According to the statistics released by Maldives Customs Service, the government income from imports and exports declined by 59% in September 2020.
The statistics indicate that MVR 292 million was earned in September 2019 while MVR 119 million was earned in September this year where the total value imports in September 2019 is MVR 3.8 billion while imports during September 2020 amounted to MVR 1.9 billion. Hence, customs declarations to clear goods have declined to a great extent from 19,374 declarations in September 2019 to just 9,463 declarations during the same period this year.
Most of the imports are from China, Singapore, and India where the majority of the imports include food products, oil, machinery and electric equipments. Imports from China amounted to MVR 345 million while MVR 275 million worth of products were imported from India. Moreover, the imports from SIngapore is valued at MVR 217 million.
The number of vessel arrivals have increased during September 2020 compared to the same period during last year where 82 vessels arrived during last year while 108 vessels arrived this September. In addition, 91 vessels departed in September 2019 while 117 vessels departed in September 2020. Majority of the exports were frozen fish products mainly to England, Germany, and France. Whereas, 21% of these exports were to England and 19% to Germany while 17% was exported to France.
