National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has stated 6% of the Maldivian labour force are unemployed. The employment rate stood at 93.9% with the unemployment rate is at 6.1%., according to the Employment Chapter of Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2016.
Statistics showed labour force participation rate was at 58%. However, the rate for employed men was higher than that for employed women with 75% for men and 42% for women.
The employed population in 2016 was around 142,400 of which 86,700 are male and 55,700 are female. In the capital, Male' City, the employed population was 66,300 while in the atolls, the employed population was 76,000. More women work in the informal sector than men, while employed women are relatively more educated than men, according to NBS.