According to Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) as per advance estimates of the quarterly national accounts the country’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rebounded strongly by 75.3% in Q2-2021.
The rebound of the Maldivian GDP is compared to the corresponding period in 2020, after a decline of 10.1% in the first quarter 2021.
Although making a bounce back during the second quarter of the current fiscal year, the growth of GDP is still 15.9% below pre-pandemic levels in Q2-2019.
Moreover, the rebound in the annual GDP growth during the review quarter is mainly driven by the significant surge in the tourism sector activities, while this has largely mirrored the base effect of the decline in the sector following the closure of international borders in Q2-2020.
Other economic sectors such as transport and communication and wholesale and retail trader observed significant upwards growth during the review quarter as well.
However, real GDP observed a marked decline when compared with the previous quarter following the end of tourism peak season as well as the re-imposition of stringent containment measures following the resurgence of Covid-19 cases in April 2021.
Meanwhile, construction had felt contraction in annual terms during the review quarter.
As per forecasts published in October 2021 real GDP is projected to grow in the range of 28.1% and 38.5% in 2021, with the most likely growth rate as 31.6% for 2021. In addition to this, real GDP is projected to grow by another 12.0% in 2022.