The Maldives had welcomed 1,611,434 tourists this year as of 7 October, a fall of 3.5% from the same point last year, according to the latest weekly update from the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation.
Including 15,461 business arrivals and 15,583 cruise passengers, total visitor arrivals reached 1,642,478, the ministry said. That works out to an average of 5,755 tourists a day.
China remained the largest source market with 311,485 tourists, or 19.3% of arrivals. Russia was second with 234,718, followed by the United Kingdom with 122,067, Germany with 103,144, Italy with 99,531 and India with 93,043, according to the ministry.
Resorts hosted 73.8% of tourists, while guesthouses took 21.9%. Hotels and safari vessels accounted for most of the rest. Almost 98% of visitors arrived through Velana International Airport.
The ministry's figures show 68,013 operational beds across 1,289 tourism facilities, or 99% of registered capacity.
The ministry has not given a reason for the decline. The figures cover the period up to 7 October, and the next weekly update has not yet been published.