Social Accounts in the Maldives

Expanding ocean accounts to the social domain

Ocean Accounts compile and present structured data across environmental, social and economic domains. To date, ocean accounting in the Maldives has primarily focused on economic and environmental accounts. The absence of social data means coastal community experiences, needs, knowledge and contributions to ocean health and the ocean economy remain invisible in decision-making processes. In the Maldives that is changing. The Maldives has begun integrating the social domain into national Ocean Accounts frameworks.

Social Accounts capture the social, cultural and equity dimensions of the human-ocean relationship within the Ocean Accounts framework.

A preliminary assessment of social data availability

The Social Data Audit Methodology and Tool developed by the Global Ocean Accounts Partnership (GOAP) and World Resources Institute (WRI) is a practical tool that can be used to evaluate social data availability in national contexts. The tool demonstrates how to systematically identify, assess, and operationalise existing data sources of social data for Ocean Accounts.

The Maldives was one of eight countries first assessed using the social data audit methodology to examine social data availability (watch the launch webinar to learn more).

Findings

By analysing 94 indicators from three national data sources between 2017 and 2022, the analysis revealed that many statistics already have extensive national coverage. All 94 indicators include at least one level of disaggregation (by geography, gender, or age), enabling analysis of how conditions vary across groups and regions. The analysis also revealed several areas for improvement.

Existing statistics

Opportunities

Employment, income, and labour market dynamics Poverty rates and access to basic needs (water, sanitation, housing) Population structure and demographic trends Household exposure to natural disasters

Develop indicators for: Human security and disaster preparedness Traditional knowledge; human health Social cohesion and engagement Cultural connections to the ocean Strengthen indicators for: Gender equity: currently limited to employment and income distribution without reference to decision-making power, asset ownership, and participation in leadership Marine-specific measures: fisheries employment and catch data exist, but few indicators capture the distinct conditions of fishing communities compared to the broader population Food security: currently focuses on expenditure and consumption, missing dietary diversity and nutrition outcomes Vulnerability: currently measures disaster exposure but not adaptive capacity or recovery

Next steps

Strengthening national social data can be addressed without needing to collect new data - existing variables can be combined to generate marine-specific indicators.

For example, fisheries employment data can be disaggregated to reveal income, education, and health indicators for fishing households versus non-fishing households. This would reveal whether fishing communities face distinct challenges in poverty, service access, or disaster recovery.

Where new data is needed, the assessment has identified three priority areas for strengthening existing surveys or developing targeted modules:

1. Gender-disaggregated measures across all dimensions
2. Indicators of adaptive capacity and resilience
3. Measures capturing cultural and traditional connections to the ocean

This work supports implementation of Maldives’ National Ocean Accounts Roadmap 2025–2030, launched in June 2025. The country’s progress so far has established the Maldives as a leader in this space and offers a replicable model for other countries seeking to integrate social dimensions into ocean accounting.