Male’, Maldives – President’s Office Spokesperson Mohamed Mabrook Azeez stated that the economy of Maldives is recovering at a faster rate than forecasted after the downturn that Maldives faced due to Covid-19.
In the virtual ceremony held at President’s Office, Mabrook said that last year, economic growth rate plummeted by 26 to 29 percent, which was the lowest rate in the recent history of Maldives. He also said that the government expected this year’s economical growth rate to stay constant at 13 percent, yet the results were better than unexpected.
Today’s economic growth is very different from the estimate made before. We are at a fast pace recovery.
Mohamed Mabrook Azeez, President’s Office Spokesperson
Mabrook explained that the growth of Maldives’ economy is due to the tourism industry opening, with 85 percent active beds.
The Spokesperson stated that as recently as last November, the government had predicted that the Maldives would only see about 600,000 arrivals in 2021; however, with the current trajectory, the Ministry of Tourism anticipates that over a million tourists will visit the Maldives this year.
However, in a positive turn of events, Maldives received more than 100,000 tourists in March 2021 alone, and 269,504 tourists visited the country from 1st January 2021 to 24th March 2021.
The top source market for the tourist arrival was India with 64,059 arrivals, followed by Russia with 58,680 tourist arrivals. Ukraine stood third with 16,915 tourist arrivals.
The Maldivian economy is developing despite the fact that the tourist markets of China and European countries, which are the biggest percentage holders of tourism market shares, are still not fully open.
The President’s Office Spokesperson added that with the administration of the second dose of vaccine and the opening of borders of many countries will further boost the economy. The revised estimated is that by the end of 2021 more than a million tourists will visit the Maldives.
