Country or area · Southern Asia · Asia · UN WPP 2024

Maldives population

Maldives population now

531,967

A projection read at this second, not a count: the UN's totals for 1 January 2026 and 2027, joined by a straight line. 95% range for 31 December 2026: 516,406–548,129.

Mid-2023, UN estimate: 525,994

Year: 2026; projection · medium
Population, mid-2026: 531,518; 95% range, 31 Dec: 516,406–548,129
Median age: 34.4
Aged 65+: 5.3%

Move through time, 1950–2100

2023 | 2024 peak 2057

male female projection · one cell = 200 people

How to read this: one row for each age, newborns at the bottom; men on the left, women on the right.

Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries

MDV · 1950–2100 · in brief

Maldives in numbers

The UN counts 525,994 people in The Maldives in mid-2023, which makes it the 174th-largest population of the 236 countries and areas the UN reports, and less than 0.01% of the world's people. That is 7.1 times its 1950 population of 74,448.

The UN's medium projection has it peaking in 2057 at 597 thousand, then falling to 475 thousand by 2100. The projection is uncertain: on 1 January 2100 the UN's 95% range runs from 159 thousand to 1.7 million.

Births stay ahead of deaths until 2058; in the medium projection, deaths are ahead every year after it.

The median age was 18.4 in 1950 and 32.1 in 2023; the projection has 48.7 in 2100. 4.3% of people were 65 or older in 2023, against 31.8% projected for 2100. The working-age population (15–64) is projected to peak in 2038 at 427 thousand.

Its place in the world by population: 174th in 2023, 173rd in 2050, 175th in 2100. In the medium projection it overtakes Malta in 2037, Montenegro in 2042 and Macao in 2064. It is overtaken by Mayotte in 2046, Vanuatu in 2058 and French Guiana in 2068.

Population, mid-2023: 525,994
Rank by population, 2023: 174 of 236
Share of the world, 2023: less than 0.01%
Change in a year, mid-2022 to mid-2023: +0.36% · +1,888 people
People per km² of land, 2023: 1,765
Land area, 2023: 298 km²
Births, 2023: 5,795
Deaths, 2023: 1,230
Net migration, 2023: −2,877
Children per woman, 2023: 1.57
Median age, 2023: 32.1 years
Life expectancy at birth, 2023: 81.0 years
In a city, 2025: 45 of every 100
Population, mid-1950: 74,448
Projected, mid-2050: 589,962
Projected, mid-2100: 474,919

MDV · 1950–2100 · total population

Population, 1950–2100

peak 2057estimates | projections0500 k1 m1.5 m2 m1950197520002025205020752100

estimate projection, up to the bottom of the 95% range 95% range medium projection. One column is one year's population, read on 1 January; the paper rules divide it into equal cells.

