Maldivians' contribution to India significant, figures show
It is estimated that about 80,000 Maldivians go to India annually, and the average Maldivian spends at least USD 1,600 in India.
By
Ahmed Naif
The change of government has brought a major shake-up in relations between Maldives and India. Referring to the current tension between the two neighbouring countries, an expert in the tourism sector of Maldives said, "The benefits of Maldivians traveling to India is not insignificant."
He believes that the long-standing relationship between Maldives and India is not one that brings great benefits to Maldives from India only. Instead, it is a mutually beneficial relationship, he said.
His claims are strongly supported by statistics. The benefits of the Maldivians to India in the Indian-Maldivian relationship are not insignificant.
According to available statistics, released by the central bank Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA), the latest survey report 2018 on travel and expenditure of Maldivians abroad, 34% of the Maldivians surveyed went to India.
A large proportion of Maldivians go to cities like Bangalore and Cochin in Karnataka and Trivandrum in Kerala.
According to Immigration data for 2022, an average of 6,600 people travel to India every month. During the peak season, 12,000 Maldivians travel to India.
According to the Kerala Tourism Board’s latest 2022 tourism statistics:
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Of the 345,549 tourists to Kerala that year, 11% were Maldivian; that’s 38,148 Indians
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Maldives is second in the list of most visited tourist destination
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15% of the Maldivian population spends money in India every year
The number of tourists visiting India will reach around 80,000 a year.
The number of Indian tourists coming to Maldives is almost the same as the number of Indians going to the country. According to the 2023 figures of the Ministry of Tourism, India accounts for 14.4% of the total tourist arrivals. The proportion of Indians in tourism in Kerala, where many Maldivian visitors go to India, is 11%.
Maldivians spend MVR 1 billion in India
According to the MMA survey, the majority of Indians go to India for health care, or medical tourism. Therefore, Maldivians going to India for health treatment stay in India for about 11 days. Their expenditure in India during those 11 days is relatively high. Thus:
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Medical expenses - USD 1,003 per person
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Holiday expenses - USD 1,065 per person
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Shopping - USD 1,172 per person
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Other - USD 1,200 per person
It is estimated that about 80,000 Maldivians go to India, and the average Maldivian spends atleast USD 1,600 in India. Therefore, Maldivians spend a total of USD 128 million (MVR 1.1 billion) in India annually.
State spending heavily on Indian hospitals
The state budget spends about MVR 3 billion annually on the Aasandha health system, of which almost all of the expenditure goes to Indian hospitals. Aasandha spends MVR 251 million annually on hospitals in India. As such, the Maldivian state spends on Indian hospitals, an amount that meets with what is paid to private hospitals in the country.
Aasandha has become a busines operator of some hospitals in India.
Expenditure on hospitals in India (2022):
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Amrita - MVR 100.5 million
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NU Hospital - MVR 32.6 million
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Manipal Hospital - MVR 31.3 million
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Kims Hospital - MVR 16.2 million
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Ganga Hospital - MVR 14.8 million
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Aster Medicity - MVR 11 million
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Rajagiri Hospital - MVR 10.3 million
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HCG Hospital - MVR 9.7 million
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Miot Hospital - MVR 7 million
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Chaithanya Eye-Hospital - MVR 6.7 million
Therefore, the share of the Maldivian 'tourist' in India is not small. India also enjoys a large share from Maldivians. Therefore, there is no room to say that in the diplomatic relations between the two countries, Maldives is always the taker and India the giver. Despite the small size of the country, the share of Maldivians in the Indian economy is estimated at billions of Rufiyaa.
