11.4	32.1
1981	162	7 010	1 963	5 047	43.3	12.1	31.2
1982	168	7 402	2 129	5 273	44.1	12.7	31.4
1983	174	7 236	1 748	5 488	41.6	10.1	31.6
1984	180	8 255	1 640	6 615	45.8	9.1	36.7
1985	187	8 968	1 607	7 361	48.0	8.6	39.4
1986	193	8 615	1 511	7 104	44.6	7.8	36.8
1987	200	8 364	1 525	6 839	41.8	7.6	34.2
1988	207	8 297	1 526	6 771	40.2	7.4	32.8
1989	213	8 726	1 476	7 250	41.0	6.9	34.0
1990	219	8 639	1 355	7 284	39.4	6.2	33.2
1991	226	8 390	1 366	7 024	37.2	6.1	31.1
1992	232	8 139	1 330	6 809	35.1	5.7	29.4
1993	238	7 780	1 319	6 461	32.7	5.6	27.2
1994	243	7 382	1 240	6 142	30.3	5.1	25.2
1995	249	6 849	1 151	5 698	27.5	4.6	22.9
1996	254	6 772	1 213	5 559	26.7	4.8	21.9
1997	259	6 184	1 175	5 009	23.9	4.5	19.3
1998	264	5 687	1 121	4 566	21.6	4.2	17.3
1999	269	5 225	1 037	4 188	19.5	3.9	15.6
2000	273	5 399	1 032	4 367	19.8	3.8	16.0
2001	278	4 897	1 081	3 816	17.6	3.9	13.7
2002	282	5 003	1 113	3 890	17.7	3.9	13.8
2003	287	5 157	1 030	4 127	18.0	3.6	14.4
2004	291	5 220	1 015	4 205	17.9	3.5	14.5
2005	295	5 543	1 027	4 516	18.8	3.5	15.3
2006	299	5 829	1 083	4 746	19.5	3.6	15.9
2007	304	6 569	1 118	5 451	21.6	3.7	18.0
2008	308	6 946	1 061	5 885	22.6	3.4	19.1
2009	312	7 423	1 163	6 260	23.6	3.7	19.9
2010	316	7 115	1 105	6 010	22.3	3.5	18.8
2011		7 180	1 137	6 043	22.1	3.5	18.6
2012		7 431	1 135	6 296	22.5	3.4	19.0
2013		7 153	1 120	6 033	21.3	3.3	18.0
2014		7 245	1 143	6 102	18.0	2.8	15.2
2015		6 896	1 130	5 766	19.8	3.3	16.5
2016		6 756	1 226	5 530	14.3	2.6	11.7
2017		6 723	1 241	5 482	13.7	2.5	11.2

Structure of the population[3]

Structure of the population (21.03.2006) (Census) :

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	151 459	147 509	298 968	100
0-4	13 362	12 809	26 171	8,75
5-9	15 352	14 515	29 867	9,99
10-14	19 111	17 888	36 999	12,38
15-19	20 155	19 749	39 904	13,35
20-24	16 933	17 876	34 809	11,64
25-29	11 915	12 666	24 581	8,22
30-34	10 022	10 613	20 635	6,90
35-39	8 780	9 394	18 174	6,08
40-44	7 828	8 043	15 871	5,31
45-49	6 872	6 697	13 569	4,54
50-54	4 147	3 789	7 936	2,65
55-59	3 046	2 813	5 859	1,96
60-64	2 852	2 714	5 566	1,86
65-69	3 014	2 664	5 678	1,90
70-74	2 333	1 853	4 186	1,40
75-79	1 444	933	2 377	0,80
80-84	617	447	1 064	0,36
85-89	241	155	396	0,13
90-94	89	70	159	0,05
95+	52	32	84	0,03
unknown	3 294	1 789	5 083	1,70

Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0-14	47 825	45 212	93 037	31,12
15-64	92 550	94 354	186 904	62,52
65+	7 790	6 154	13 944	4,66

Structure of the population (01.07.2013) (Estimates) :

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	169 800	166 424	336 224	100
0-4	16 714	16 429	33 143	9,86
5-9	13 826	13 318	27 144	8,07
10-14	14 498	13 671	28 169	8,38
15-19	18 153	16 795	34 948	10,39
20-24	20 743	19 640	40 383	12,01
25-29	19 091	19 401	38 492	11,45
30-34	14 054	14 828	28 882	8,59
35-39	10 761	11 263	22 024	6,55
40-44	9 409	9 935	19 344	5,75
45-49	8 270	8 587	16 857	5,01
50-54	7 421	7 340	14 761	4,39
55-59	5 105	4 799	9 904	2,95
60-64	3 118	2 884	6 002	1,79
65-69	2 542	2 495	5 037	1,50
70-74	2 430	2 338	4 768	1,42
75-79	1 971	1 648	3 619	1,08
80+	1 693	1 054	2 747	0,82

Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0-14	45 038	43 418	88 456	26,31
15-64	116 126	115 471	231 597	68,88
65+	8 636	7 535	16 171	4,81

Fertility Rate (The Demographic Health Survey)[4]

Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and CBR (Crude Birth Rate):

Year	CBR (Total)	TFR (Total)	CBR (Urban)	TFR (Urban)	CBR (Rural)	TFR (Rural)
2009	24.7	2.5 (2.2)	22.9	2.1 (1.9)	25.5	2.8 (2.4)
2016-17	22.0	2.1 (1.9)	19.9	1.8 (1.5)	23.0	2.5 (2.2)

Geographical differences

The total fertility rate differs greatly from as low as 2.05 children per woman in Malé to a maximum of 3.88 children in Faafu.