Show the numbers: Maldives, 1950–2100

Maldives: population on 1 January, births, deaths, fertility and life expectancy, 1950–2100
Year	Kind	Population, 1 Jan	95% range	Births	Deaths	Children per woman	Life expectancy
1950	estimate	73,839		3,021	1,811	6.18	36.5
1951	estimate	75,057		3,145	1,830	6.18	37.1
1952	estimate	76,369		3,294	1,901	6.21	37.0
1953	estimate	77,757		3,439	1,972	6.23	37.0
1954	estimate	79,225		3,593	2,043	6.26	37.0
1955	estimate	80,772		3,771	2,115	6.33	37.0
1956	estimate	82,431		3,946	2,186	6.39	37.1
1957	estimate	84,184		4,116	2,252	6.45	37.3
1958	estimate	86,057		4,284	2,314	6.50	37.6
1959	estimate	88,029		4,446	2,370	6.56	37.9
1960	estimate	90,085		4,669	2,428	6.71	38.2
1961	estimate	92,294		4,832	2,479	6.79	38.6
1962	estimate	94,605		4,997	2,522	6.89	39.1
1963	estimate	96,999		5,117	2,550	6.94	39.6
1964	estimate	99,445		5,225	2,565	7.00	40.1
1965	estimate	101,879		5,316	2,569	7.07	40.8
1966	estimate	106,325		5,423	2,578	7.14	41.4
1967	estimate	110,688		5,548	2,538	7.23	42.1
1968	estimate	114,367		5,655	2,506	7.28	42.9
1969	estimate	117,782		5,768	2,507	7.33	43.6
1970	estimate	121,345		5,915	2,499	7.39	44.5
1971	estimate	125,092		6,028	2,479	7.38	45.5
1972	estimate	128,978		6,160	2,452	7.37	46.4
1973	estimate	132,958		6,345	2,420	7.40	47.5
1974	estimate	136,947		6,510	2,374	7.38	48.5
1975	estimate	141,010		6,661	2,335	7.32	49.6
1976	estimate	145,306		6,849	2,312	7.29	50.8
1977	estimate	149,745		7,060	2,281	7.27	51.8
1978	estimate	154,115		7,279	2,466	7.23	50.5
1979	estimate	158,202		7,471	2,196	7.23	53.9
1980	estimate	162,518		7,676	2,150	7.23	54.8
1981	estimate	167,152		7,889	2,112	7.19	55.7
1982	estimate	171,913		8,134	2,076	7.15	56.6
1983	estimate	176,752		8,400	2,039	7.09	57.5
1984	estimate	181,504		8,678	1,998	7.03	58.3
1985	estimate	186,892		8,923	1,979	6.94	59.2
1986	estimate	193,446		9,119	1,965	6.85	60.0
1987	estimate	200,425		9,242	1,942	6.73	60.8
1988	estimate	207,463		9,322	1,909	6.58	61.6
1989	estimate	214,306		9,340	1,867	6.39	62.4
1990	estimate	221,171		9,272	1,829	6.13	63.1
1991	estimate	228,353		9,077	1,781	5.80	63.9
1992	estimate	235,250		8,820	1,724	5.43	64.7
1993	estimate	241,836		8,508	1,666	5.06	65.4
1994	estimate	247,932		8,161	1,610	4.69	66.2
1995	estimate	253,712		7,738	1,560	4.29	67.0
1996	estimate	259,586		7,194	1,488	3.86	67.7
1997	estimate	265,108		6,678	1,412	3.48	68.5
1998	estimate	270,307		6,267	1,348	3.17	69.3
1999	estimate	275,138		5,887	1,285	2.90	70.2
2000	estimate	279,686		5,617	1,244	2.69	70.9
2001	estimate	284,351		5,479	1,208	2.53	71.7
2002	estimate	289,184		5,443	1,187	2.42	72.4
2003	estimate	294,048		5,470	1,153	2.34	73.3
2004	estimate	298,934		5,524	1,237	2.26	73.0
2005	estimate	303,891		5,614	1,122	2.20	74.8
2006	estimate	308,967		5,906	1,141	2.20	75.3
