Maldives - Economic sectors

The Republic of Maldives' economic sectors reflect the very small size of the population, a limited infrastructure principally caused by the country's division across hundreds of tiny islands, a low level of skilled labor, and the very limited level of agricultural potential and mineral resources. Consequently there are severe limits on domestic markets and the availability of land on those islands that are inhabited. Nonetheless, the country's situation as a series of small isolated islands works

more positively as a strategic trading point, a tourist destination, and as an excellent base for tapping the Indian Ocean's abundant fish stocks.

The Maldives economy consists of 3 main sectors— trade, tourism, and fisheries. Although the fisheries sector was historically the primary source of national employment and economic activity, the rise of tourism in the 1970s caused it to become the third most important economic sector by 2001.