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Maldives — Unemployment
Unemployment Rate for Maldives, 1991–2025.
Latest value · 2025
4.51%
Unemployment Rate · % of total labor force · +472.8% since 1991
Unemployment for Maldives was 4.51% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 35 years, from 1991 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 11.70% in 2009. The lowest was 0.79% in 1991 (about 5.7× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to 5.27% per year.
Maldives ranks 114 of 187 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 61%. The median for South Asia is 4.22%, so Maldives sits above it. It peaked in 2009 and has fallen 61% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved down 32%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
4.51%
First (1991)
0.79%
Change
+472.8%
Highest
11.70%
in 2009
Lowest
0.79%
in 1991
Average
5.07%
Annual growth (CAGR)
5.27%
Years of data
35
Recent years
| Year | % of total labor force |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 4.51% |
| 2024 | 4.28% |
| 2023 | 4.02% |
| 2022 | 4.3% |
| 2021 | 5.02% |
| 2020 | 5.42% |
| 2019 | 4.56% |
| 2018 | 4.96% |
| 2017 | 5.38% |
| 2016 | 5.77% |
| 2015 | 6.61% |
| 2014 | 7.46% |
Reading this correctly. Share of the labor force without work but available for and seeking employment. National definitions differ, so cross-country comparison needs care. Figures are in % of total labor force. Comparing this series with a different measure of the same concept (for example a nominal figure against a purchasing-power-parity figure) will give misleading results.
Related data
Source. World Bank Open Data, indicator
SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS — Unemployment Rate. Data licensed under CC BY 4.0. Values are reproduced as published; this page computes the summary statistics (change, CAGR, extremes) from the underlying annual series. View the original dataset on data.worldbank.org.