2007	estimate	318,735		6,475	1,151	2.29	75.7
2008	estimate	330,223		7,027	1,172	2.37	76.0
2009	estimate	342,117		7,407	1,180	2.39	76.4
2010	estimate	354,433		7,536	1,186	2.35	76.8
2011	estimate	367,151		7,623	1,194	2.31	77.1
2012	estimate	380,197		7,649	1,204	2.25	77.5
2013	estimate	393,439		7,523	1,215	2.17	77.8
2014	estimate	406,702		7,346	1,223	2.09	78.2
2015	estimate	420,532		7,135	1,220	2.00	78.6
2016	estimate	435,776		6,877	1,225	1.90	78.9
2017	estimate	450,840		6,573	1,230	1.80	79.2
2018	estimate	465,734		6,337	1,250	1.71	79.4
2019	estimate	480,463		6,144	1,258	1.64	79.7
2020	estimate	494,999		6,081	1,488	1.61	78.7
2021	estimate	509,238		6,036	1,609	1.60	78.0
2022	estimate	523,069		5,973	1,221	1.58	80.8
2023	estimate	525,144		5,795	1,230	1.57	81.0
2024	estimate	526,844		5,588	1,248	1.56	81.3
2025	projection	528,754	523,781–533,207	5,403	1,277	1.55	81.5
2026	projection	530,598	520,329–540,013	5,224	1,308	1.53	81.7
2027	projection	532,436	516,406–548,129	5,073	1,342	1.53	82.0
2028	projection	534,426	511,325–556,555	4,950	1,381	1.52	82.2
2029	projection	536,561	506,212–565,702	4,855	1,422	1.52	82.4
2030	projection	538,580	501,400–575,071	4,782	1,468	1.52	82.6
2031	projection	540,754	496,292–585,708	4,731	1,516	1.51	82.8
2032	projection	543,088	491,024–597,361	4,709	1,567	1.51	83.0
2033	projection	545,477	486,310–605,895	4,711	1,625	1.51	83.2
2034	projection	547,959	480,300–616,497	4,737	1,687	1.51	83.4
2035	projection	550,351	475,536–628,343	4,770	1,754	1.51	83.6
2036	projection	552,837	471,476–640,588	4,825	1,824	1.52	83.8
2037	projection	555,337	466,680–651,392	4,888	1,901	1.52	83.9
2038	projection	557,929	462,716–662,188	4,961	1,983	1.52	84.1
2039	projection	560,530	459,830–673,089	5,035	2,071	1.52	84.3
2040	projection	563,377	455,433–685,013	5,110	2,165	1.52	84.5
2041	projection	566,220	449,923–695,960	5,182	2,267	1.52	84.6
2042	projection	568,989	444,395–708,333	5,245	2,376	1.52	84.8
2043	projection	571,766	439,830–720,384	5,303	2,491	1.52	84.9
2044	projection	574,505	433,873–733,866	5,338	2,607	1.52	85.1
2045	projection	577,114	427,873–751,509	5,368	2,735	1.53	85.2
2046	projection	579,792	423,242–762,477	5,388	2,866	1.53	85.4
2047	projection	582,251	417,431–778,921	5,390	3,003	1.53	85.5
2048	projection	584,533	411,727–794,932	5,371	3,145	1.53	85.6
2049	projection	586,907	406,635–810,123	5,332	3,293	1.54	85.8
2050	projection	589,054	399,663–822,904	5,284	3,445	1.54	85.9
2051	projection	590,871	394,965–835,684	5,220	3,602	1.54	86.1
2052	projection	592,385	387,145–851,360	5,147	3,767	1.54	86.2
2053	projection	593,753	380,128–863,229	5,072	3,937	1.54	86.3
2054	projection	594,754	374,650–882,717	4,994	4,113	1.54	86.4
2055	projection	595,557	368,926–892,629	4,912	4,293	1.54	86.6
