8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Asia / Southern Asia

Born in Maldives

About 1 in 22,778 people born in 2023 started life in Maldives. A boy can expect to live 80 years and a girl 83, up from 36 and 38 in 1950. Fewer than half of people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 22,778
odds of being born here
5,800 births · Ranked 179th of 230
80 / 83
years of life, boys / girls
Was 36 / 38 in 1950
$6,612
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 105th of 203 · extrapolated
42%
live in a city
Most live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 45 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 381 in every 1,000 births to 5.2.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0100200300400195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth79.7 years for boys, 82.8 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 55.2 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year1,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people2.2World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles99%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.1%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year36 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.2 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.6, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.58UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth30.2 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 39 and the poorest fifth 9.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2019
9%Poorest fifth
13%Second
17%Middle
22%Fourth
39%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $6,612 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth39% / 9% (2019)World Bank PIP
Unemployment4.0% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises2.9% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person4.6% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming12% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed20% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment79% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Male, with 103,693 people.

42%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
100%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Male103,693
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Divehi98%
English75%
Divehi is official.

People on the move

About 0.5% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Sri Lanka, Australia, India.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Sri Lanka1,424
Australia712
India574
Residents born abroad14.2% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 0.5% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostSri Lanka (1,424), Australia (712), India (574)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $5.9 million a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

100% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

100%
of older people receive a pension (2021)
0%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2022)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 2024316Our World in Data, from WHO

Now live it.

Born in Maldives, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Maldives

Elsewhere in Asia

All countries

How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences