The state collected approximately USD 110 million in Green Tax from tourists visiting the Maldives during the first nine months of 2026, according to official fiscal bulletins released by the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority and the Ministry of Finance.
The revenue represents a steady year-on-year expansion in environmental receipts, underpinned by resilient tourist occupancy across tourist resorts, safari liveaboards, and localized island guesthouses throughout the central and northern atolls.
Allocation to environmental trust fund
Under Maldivian fiscal statutes, all Green Tax proceeds are legally ring-fenced within the national Green Fund, a dedicated trust managed by the Ministry of Finance to finance vital environmental protection, coastal revetment, and climate adaptation projects.
The statutory tax levies a daily charge of USD 6 per night on guests staying at luxury resort hotels and liveaboard vessels, and USD 3 per night on tourists residing in inhabited island guesthouses:
"The robust accumulation of USD 110 million in Green Tax collections provides the fiscal backing needed to deliver essential municipal infrastructure, particularly coastal erosion defenses and modern waste management facilities," fiscal authorities noted in the monthly revenue review.
Kaafu Atoll generated the highest proportion of Green Tax revenue, followed closely by major tourism clusters in Alifu Dhaalu Atoll and Baa Atoll.
Financing island waste and water systems
Disbursements from the Green Fund over the past nine months have been directed primarily toward decentralized reverse osmosis water desalination networks, community sewerage installations, and coastal rock revetments on climate-vulnerable islands.
The government is also utilizing Green Tax reserves to co-finance regional waste-to-energy facilities at Thilafushi and regional transfer stations to eliminate open-air burning of tourist and domestic waste. Environmental ministries confirmed that transparent tracking reports detailing project expenditures will be published ahead of the annual budget debate in the People’s Majlis.
