Maldives — Unemployment
Unemployment Rate for Maldives, 1991–2025.
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%. Within South Asia it ranks 2 of 6 economies; India (4.22%) is just below it. Its sharpest one-year move was up 54% in 2001. That is 9% below this series' own ten-year average.
Data highlights
From its 1991 level: doubled by 1999; grown tenfold by 2006. Doubling roughly every 14 years at that pace.
World ranking. Climbed: 183rd of 187 in 1991 → 175th of 187 in 2000 → 49th of 187 in 2010 → 114th of 187 in 2020 → 109th of 182 in 2025.
Key figures
Full history — 1991 to 2025
| Year | % of total labor force | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 4.51% | +0.2 pp |
| 2024 | 4.28% | +0.3 pp |
| 2023 | 4.02% | -0.3 pp |
| 2022 | 4.3% | -0.7 pp |
| 2021 | 5.02% | -0.4 pp |
| 2020 | 5.42% | +0.9 pp |
| 2019 | 4.56% | -0.4 pp |
| 2018 | 4.96% | -0.4 pp |
| 2017 | 5.38% | -0.4 pp |
| 2016 | 5.77% | -0.8 pp |
| 2015 | 6.61% | -0.9 pp |
| 2014 | 7.46% | -0.8 pp |
| 2013 | 8.3% | -0.8 pp |
| 2012 | 9.13% | -0.9 pp |
| 2011 | 10.04% | -0.8 pp |
| 2010 | 10.88% | -0.8 pp |
| 2009 | 11.7% | +1.3 pp |
| 2008 | 10.36% | +0.9 pp |
| 2007 | 9.42% | +1.1 pp |
| 2006 | 8.35% | +1.0 pp |
| 2005 | 7.31% | +1.2 pp |
| 2004 | 6.15% | +1.0 pp |
| 2003 | 5.13% | +1.0 pp |
| 2002 | 4.09% | +1.1 pp |
| 2001 | 3.04% | +1.1 pp |
| 2000 | 1.97% | +0.2 pp |
| 1999 | 1.73% | +0.2 pp |
| 1998 | 1.49% | +0.2 pp |
| 1997 | 1.25% | +0.2 pp |
| 1996 | 1.02% | +0.2 pp |
| 1995 | 0.79% | -0.0 pp |
| 1994 | 0.79% | -0.0 pp |
| 1993 | 0.8% | +0.0 pp |
| 1992 | 0.79% | +0.0 pp |
| 1991 | 0.79% | — |
Frequently asked questions
What was Maldives’s Unemployment in 1992?
0.79% (1992). The full year-by-year table above lists every published year, most recent first.
Are changes in this series measured in percentage points?
Yes. The series is a share expressed in % of total labor force, so year-over-year movements in the Change column are percentage points (pp), not percent.
Is Maldives’s Unemployment growing or shrinking?
Between 1991 and 2025 the series was growing overall: +472.8% in total — about 5.3% a year compounded.
Where does this data come from?
World Bank Open Data (CC BY-4.0), indicator SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS. Values are reproduced as published; this page only computes summary statistics such as change, CAGR and extremes.
What are the most recent published figures?
The last five published years: 2025: 4.51%; 2024: 4.28%; 2023: 4.02%; 2022: 4.3%; 2021: 5.02%. Earlier years are in the full-history table below.
Related data
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.