Distillers Maldives
A one-page guide to the Maldives for the spirits trade: the country, its people, its economy and how it drinks.
At a glance
- Capital
- Malé
- Official languages
- Dhivehi
- Currency
- Maldivian rufiyaa (MVR)
- Time zone
- UTC+5 (MVT)
- Area
- 300 km²
People
- Population
- 529,676 (2025)
- Population growth
- 0.4% a year
- Living in towns and cities
- 42.5%
- Aged under 15
- 19.0%
- Aged 65 and over
- 5.0%
- Life expectancy
- 81.3 years
Economy
- GDP
- US$7.7 billion (2025)
- GDP per person
- US$14,615 (2025)
- Economic growth
- 6.3% (2025)
- Inflation
- 4.0% (2025)
Climate
Tropical monsoon. Average high 31.5 C, low 26.4 C. The southwest monsoon (early June to end November) brings wind, storms and rain; the northeast monsoon is the dry season. Every import goes by sea or air to small islands, so logistics are slow and expensive.
Alcohol
- Alcohol is
- Restricted (sale only in licensed tourist resorts; sale to Maldivian citizens prohibited)
- Legal drinking age
- 18 for tourists; prohibited for citizens (per Wikipedia Legal drinking age)
- Alcohol per adult a year
- 1.7 litres of pure alcohol (2019)
- What people drink
- Beer 22.9%, wine 40.9%, spirits 36.0%, other 0.2% (2019)
Sources: World Bank (population, economy and demographics), WHO Global Health Observatory (alcohol per adult and drinking mix); Legal drinking age; Maldives (Wikipedia); World Bank country data; WHO Global status report on alcohol and health 2024 (via Wikipedia table); UN Comtrade public API, HS 2208. Figures are the latest each source publishes; the year is shown beside each one.