Code Name	Official Name	Population (2014 census)[5]	Reg. Population (31/12/2018)[6]	TFR (2014 census)[7]
Malé	Malé City	133,412	64,742	2.05
Haa Alif	Thiladhunmathi Uthuruburi	13,004	22,761	2.91
Haa Dhaalu	Thiladhunmathi Dhekunuburi	18,570	27,259	2.91
Shaviyani	Miladhunmadulu Uthuruburi	12,127	18,274	2.66
Noonu	Miladhunmadulu Dhekunuburi	10,556	16,789	2.83
Raa	Maalhosmadulu Uthuruburi	14,934	23,721	2.93
Baa	Maalhosmadulu Dhekunuburi	8,919	14,624	2.45
Lhaviyani	Faadhippolhu	7,996	13,238	2.59
Kaafu	Malé Atholhu	12,232	12,036	2.70
Alif Alif	Ari Atholhu Uthuruburi	5,915	7,614	2.94
Alif Dhaal	Ari Atholhu Dhekunuburi	8,183	11,439	3.30
Vaavu	Felidhu Atholhu	1,622	2,599	2.34
Meemu	Mulak Atholhu	4,711	7,415	2.75
Faafu	Nilandhe Atholhu Uthuruburi	4,140	6,264	3.88
Dhaalu	Nilandhe Atholhu Dhekunuburi	5,329	7,932	2.62
Thaa	Kolhumadulu	8,923	16,161	2.97
Laamu	Haddhunmathi	11,841	16,977	2.67
Gaafu Alif	Huvadhu Atholhu Uthuruburi	8,477	14,057	2.80
Gaafu Dhaalu	Huvadhu Atholhu Dhekunuburi	11,653	21,096	3.13
Gnaviyani	Fuvahmulah City	8,095	13,037	2.76
Addu City	Addu City	19,827	33,876	2.49
Maldives	Republic of Maldives	344,023	374,775	2.46

Life expectancy at birth

Period	Life expectancy in Years	Period	Life expectancy in Years
1950–1955	34.5	1985–1990	59.3
1955–1960	36.1	1990–1995	63.5
1960–1965	39.0	1995–2000	67.6
1965–1970	42.4	2000–2005	72.2
1970–1975	46.2	2005–2010	75.6
1975–1980	50.7	2010–2015	76.3
1980–1985	55.5

Source: UN World Population Prospects[8]

Ethnic groups

The largest ethnic group is Dhivehin, native to the historic region of the Maldive Islands comprising today's Republic of Maldives and the island of Minicoy in Union territory of Lakshadweep, India. They share the same culture and speak the Dhivehi language. They are principally an Indo-Aryan people, closely related to the Sinhalese and having traces of Middle Eastern, South Asian, Austronesian and African genes in the population.

In the past there was also a small Tamil population known as the Giraavaru people. This group have now been almost completely absorbed into the larger Maldivian society but were once native to the island of Giraavaru (Kaafu Atoll). This island was evacuated in 1968 due to heavy erosion of the island.

Languages

Main article: Languages of Maldives

Dhivehi, an Indo-Aryan language closely related to the Sinhala language of Sri Lanka, and written in a specialized Arabic script (Thaana), is the official language and is spoken by virtually the whole population. English is also spoken as a second language by many.

Religion

See also: Islam in the Maldives

Sunni Islam is the state religion. Historically, the Maldives were converted to Islam from Buddhism in the 12th century. Under the 2008 constitution Islam is the official religion of the entire population, as adherence to it is required for citizenship.

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Population

301,475 (July 2000 est.) - 369,031 (July 2007 est.)[9]

Age structure

• 0–14 years: 22.3% (male 45,038/female 43,291)
• 15–64 years: 73.8% (male 180,874/female 171,703)
• 65 years and over: 3.9% (male 7,711/female 7,717) (2010 est.)

Sex ratio

• at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
• under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
• 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
• 65 years and over: 1.09 male(s)/female
• total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Nationality

• noun: Maldivian(s)
• adjective: Maldivian

Literacy

• definition: age 15 and over can read and write
• total population: 96.3%
• male: 96.2%
• female: 96.4% (2000 census)

Education

The average Maldivian citizen has 4.7 years of education[10]

References

1. World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision Archived 6 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine
2. "Department of National Planning, Republic of Maldives - Offline". www.planning.gov.mv. Archived from the original on 2 October 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 December 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
4. "The DHS Program - Quality information to plan, monitor and improve population, health, and nutrition programs". www.dhsprogram.com. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
5. "Total Maldivian Population by Islands, Census 2014 and Registered Population 2018" (PDF).
6. "Total Maldivian Population by Islands, Census 2014 and Registered Population 2018" (PDF).
7. Maldives Population Projections 2014-2054
8. "World Population Prospects – Population Division – United Nations". Retrieved 15 July 2017.
9. "The World Factbook". Cia.gov. Archived from the original on 18 August 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
10. Neil Merret (30 November 2010). "Average Maldivian citizen has 4.7 years of education, finds UN Human Development Report". Minivan News. Archived from the original on 28 December 2010. Retrieved 7 January 2011.

• H.C.P. Bell, The Maldive Islands, An account of the physical features, History, Inhabitants, Productions and Trade. Colombo 1883, ISBN 81-206-1222-1
• Xavier Romero-Frias, The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom. Barcelona 1999, ISBN 84-7254-801-5