Mauritius
- Capital Port Louis (20.2°S 57.5°E)
- International airport(s) Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport
- Official language(s) None (English, French, Mauritian Creole)
- Currency Mauritian rupee (MUR)
- Time UTC +4
- Region Atlantic and Indian Ocean
GeographyClimateEconomyCulture
Mauritius lies in the Indian Ocean about 2 000 km off the southeast coast of Africa. There are two main islands: Mauritius and Rodrigues, the latter located 560 km east of Mauritius. The island of Mauritius is 65 km long and 45 km wide. The outer islands include Agaléga and Saint Brandon. The country is known for its rich nature and many endemic species. The island was once home to the dodo, a flightless bird, which was driven to extinction by humans shortly after the island's settlement. These islands emerged as a result of underwater volcanic eruptions some 8 million years ago, though these volcanoes are no longer active. The highest peak, Piton de la Petite Rivière Noire, lying in the southwest at 828 m.
Mauritius has a tropical climate with two seasons. The summer is warm and humid and lasts from November to April, with a mean temperature of around 25 °C. The winter is relatively cold and dry, lasting from June to September with a mean temperature of 20‐21 °C. The warmest months, January and February, reach average temperatures of 26 °C. Average annual rainfall is above 1 700 mm -—
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—- and ranges from 900 mm on the coast to higher amounts on the central plateau, most of which falls during the summer months. The wettest period lasts from January to March. Sea temperatures vary from 22 to 27 °C. Trade winds cool the eastern side and bring more rain. Between January and March the islands experience occasional tropical cyclones and heavy rains.
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—- and ranges from 900 mm on the coast to higher amounts on the central plateau, most of which falls during the summer months. The wettest period lasts from January to March. Sea temperatures vary from 22 to 27 °C. Trade winds cool the eastern side and bring more rain. Between January and March the islands experience occasional tropical cyclones and heavy rains.
Mauritius has developed from a low‐income economy based on agriculture into a diversified economy with a high, almost 80 per cent, share of services in GDP, a few per cent contributed by mining and 13 per cent by manufacturing -—
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—-. The economy is heavily dependent on tourism, transport, textiles, sugar and financial services. In 2019, Mauritius attracted 1.4 million tourist arrivals with an inbound tourism expenditure at 14 per cent over GDP -—
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—-. After Seychelles, Mauritius has the second highest GDP per capita of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean SIDS in 2019 with US$11 000, current prices -—
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This economic transformation, achieved since independence in 1968, is often referred to as 'the Mauritian Miracle', or the 'success of Africa'. The World Bank's 2019 Ease of Doing Business Index ranks Mauritius 13th worldwide. Mauritius has positioned itself as a hub for investment into Africa as it is strategically located between Asia and Africa. Important export destinations include France, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and South Africa. Mauritius has undertaken initiatives to develop its regulatory framework, protect investment, avoid double taxation, develop a competent and multilingual workforce and provides a politically stable environment. The country hosts numerous international banks, corporate services, law firms and investment funds. Mauritius also has challenges, such as reliance on relatively few sectors, a relatively small labour force and an increasing old‐age dependency ratio of nearly 18 per 100 persons in 2020.
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—-. The economy is heavily dependent on tourism, transport, textiles, sugar and financial services. In 2019, Mauritius attracted 1.4 million tourist arrivals with an inbound tourism expenditure at 14 per cent over GDP -—
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—-. After Seychelles, Mauritius has the second highest GDP per capita of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean SIDS in 2019 with US$11 000, current prices -—
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This economic transformation, achieved since independence in 1968, is often referred to as 'the Mauritian Miracle', or the 'success of Africa'. The World Bank's 2019 Ease of Doing Business Index ranks Mauritius 13th worldwide. Mauritius has positioned itself as a hub for investment into Africa as it is strategically located between Asia and Africa. Important export destinations include France, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and South Africa. Mauritius has undertaken initiatives to develop its regulatory framework, protect investment, avoid double taxation, develop a competent and multilingual workforce and provides a politically stable environment. The country hosts numerous international banks, corporate services, law firms and investment funds. Mauritius also has challenges, such as reliance on relatively few sectors, a relatively small labour force and an increasing old‐age dependency ratio of nearly 18 per 100 persons in 2020.