2056	projection	596,280	364,430–913,943	4,834	4,475	1.54	86.7
2057	projection	596,730	360,467–924,670	4,762	4,670	1.54	86.8
2058	projection	596,793	356,250–937,531	4,692	4,872	1.54	86.9
2059	projection	596,542	352,220–954,649	4,635	5,071	1.55	87.0
2060	projection	595,971	347,797–967,708	4,582	5,285	1.55	87.2
2061	projection	595,403	343,416–991,793	4,542	5,503	1.55	87.3
2062	projection	594,328	0.3–1.0 million	4,504	5,739	1.55	87.4
2063	projection	592,937	0.3–1.0 million	4,473	5,973	1.55	87.5
2064	projection	591,273	0.3–1.1 million	4,460	6,219	1.55	87.6
2065	projection	589,432	0.3–1.1 million	4,451	6,472	1.55	87.7
2066	projection	587,448	0.3–1.1 million	4,455	6,727	1.55	87.8
2067	projection	585,134	0.3–1.1 million	4,468	6,991	1.55	87.9
2068	projection	582,525	0.3–1.1 million	4,484	7,254	1.55	88.0
2069	projection	579,742	0.3–1.1 million	4,504	7,512	1.56	88.2
2070	projection	576,774	0.3–1.2 million	4,532	7,767	1.56	88.3
2071	projection	573,565	0.3–1.2 million	4,557	8,012	1.56	88.4
2072	projection	570,145	0.3–1.2 million	4,588	8,251	1.56	88.5
2073	projection	566,627	0.3–1.2 million	4,616	8,472	1.56	88.6
2074	projection	562,842	0.3–1.2 million	4,639	8,685	1.56	88.7
2075	projection	559,018	0.3–1.2 million	4,662	8,873	1.56	88.8
2076	projection	555,010	0.2–1.2 million	4,685	9,037	1.56	88.9
2077	projection	550,888	0.2–1.3 million	4,692	9,170	1.56	89.0
2078	projection	546,562	0.2–1.3 million	4,699	9,276	1.56	89.2
2079	projection	542,048	0.2–1.3 million	4,702	9,339	1.56	89.3
2080	projection	537,594	0.2–1.3 million	4,696	9,365	1.56	89.4
2081	projection	533,152	0.2–1.3 million	4,688	9,360	1.56	89.5
2082	projection	528,673	0.2–1.3 million	4,668	9,314	1.56	89.6
2083	projection	524,395	0.2–1.4 million	4,639	9,221	1.56	89.7
2084	projection	520,123	0.2–1.4 million	4,612	9,091	1.56	89.8
2085	projection	515,928	0.2–1.4 million	4,581	8,930	1.57	89.9
2086	projection	511,825	0.2–1.4 million	4,545	8,740	1.57	90.0
2087	projection	507,820	0.2–1.5 million	4,510	8,515	1.57	90.2
2088	projection	504,065	0.2–1.5 million	4,470	8,264	1.57	90.3
2089	projection	500,397	0.2–1.5 million	4,433	7,997	1.57	90.4
2090	projection	497,153	0.2–1.5 million	4,400	7,732	1.57	90.5
2091	projection	494,005	0.2–1.5 million	4,367	7,459	1.57	90.6
2092	projection	491,247	0.2–1.6 million	4,340	7,178	1.57	90.7
2093	projection	488,577	0.2–1.6 million	4,313	6,912	1.58	90.8
2094	projection	486,179	0.2–1.6 million	4,287	6,661	1.58	91.0
2095	projection	484,048	0.2–1.6 million	4,268	6,429	1.58	91.1
2096	projection	482,092	0.2–1.6 million	4,248	6,227	1.58	91.2
2097	projection	480,239	0.2–1.7 million	4,234	6,046	1.58	91.3
2098	projection	478,550	0.2–1.7 million	4,223	5,903	1.58	91.4
2099	projection	477,056	0.2–1.7 million	4,221	5,794	1.58	91.5
2100	projection	475,643	0.2–1.7 million	4,221	5,714	1.58	91.6

