Maldives’ fertility rate drops to 1.7

The Total Fertility Rate (TFR), which shows the average number of children a woman is expected to have during her reproductive span, has dropped to 1.7 children in Maldives.

Results of Census 2022 show a significant year-on-year of the TFR in Maldives. The latest census recorded the lowest TFR to date, with the average number of children a woman has dropping to 1.7 children.

The rate has now gone below replacement level fertility - the level of fertility at which a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next.

 This means the fertility rate in Maldives has now done below the death rate.

The TFR of Maldives had stood at 6.4 children in 1990. The rate dropped to 2.8 children in 2000, and 2.2 children in 2006, before a slight rise to 2.5 children in 2014.

With the decline in the fertility rate, the aging population of Maldives is increasing.

Experts attribute the drop in fertility rate to an increase in the cost of living, and infertility.

 Dr. Zahiya Abdul Baree, a consultant in obstetrics and gynecology, says there had been an increase in fertility issues in Maldives.

She attributed this to an increase in diagnosis due to greater awareness, and medical issues due to unhealthy lifestyles.

The leading cause of infertility in Maldives is Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS).

Following mounting concern over the issue, Maldives got its first IVF treatment facility in May, when the Tree Top Hospital, a private hospital located in Hulhumale’, opened a fertility clinic.