I have been living in Maldives for the past 5 years. Talking about the cost of living I would first tell you about the cost of living for a Expatriate who come here for work and holds a valid Work permit.
Cost of living for a Expatriate holding a work permit or a visa
Usually the employer provided the foreign employee with accommodation and food or allowance for the same and the employee has to arrange for it. Institutions like IGMH provide excellent accommodation for the specialist doctors and they have their own facilities too. If you get a job in a resort, then you do not need to worry about the accommodation or the food part. Resorts like Kanuhura, W Maldives, Hilton, One and only Reethirah, Four Seasons, Landaa Giraavaru, etc provide excellent facilities to their staff. They are paid fixed salary plus service charges. Service charges for resorts like W Maldives, Four seasons are very high.
[flv:home.flv 580 290]
General Cost of living
Accommodation – Accommodation is the most expensive part here. For a single bed room fully furnished accommodation you will need to pay around US$ 700. Staying with your family with only one person working will be expensive as you will be need to go for a better accommodation.
Food – Food is expensive as almost everything is imported here. Fish is affordable if you go to the local market or if you are living in an Island, you can get fresh fish and vegetables at very affordable price. If you are living in Male’, the cost of food is high but if you cook yourself, then you can Manage with less than US$70 per month. There are some Indian and Sri Lankan hotels who provide monthly packages for about US$ 80 per person which includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Phone Calls – There are two telecom service providers in Maldives, Dhiraagu and Wataniya. Now the local and international calls are very much affordable, but there are other ways also to make cheep International phone calls.
Others – These are the basic things which you will be forced to spend when you live in Maldives. Other things like cosmetics, dresses, or any luxurious items are also costly, but you can get some products which are of very high quality and popular brands. I would not like to associate these things with the cost of living in Maldives.
If you are working for a Good Reputed company, then you should not have problem with the basic needs like food and accommodation. Cost of living is high when you compare with India or Sri Lanka, but the currency value is much higher when you compare with India or Sri Lanka. I find lots of Foreigners searching for job vacancies in Maldives and many coming and working here from more than 50 countries around the world.
Now a days there are lots of Bangladeshi’s coming to Maldives to work, mostly for the construction projects
If you have any more questions or comments, please post it, I will try my best to answer it.
{ 3 trackbacks }
{ 118 comments… read them below or add one }
← Previous Comments
I always read your amazing website every week, its great fun and got lots of interesting information to take in and lots of interesting articles.
Dear Kishor, finally I joined at Allied Maldives… its nice experience. Thanks for your advice and for this site….
Dear Kishore,Just wanted to know how much does it cost to call India from Maldives.Thanks for your help.
Using Dhiraagu, its about MRF 3 per minute
Hi Kishore,Thanks a lot for the very helpful inforamation. I have been offered a job as teacher at a school near Male with a salary of around US$1500 plus US$250 housing allowance. Do you think you can get an unfurnished apartment for a reasonable price in Male? I’m not interested in an expensive furnished place, just a local flat. Do you think that salary is OK for living in the Maldives?Thanks for your help!Casper
Casper – Salary is good, but I don\’t think you will be able to find a single accommodation for US$ 250. One bedroom apartment will cost you atleast 900-1000 US$
Dear Kishore,I have been offered for a job on of the Telecom in maldives. I have been offer US $5,000/month (included House rent US$450). Can you please inform me some informations:Living Cost in maldives:House Rent (less expensive furnished): ??** What includes in furnishes ?Food cost/month for 02 people (if cook own): ??Phone, cable & Internet cost: ??Other cost:Please help me to take decesion for bargain.
Richard – A Single Bedroom fully furnished accommodation (almost everything, Fridge, TV, telephone, furnitures, kitchen accessories) will cost about US$ 1000. Food for 2 if you are cooking, US$ 250 could do. Cable TV, internet, phone and other could come upto US$ 500. Thats it
Dear Kishore, Thank you for your support.
Dear Kishore,I have been offered a teaching job at a school starting in January, in Male – and the salary per month is 10,000 Maldivian Ruffiya.They have offered free accommodation, airfare re-imbursement after 6 months completion of the contract, and will take care of visas and such, with paid holidays too.To me the salary seems low – is this correct? It equates to only about $750US a month. With the cost of living it seems it might not be a great option. What do you think?
Cheyne – I think this is the standard salary, but now the cost of living has gone very high. I am not sure, how much beneficial this offer would be to you
Thank You for your fast reply.The teaching offer is from the Language Learning Centre (LLC) in the Maldives. Do you know much about their school? Do you know anyone who has been employed there? I have heard some good things and some bad things, but any information you have or could get for me would be great.Also, can you negotiate salaries in the Maldives based on experience (more money for more experience?)Cheers
Hello Kishor,thanks for the article. Although I would liek to know some more things. I am a single woman from India. I just got an offer to work as an English trainer from APTECH. They are asking me my expected CTC. But I know nothing of Maldives. I am not sure how much to quote. Considering the cost of living what do you think I should quote? Also is maldive safe for asingle woman to live alone and how westernised is it?Thank you
Shruthi – Cost of living is very high in Male\’. Assuming that you will be stationed in Male\’ , the capital of Maldives. Accomodation is the most costliest part, for a furnished accommodation single bedroom will cost atleast US$500, but if the company is providing, that should not be a worry. Food and other expenses again will depend on person to person, on an average, US$ 300 should be more than enough
Hi, I am ACCA(uk) affiliate.What is the salary range for Accountants and auditors in Maldives ?