Show the numbers: Maldives, mid-2026, by single year of age

Maldives: population by single year of age, mid-2026
Age	Male	Female
0	2,696	2,579
1	2,770	2,664
2	2,853	2,749
3	2,938	2,828
4	3,023	2,852
5	3,141	2,874
6	3,284	2,963
7	3,414	3,063
8	3,532	3,154
9	3,646	3,240
10	3,769	3,328
11	3,907	3,410
12	4,054	3,490
13	4,198	3,576
14	4,302	3,643
15	4,316	3,652
16	4,225	3,586
17	4,028	3,452
18	3,742	3,258
19	3,444	3,040
20	3,234	2,849
21	3,144	2,701
22	3,167	2,599
23	3,308	2,542
24	3,588	2,534
25	4,044	2,580
26	4,695	2,686
27	5,550	2,853
28	6,579	3,074
29	7,642	3,318
30	8,556	3,548
31	9,230	3,742
32	9,651	3,894
33	9,825	4,013
34	9,830	4,104
35	9,762	4,172
36	9,660	4,230
37	9,530	4,272
38	9,363	4,290
39	9,134	4,274
40	8,818	4,198
41	8,404	4,053
42	7,892	3,841
43	7,300	3,575
44	6,678	3,286
45	6,082	3,020
46	5,532	2,792
47	5,028	2,607
48	4,579	2,477
49	4,182	2,383
50	3,836	2,302
51	3,543	2,226
52	3,292	2,156
53	3,080	2,094
54	2,896	2,031
55	2,727	1,965
56	2,555	1,890
57	2,375	1,810
58	2,194	1,728
59	2,026	1,640
60	1,880	1,564
61	1,767	1,506
62	1,680	1,461
63	1,616	1,422
64	1,566	1,388
65	1,512	1,342
66	1,436	1,269
67	1,328	1,182
68	1,200	1,078
69	1,068	958
70	938	845
71	818	742
72	709	652
73	611	574
74	526	510
75	462	460
76	426	422
77	403	396
78	387	370
79	376	346
80	364	328
81	344	306
82	313	280
83	272	250
84	229	218
85	189	188
86	154	160
87	126	135
88	102	113
89	80	94
90	64	76
91	49	60
92	37	47
93	27	36
94	19	27
95	12	18
96	8	14
97	6	10
98	3	6
99	2	4
100+	2	7

MDV · 1950–2100 · every age, every year

Maldives, every age in every year

Each column is a year and each row an age; the denser the ink in a cell, the more people. Everyone born in the same year climbs one 45° diagonal, so famines, baby booms and migration show up as streaks. Select a cell to follow its generation.

MDV · ages 15–64

Who does the work in Maldives

On the UN's projection, the Maldives will have the most working-age people it ever has in 2038: 427,444 people aged 15–64. In 2023 it had 397,682.

100 aged 15–64

27 children

6 aged 65+

aged 15–64 children under 15 aged 65 and over

How to read this: take 100 people of working age — the orange row — and the two rows under it are the children (teal) and the people of 65 and over (violet) who lived alongside them in 2023.

Fewer than 50 dependants live alongside every 100 people aged 15–64 in 42 years: 2008–2049.

fewer than 50 dependants per 100 the same, projected 50 or more

How to read this: 1950 on the left, 2100 on the right; coloured in the years with fewer than 50 dependants per 100 working-age people, grey in the rest, hatched where that is a projection.

How every country compares

MDV · arrivals minus departures

Who arrives in Maldives, and who leaves

In 2020–2025 the Maldives gains 1,021 people a year: everyone who arrives, minus everyone who leaves. The age at which that happens most is 25–29, at 661 a year more arriving than leaving.

one square = 100 people a year

020406080+

more arrive than leave more leave than arrive

How to read this: age runs left to right, babies to 100. A blue square above the line means arrivals outnumber departures at that age, an orange square below it means the opposite. The figures are the UN's projection for 2020–2025; nobody recorded migration by age before 2020.

In the years that were counted, 1950–2023, the most it gained in one year was 9,648 (2019) and the most it lost was 2,877 (2023).

In 2024, 75,099 people living in the Maldives had been born in another country, 14 of every 100 people there, against 4 in 1990.

How migration works everywhere

MDV · births by the mother's age · 1950–2100

Who has the babies in Maldives

Of every 100 babies born in the Maldives in 2023, 1 had a mother under 20, 75 a mother aged 20 to 34 and 24 a mother aged 35 or older. In 1950 it was 22 under 20 and 12 aged 35 or older.

1950
22 · 66 · 12

2023
1 · 75 · 24

2050 · projected
1 · 68 · 31

The mother's age: under 20 20 to 34 35 or older projected

How to read this: one block a year, 100 squares in each, a square for every hundredth baby. The colour is the mother's age group, and the three numbers underneath are those groups in order, youngest first.

