Maldives Passport Reach · Work (% of World GDP)

## What this measures

The share of world GDP, outside Maldives itself, held by the economies where a Maldives passport carries the right to work: in full where nationality alone gives the right to work without a permit (free movement areas such as the EU and EEA with Switzerland, the Common Travel Area, Trans-Tasman, the Mercosur Residence Agreement, the GCC, the Compacts of Free Association, the Eurasian Economic Union, India's treaties with Nepal and Bhutan), and at half where a nationality-restricted route with conditions exists (treaty visas such as the U.S. TN, E-1/E-2, E-3 and H-1B1, and government working-holiday programmes for young adults). A Palanor calculation over 199 passports, monthly from January 2023.

## Why it matters

Where a nationality can work without employer sponsorship shapes where its people can take jobs, move with an employer or start a business abroad, and where employers can hire them without a quota.

## How to read it

Percent of world gross domestic product, outside Maldives itself, held by the destinations open to the passport. Each value is for the first day of a month, from January 2023, with the rules in force that day. GDP weights are one year's World Bank figures used for the whole history, so the line moves only when a destination changes its rules; when the World Bank publishes a new year the whole line is reweighted. Higher means more of the world economy is open to the holder. Every passport also has a rank among 199 (stored with each value; ties share a rank). A destination counts once, at its most open route. Routes that need sponsorship under the general rules for every nationality do not count.

## What it does not say

Only destinations whose rules Palanor records count; the rest count as closed for every passport, so the value is a floor, the same floor for all, and the Passports and citizenship page states the recorded share of world GDP. Entry is at the border officer's discretion, stays are capped and fees and conditions vary. GDP measures the size of an economy, not what a holder can do there. It is GDP-weighted only: Palanor holds no wage data covering enough destinations for a wage-weighted version. It is a Palanor calculation, not a rating of Maldives, and it is not weighted into Country Strength because it rewards treaty membership more than economic strength.

## Source

Palanor calculation. Rules: each destination government's own published list (EU Regulation 2018/1806 Annexes I and II for the Schengen area and Cyprus; the U.S. Visa Waiver Program and treaty country lists; the UK Immigration Rules; Canada's eTA list; Australia's ETA and eVisitor lists; and the equivalents for the other destinations), recorded per passport with the page and date read in the passport_access table and listed on palanor.com/countries/passports. Laws and official lists are facts of law, restated in Palanor's words. Weights: World Bank, World Development Indicators, GDP (current US$), NY.GDP.MKTP.CD, CC BY 4.0. Recomputed weekly by /api/cron/passport-reach.