Maldives Customs Service revealed that the revenue generated from import duty experienced a 14 percent increase in August following a spike in imported goods.
According to statistics publicised by Customs, goods worth MVR 4.1 billion were imported to Maldives last month, which is an increase of 33 percent compared to the record of MVR 3.16 billion in the same period last year.
Revenue from Import Duty and other fees stood at MVR 280 million in August, compared to the MVR 245 million earned in August 2017.
The statistics show that the majority of goods were imported from China at 19 percent, followed by the United Arab Emirates at 18 percent. The third highest amount of imports were from Singapore.
Despite the increase in revenue from imports, Customs' statistics revealed that exports last month experienced a drop. While goods worth MVR 315 million were exported in August 2017, the record stood at MVR 259 million last month.
The most commonly exported goods by the Maldives are fish products, with the highest number of exports in August 2018 made to Germany at 20 percent of the total exports, while 15 percent of exports were made to Thailand, 14 percent to the United Kingdom, and 10 percent to France.
Sign In