Babies born, 2023: 5,795
Average age when women have a baby: 30.2 years; 28.6 in 1950
Babies a year per 1,000 girls aged 15–19: 5; 155 in 1950

Babies by the mother's age, 1950–2100

Babies born in the Maldives by the mother's age
Mother's age	1950	1975	2000	2023	2050 projected	2100 projected
10–14	38	67	4	0	0	0
15–19	614	1,209	519	77	28	25
20–24	865	1,758	1,752	810	454	366
25–29	657	1,380	1,516	1,754	1,456	1,210
30–34	473	1,128	1,030	1,787	1,684	1,365
35–39	266	773	592	1,101	1,284	944
40–44	94	300	168	244	347	277
45–49	14	45	34	21	30	33
50–54	0	1	2	1	1	1
All babies	3,021	6,661	5,617	5,795	5,284	4,221

The UN's births for each year, split by the mother's age in the UN's own proportions.

MDV · healthy years · 2021

Years in good health in Maldives

Of the 75.4 years a baby born in the Maldives in 2021 could expect, about 66.7 would be lived in full health (95% range 66.1–67.3). The years in less than full health come to 8.7, below the world's 9.5, in lives longer than the world's 71.4 years: more of them are healthy ones.

Women

66.4 in full health, 10.2 not: 76.6 years

Men

66.8 in full health, 7.7 not: 74.5 years

a year in full health a year in less than full health

How to read this: each square is a year of life, each row ten years; filled squares are years in full health, rounded to whole years.

Women: 66.4 healthy years of 76.6. Men: 66.8 of 74.5.

MDV · forced from home · end of 2025

Displacement in Maldives

UNHCR publishes no refugees, asylum-seekers or displaced people in or from the Maldives at the end of 2025.

An empty row is not the same as a zero. These figures cover the people one agency works with, so a country it has no operation in has nothing to report here.

In 2025, 15 people from the Maldives asked for asylum in another country. Who asks for asylum, and who is given it

How the world's displacement is counted

MDV · of every 100 people

How people live in Maldives

Of every 100 people in the Maldives in 2025, 45 lived in a city, 13 in a town or suburb and 42 in the countryside.

cities towns and suburbs rural areas

Nearly everyone has electricity at home (2024). 14.8 of every 100 do not use the internet (2024).

How to read this: everyone here, shrunk to 100 squares, with the colour saying whether that hundredth person lives in a city, a town or the countryside. Every country is measured by the same rule.

How the world's people live

MDV · adults 25 and over · 2020

How far people in Maldives went in school

Of every 100 adults in the Maldives in 2020, 14 never went to school and 22 finished upper secondary or went further.

14 never went to school 6 some primary 25 finished primary 33 finished lower secondary 9 finished upper secondary 13 studied after school

Compare two generations. Aged 60–64, 59.7 of every 100 women and 53.8 of every 100 men never went to school; aged 25–29, 1.2 and 0.6.

Its people aged 15 to 64 are projected to be most numerous in 2045; the ones who finished upper secondary are most numerous later, in 2080.

How to read this: the row is the adults (25 and over) shrunk to 100 people, coloured by how far each went in school, least schooling on the left. The Wittgenstein Centre's count, 2020.

How far the world's people went in school

MDV · cities · 2025

Cities in Maldives

The Maldives had 1 city in 2025, home to 236,072 people.

Malé236,072

How to read this: the one city here in 2025, drawn on a single scale so the bars can be compared. Each is a built-up area on the UN's rule rather than a city government's patch.

All the world's cities

Apparatus

Sources and method

Every figure on this page comes from the UN's World Population Prospects 2024: the annual country tables (estimates to 2023, projections with 95% intervals from 2024), and the population by single year of age and sex for the pyramid.

The censuses, surveys and registers behind the UN's estimates for the Maldives are listed, source by source, on the UN's own data sources page.

Sources: UN WPP 2024 · World Bank · UNHCR · country code lists · UN WUP 2025 · Wittgenstein Centre · WHO GHO · flag-icons · Natural Earth. Every source, its licence and how to cite it →

Checked before it was drawn

Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries The pyramid for every year was checked against the published total. What that stamp counts, and what every page here has to pass before it can be built: how this site checks its figures.