Maldives Customs Services says imports grew by 63 percent in April of this year compared to the same period last year.
In monthly statistics for April 2022, Customs said that imports into the country amounted to MVR 4.7 billion and that this included fuel as well.
Customs said that last year in April, imports into the country came up to MVR 2.9 billion.
Customs also said that exports for last month reached MVR 231 million and that this was 36 percent more compared to the same period last month.
It further said that it generated MVR 362 million as customs revenue in April 2022 and that this was 37 percent more than that of last year.
The bulk of the imports brought into the country include fuel ( Marine gas, Oil (diesel), petrol, aviation gas) with MVR 1.6 billion imported last month. Food items came in second with MVR 836 million imports followed by machinery and mechanical appliance; electrical with MVR 721 million imports.
Major importing countries include Oman with 30 percent of the imports with India following second importing 14 percent of the products last month.
As for exports, MVR 96 million worth of frozen Skipjack were exported last month along with MVR 27 million prepared or preserved Skipjack Tuna.
Customs statistics show that majority of the exports were sent to Thailand with 62 percent going to the southeastern country followed by Germany which received 7 percent of the exports in April
