Mauritius: Stepping Stone To Africa

Situated in the southern Indian Ocean about 1,200 miles off the African coast, Mauritius wants to be the go-to country for entrepreneurs seeking opportunities in Africa. With strong economic and governance fundamentals, a savvy bilingual workforce and a network of agreements with African countries, Mauritius is already being used by major Indian and Chinese companies to expand into the continent.

 
 
Source
Central bank

Bank of Mauritius

International Reserves

USD 7.29 billion (2020)

World Bank, last updated 12/16/2021

Gross Domestic Product - GDP

World Bank, last updated 12/16/2021

IMF - World Economic Outlook, October 2021

GDP (Purchasing Power Parity)

USD 28.27 billion (2021 estimate)

Real GDP growth
2017 2018 2019 2020* 2021*
3.8% 3.8% 3.0% -14.9% 5.0%

*Estimate

GDP per capita - current prices

USD 8,681.61 (2021 estimate)

GDP per capita - PPP

USD 22,311.37 (2021 estimate)

GDP (PPP) - share of world total

USD 0.02% (2021 estimate)

 
 
Source
GDP - composition by sector
  • agriculture: 3.4% 
  • industry: 16.7% 
  • services: 68.2%

(2016 estimate)

Gross domestic expenditure on R&D; (% of GDP)

N/A

Inflation
2017 2018 2019 2020* 2021*
3.7% 3.2% 0.5% 2.5% 5.1%

*Estimate

Unemployment rate
2017 2018 2019 2020* 2021*
7.1% 6.9% 6.7% 9.2% 9.5%

*Estimate

Household saving rates

N/A

 

Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP)
2017 2018 2019 2020* 2021*
64.3% 66.2% 84.6% 96.9% 101%

*Estimate

Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP)
2017 2018 2019 2020* 2021*
0.7% 0.3% 5.6.% -9.1% -5.7%

*Estimate

Government bond ratings

Standard & Poor's: N/A

Moody's: Baa2

Standard & Poor's / Moody's (Updated January 2022)

Market value of publicly traded shares

USD 6.2 billion (2020)

Largest companies

N/A

 
 
Source
Current account balance

USD -2 billion (2021 estimate)

IMF - World Economic Outlook, October 2021

Current account balance by percentage of GDP

-18.6% (2021 estimate)

IMF - World Economic Outlook, October 2021

Exports as percent of GDP (Exports of goods and services)

30% (2020)

Shares in world total merchandising export

0.01% (2020)

Shares in world total commercial services export

0.03% (2020)

Total exports

USD 3.1 billion (2020 estimate)

Export commodities

Fish products, raw sugar, clothing and apparel, diamonds, refined petroleum (2019)

Total imports

USD 5.2 billion (2020 estimate)

 
 
Source
Import commodities

Refined petroleum, cars, fish products, aircraft, packaged medicines (2019)

Exports - major partners

France 10%, South Africa 10%, United States 10%, United Kingdom 8%, Zambia 7%, Madagascar 6% (2019)

Imports - major partners

China 15%, India 13%, France 10%, South Africa 8%, United Arab Emirates 7% (2019)

FDI inflows
2018 2019 2020
USD 461 million USD 471 million USD 246 million
FDI outflows
2018 2019 2020
USD 98million USD 57 million USD 26 million
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser
2017 2018 2019 2020
USD 1,852 million USD 241 million USD 147 million USD -378 million
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2014

N/A

Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2015

N/A

Best countries for doing business

Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.

Overall ranking: 13 out of 190 countries

(2020)

Dealing with Construction Permits: 8 out of 190 countries

Getting Electricity: 28 out of 190 countries

Registering Property: 23 out of 190 countries

Getting Credit: 67 out of 190 countries

Protecting Minority Investors: 18 out of 190 countries

Paying Taxes: 5 out of 190 countries

Trading across Borders: 72 out of 190 countries

Enforcing Contracts: 20 out of 190 countries

Resolving Insolvency: 28 out of 190 countries

Global competitiveness ranking

Ranking: 30 / Score: 70.9 (Mostly Free)

Index of Economic Freedom

Ranking: 30 / Score: 70.9 (Mostly Free)

(100=totally free 0=totally repressed)

 
 
Source
Time zone

UTC+4

Total area

2,040 sq km

Capital

Port Louis

Currency

Mauritian rupees (MUR)

Government type

Parliamentary republic

Languages

Creole 86.5%, Bhojpuri 5.3%, French 4.1%, two languages 1.4%, other 2.6% (includes English, the official language, which is spoken by less than 1% of the population), unspecified 0.1% (2011 est.)

Religions

Hindu 48.5%, Roman Catholic 26.3%, Muslim 17.3%, other Christian 6.4%, other 0.6%, none 0.7%, unspecified 0.1% (2011 est.)

Total population
1990 2000 2010 2016* 2021*
1.059 million 1.186 million 1.25 million 1.259 million 1.26 million

*Estimate 

 
 
Source
Urban population as % of total population
1960 1980 2000 2015
33% 42% 43% 40%
Population median age

34.8 years (2016 estimate)

Population growth rate

0.61% (2016 estimate)

Life expectancy

75.6 years (2016 estimate)

Literacy

Total population: 90.6%
Male: 92.9%
Female: 88.5% (2015 est.)

(age 15 and over can read and write)

% of population living on less than $3.10 a day

0.7% (2012)

Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index)

35.8 (2012)

(0=perfect equality, 100=absolute inequality)

Freedom House rating

Political Rights: 1
Civil Liberties: 2 (2017)                         

(1 represents the most free, 7 the least free rating)

Source
Total telephone subscribers as % of population

Fixed 30.31%   Mobile 140.58% (2015)
(fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)

Internet users as % of total population

50.14% (2015)

Mercer Cost of living index

Port Louis: 175th (2016)

CO2 emissions

3.0 (2013)

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