Employment by status in Maldives
Maldives: Employment by status was 79.7% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Employment by status in Maldives, 1991–2024
Source: International Labour Organization (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Maldives recorded 79.7% for employment by status in 2024. That is the highest value across all 34 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.3% on the previous year and up 5.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, employment by status in Maldives peaked at 79.7% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 61.1%, in 1991.
Maldives ranks 61st of 186 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.
Employment by status in Maldives, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 61.1% | — |
| 1992 | 61.4% | +0.4% |
| 1993 | 61.6% | +0.4% |
| 1994 | 61.8% | +0.4% |
| 1995 | 62.1% | +0.4% |
| 1996 | 62.4% | +0.5% |
| 1997 | 62.7% | +0.4% |
| 1998 | 62.9% | +0.4% |
| 1999 | 63.2% | +0.4% |
| 2000 | 63.4% | +0.3% |
| 2001 | 63.5% | +0.2% |
| 2002 | 63.7% | +0.3% |
| 2003 | 64.0% | +0.4% |
| 2004 | 64.3% | +0.5% |
| 2005 | 64.4% | +0.2% |
| 2006 | 64.7% | +0.5% |
| 2007 | 65.1% | +0.6% |
| 2008 | 65.5% | +0.7% |
| 2009 | 65.9% | +0.5% |
| 2010 | 67.6% | +2.7% |
| 2011 | 69.5% | +2.8% |
| 2012 | 71.4% | +2.7% |
| 2013 | 73.4% | +2.8% |
| 2014 | 75.4% | +2.7% |
| 2015 | 75.7% | +0.4% |
| 2016 | 76.0% | +0.4% |
| 2017 | 76.7% | +1.0% |
| 2018 | 77.5% | +1.0% |
| 2019 | 78.2% | +0.9% |
| 2020 | 78.6% | +0.5% |
| 2021 | 79.0% | +0.5% |
| 2022 | 79.2% | +0.2% |
| 2023 | 79.4% | +0.3% |
| 2024 | 79.7% | +0.3% |
Maldives compared with similar countries
- Maldives's 79.7% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 67.6%, 1.2× the median. (53 countries reporting)
- Maldives's 79.7% is above the median for South Asia, which is 34.3%, 2.3× the median. (6 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 62.1% | 61.1% | 63.2% | 9 |
| 2000s | 64.4% | 63.4% | 65.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 74.1% | 67.6% | 78.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 79.2% | 78.6% | 79.7% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Maldives
More work & labour data for Maldives
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes, annual -0.3002 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male, annual growth -0.4913 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female, annual growth -0.1384 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population, annual growth rate -0.545 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population, annual growth rate 1.23 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population 310.55 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population 265.89 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female 257.6 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male 217.32 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes 474.92 1000 No (2100)
Frequently asked questions
- What is employment by status in Maldives?
- Employment by status in Maldives was 79.7% in 2024, according to International Labour Organization (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest employment by status recorded in Maldives?
- The highest recorded value was 79.7% in 2024.
- What is the lowest employment by status recorded in Maldives?
- The lowest recorded value was 61.1% in 1991.
- How does Maldives rank for employment by status?
- Maldives ranks 61st out of 186 countries with data for 2024.
- Is employment by status rising or falling in Maldives?
- Over the last ten years it is up 5.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Maldives data come from?
- The figures come from International Labour Organization (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Employment by status. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 34 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Share of people in employment working as employees, as a percentage of total employment.