Maldives productivity increases

Statistics show that the Maldives productivity has increased during the first quarter of 2013, compared to the first quarter of 2012.

Statistics by the Maldives Customs Service show that the export of fish has dramatically increased during the first quarter. Maldives has exported 14,507 metric tons of fish up until the end of March this year, compared to 8,662.8 metric tons exported during the first quarter of 2012, a difference of 5,844.2 metric tons, and a 67 percent increase.

Reflecting on revenue, the country exported fish worth $49,334 (MVR 760,730.28) during the first quarter of 2013 compared to $33,952 (MVR 523,539.84) worth of fish during the first quarter of 2012. This shows a $15,381, or a 45 percent increase in revenue.

Ministry of Tourism statistics show that tourism in the Maldives has also increased compared to the first quarter of 2012. A total of 293,112 tourists arrived in the Maldives during the first three months this year, compared to 255,867 tourist arrivals during the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 37,245 tourists, or 15 percent.

The number of nights spent by tourists has also increased compared to the first quarter of 2012. While tourists spent a total of 1,829,855 nights in the Maldives during the first three months of 2012, the number had gone up to 1,933,710 nights during the first quarter of 2013. This calculates to a difference of 93,855 nights in total, or a 5 percent increase.

A comparison of the capacity of resorts show that all the resorts combined held a capacity of 25,887 beds in 2013, compared to 24,568 beds at the end of March 2012, and that and average 83 percent of the capacity was utilized during the first quarter of 2013, compared to 82 percent in the first quarter of 2012.

While the overall productivity of Maldives has increased during the first quarter of 2013, Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has predicted that country’s productivity to increase by a 4.3 percent during 2013. Central bank’s (MMA) statistics also show that Maldives had spent MVR 3,574.4 million where as the country gained a lower sum of MVR 3,018.7 million during the this first quarter, which translates to an excess of MVR 555.7 million in spending to revenue.