Mauritius Economy

Government

Type Parliamentary democracy
Capital Port-Louis
Names Conventional long form: Republic of Mauritius
Conventional short form: Mauritius
Administrative divisions

Districts
Black River
Flacq
Grand Port
Moka
Pamplemousses
Plaines Wilhems
Port-Louis
Riviere du Rempart
Savanne

Dependencies
Rodrigues*
Agalega Islands*
Cargados Carajos*
Independence 12 March 1968 (from UK)
National holiday Independence Day, 12 March 1968

Mauritius economy overview

Since independence in 1968, Mauritius has developed from a low-income, agriculturally based economy to a middle-income diversified economy with growing industrial, financial, and tourist sectors. For most of the period, annual growth has been in the order of 5% to 6%. This remarkable achievement has been reflected in more equitable income distribution, increased life expectancy, lowered infant mortality, and a much-improved infrastructure.

The economy rests on sugar, tourism, textiles and apparel, and financial services, and is expanding into fish processing, information and communications technology, and hospitality and property development. Sugarcane is grown on about 90% of the cultivated land area and accounts for 15% of export earnings.

The government's development strategy centers on creating vertical and horizontal clusters of development in these sectors. Mauritius has attracted more than 32,000 offshore entities, many aimed at commerce in India, South Africa, and China. Investment in the banking sector alone has reached over $1 billion.

Mauritius, with its strong textile sector, has been well poised to take advantage of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

Key economic indicators

Main Economic indicators Unit 2018 2019 2020 2021b 2022a 2023
GDP (market prices) Rs bn 500.0 512.1 448.6 478.6 562.7

651.7

Per capita GDP (market prices) US $ 395.1.8 404.5 354.6 378.1 453.1

561.8

GDP growth (basic prices) % +4.0 +2.9 -14.5 +3.4 +8.9

+7.1

Headline inflation Dec, % 3.2 0.5 2.5 4.0 10.8 7.0
Unemployment rate Average, % 6.9 6.7 9.2 9.1 7.7 -

Source : Statistics Mauritius, Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. *First Quarter

Foreign direct investment by sector, Rs million

*First Three Quarters of 2021 and 2022

  2017 2018 2019 20202 20212 20222
Construction 1,051 223 15 3 2 35
Accommodation & food service activities 2,381.9 1,365 70 192 944 1,095
Financial and insurance activities 386 4,277 534 607 46 25
Real estate activities 8,793 9,066 16,148 8,531 5,549 9,965
of which IRS/RES 5,775 8,064 14,030 6,308 3,794 7,510
Other            
Total 18,386.9 22,995 30,797 15,641 10,335 18,630

Source : Bank of Mauritius.*First Quarter

Direct investment abroad by sector (excluding GBC1s)

  2017 2018 2019 2020 20211 20221
Manufacturing 108 56 362 1645 256 3
Accommodation & food service activities 386 1,365 1,498 192 73 37
Financial and insurance activities 6,586 4,277 534 607 38 9
Real estate activities 8,793 9,066 16,148 8,531 279 776
Other            
Total 15,873 14,764 18,542 10,975 646  825

Source : Bank of Mauritius.

Imports from and exports to Mauritius

Country of origin (Rs million) / U.S. Imports To Mauritius 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
France 318,857.67 365,118.79 422.625.01 464,931.22 392,907.04 -
United Kingdom 97,783.14 101,254.04 111.028.24 125,417.69 169,413.79 -
United Arab Emirates 68,896.57 86,312.30 112.485.30 193,662.33 407,625.08 -
United States 73,964.09 98,838.82 125.463.24 137,993.66 116,105.84 -
South Africa 288.036.98 348,506.81 448.553.84 523,123.11 452,291.35 -
Country of origin (Rs million) / U.S. Exports To Mauritius 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
France 294,848.42 325,356.61 332.715.09 278,203.16 237,285.19  -
United Kingdom 325.114.01 263.739.51 249.533.60 224,219.33 208,750.92  -
United Arab Emirates 306,766.98 63,334.23 21.377.96 15,290.37 6,547.56  -
United States 263,734.68 249,796.55 235.424.26 237,622.24 201,782.84  -
South Africa 214,302.70 179.851.79 187.823.60 218,137.72 195,976.21  -

Source : WITS - World Integrated Trade Solution.