@shanii no idea, let me check and let you know
Shanii, its around US$ 1000 again depends on the company and experience of the candidate
hi kishore, how r u? hope u’ll remember me. i was ur wife’s roommate. how is she n ur kid. convey my regards to her. mail me when u get time.
She and my kid are fine, they are in India
sorry. i just now saw ur reply. nice to hear back frm u.
Waiting for ur reply Kishore.
Hi,I’m planning to get a job in a luxurious Resort in Maldives. I’m French, and I’d like to know what is the wage I can get, excluding lodging and fooding.By the way, I heard there was a minimum salary for local residents working in Resorts. How high is it?Thank you very very much,Adrien
dear kishor, am frm India Is Maldives good and safe place to work in? Do govt provide any job security to foreign employees …many people are telling there is water problem and people are coming bk to India, my bro have got job in company as accountant salary 900USD and there are offering free acc & food… will be a good offer..please do reply
Maldives is a good place, but currently the Government policies have changed, going for localization and privatization. There is job security for any foreign employees. I think the salary is good, if its after food and accommodation
Could you pl suggest few good consultants who could help finance professional from India having more than 12 years of exp to grab good opportunities in Maldives?
Thank you very much for this article.
Would you know what sort of salary to expect working as guest relation officer in upmarket resort in Maldives?
Many thanks!
Nadine – It depends on the Hotel,
dear kishor,my husband is being offered a job at maldive as architect. what is the salary scale for an architect / project coordinator in maldives? is it advisable to bring along the family – wife; 1, 9 and 11 year old children? how much will an internation school education cost for primary and middle school? i hope you can give advice on how much salary will provide for a comfortable life for a family of 5. many thanks to you and more power
camille – I am not much aware of the salary for architects in Maldives as I am not from that industry. But for sure the cost of living is getting higher here in Male’. Schooling is also costly if you are looking for International school ( i guess around US$ 200-300)
hi kishore, thank you for your prompt reply. i just want to verify the cost of schooling that you gave at US$200-300, is this monthly or the whole school year? can you recommend a good english speaking school? many thanks – camille
Hi Kishore, I am trying to find the following costs for Maldives – 1. monthly salaries for a local resident in Male. 2. Cost of fuel in Male. 3. Cost of accommodation, food, travel per day for a local resident. 4. Cost of hiring generator and diesel cost of generator. This is a little urgent and would request if you could help. Many thanks…Rohit
Hi Kishore, am going to Maldives, Kuda huraa for a 5 day honeymoon trip , my staying over there is free of cost and will be staying at the four-seasons hotel , i want to know the cost that i have to bear for my stay for food and traveling. Approx estimate of food in a 5 star property. Many thanks Vikram
Vikram, it depends on the resort, Four Seasons is one the most costliest resort in Maldives
Dear Kishore,
It is nice to go through your detailed explanation in an answer to the questions of many who want to work in Maldives in various sections.
I too expect an answer to my following:-
I am currently working in a private export company in North India and have been working since 1993. My wife is teaching a Convent English Medium School in primary section.
My question is that is it possible for me to get a suitable job in Maldives in an Export/Import company. I have heard there is much scope for exports and imports in Maldives and just because of this reason there could many companies on the line.
Could give me an idea on this.
Many thanks,
Cyriac Joseph
Yes Mr Joseph, there are possibilities, but you will have to check for vacancies in good company
Dear Kishore,
I really appreciate your quick reply and it helps many to reach at their aim destination.
Further, if possible, could you guide me with some references of the good companies in Maldives who are possibly doing Export / Import business to try my luck.
Many thanks for your help.
Cyriac Joseph
Joseph there are few export companies (Fish processing units), but there are a good number of importing companies because everything in Maldives in imported.
Dear Kishor,My name is Anish, i am from Kerala, India. I recentlly got a job offer from Cyryx College, Maldives and they have offer me free accomodiation & Food, and a salary in the range of 7,000 MVR to 8,000 MVR, but i am absolutlly Zero about Maldives, and would like to know weather it would be a good offer for me. Hope you could help me out in this matter. waitign for a reply at the earliest. Thanking You
Anish – The cost of living in Maldives is very high now. Its true that you will have spend atleast 3-4k for your monthly expenses
HEY KISHOR,Sorry to distrub you again but i just heard from one of my friend that i have to spend 40 percent of the total earnings in maldivies itself, is there any fact in it?
what will be the average salary for a dentist in maldives
← Previous Comments