For the first time in the history of the tourism industry, more than 200,000 tourists from three different countries visited the Maldives in a single year, according to statistics from the Tourism Ministry.

According to the latest arrivals report for 2025, the largest number of tourists came from China, Russia and the UK. China was the biggest source market with more than 300,000, followed by Russia and the UK with more than 200,000.

In previous years, more than 200,000 tourists came from the top two source markets. However, this is the first time that more than 200,000 tourists have arrived from the third-placed country.

China, which ranked number one this year, had 329,286 tourists, the first time to exceed 300,000 since 2017. However, the record for the largest number of tourists from China (2015: 359,514) was not renewed in 2025.

All but China and India, which were in the top ten for tourism arrivals last year, had record numbers of tourists.

Last year, a record number of tourists arrived (2.2 million), but the projected 2.3 million target was not achieved. However, year-on-year, tourist arrivals have increased by about 10 percent.

The government expects the tourism industry to continue to grow this year. The approves state budget estimates that 2.4 million tourists will arrive in 2026.