Arts are an important part of the Mauritian culture and the country is home to several renowned painters. Literature is also important in the country, with J. M. G. Le Clézio winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2008. The island also hosts the Le Prince Maurice Prize that alternates annually between English and French speaking writers. Cuisine is a combination of Indian, Creole, French and Chinese, with many dishes unique to the island. Varying types of seafood and spices play an important part in the local cuisine.
Land areakm2
Arable land%
Forest area%
Coastline
lengthkm
lengthkm
Exclusive economic zonekm2
Nearest
neighbourkm
neighbourkm
Economic trendsMaritime transportPopulationInternational tradeEnvironmentInformation and communications technology
Gross domestic product
US dollars at constant prices (2015) in millions
US dollars at constant prices (2015) in millions
GDP per capita
2019
US$
Productive Capacity Index
2018
Economic and environmental vulnerability index
2019
Consumer Price Index growth
2019
%
Unemployment
rate
Female %, Male %
rate
Total %
Female %, Male %
Main economic sectors, 2019
Percentage of GDP
Percentage of GDP
Tourist arrivals
Thousands of tourists, percentage of GDP
Thousands of tourists, percentage of GDP
External financial resources
Percentage of GDP
Percentage of GDP
Public debt as % of GDP
2018
%
Fleet size
Number of ships
Number of ships
Ship type | 2011 | 2019 |
---|---|---|
Total fleet | 1 407 | 1 407 |
Oil tankers | 264 | 266 |
Bulk carriers | 311 | 333 |
General cargo | 161 | 77 |
Container ships | 52 | 49 |
Other types of ships | 619 | 682 |
Port performance
Ranked by 2019 data within SIDS group
Ranked by 2019 data within SIDS group
Indicators | 2019 | SIDS Ranking |
---|---|---|
Number of port calls | 1 392 | 12 |
Median time in port (days) | 1 | 8 |
Average age of vessels | 13 | 28 |
Average size (GT) of vessels | 28 975 | 13 |
Container port throuput
2019
TEU
Bilateral connectivity index, 2019
Top 5 partners
Top 5 partners
Liner shipping connectivity index
Maximum China Q1 2006=100
Maximum China Q1 2006=100
Total population
Thousands of people, share of urban population
Thousands of people, share of urban population
Population development indicators
Indicators | Period | Value | |
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Poverty headcount (% of population) | 2017 | 0.2 | |
Human development index | 2018 | 0.8 | |
Human assets index | 2020 | 92 | |
Adult literacy rate (15+ years, both sexes %) | .. | .. | |
Gender inequality index | 2019 | 0.4 |
Life expectancy at birth
years
Population density
2019
persons per km2Dependency
ratio
Old-age:
ratio
2019
Child:Old-age:
Age structure by gender, 2019
Percentage of total population
Percentage of total population
Merchandise and services trade
US dollars in millions
US dollars in millions
Indicators | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2019 | 2019 (% of GDP) |
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Merchandise exports | 2 143 | 2 261 | 2 662 | 2 223 | 15.7 |
Merchandise imports | 3 157 | 4 386 | 4 790 | 5 596 | 39.5 |
Services exports | 1 618 | 2 695 | 2 733 | 2 949 | 20.8 |
Services imports | 1 198 | 1979 | 2041 | 2129 | 15 |
Trade openness
Goods and services
Goods and services
% of GDP
Export concentration index
2019
Food import
dependency
Average 2015-2019
dependency
Average 2015-2019
Top 5 partners in merchandise trade, 2019
Exports in millions US dollars
Exports in millions US dollars
Merchandise exports by product group, 2019
Services exports by category, 2019
CO2 emissions per capita
Kg per capita
Kg per capita
CO2 emissions per GDP
Kg per 2010 US$ of GDP
Kg per 2010 US$ of GDP
Renewable energy share in total energy consumption, 2017
Percentage of total energy consumption
Percentage of total energy consumption
Material
footprint
per capita
footprint
per capita
2016
kg
Terrestrial
protected
area
protected
area
2018
%
Marine
protected
area
protected
area
2018
%
Disasters indicators
Data not available
Trade in ICT goods
Imports: %
Exports: %
Imports: %
Trade in ICT services
Imports: %
Exports: %
Imports: %
Fixed broadband vs Mobile broadband subscriptions
Number of subscriptions per 100 people
Number of subscriptions per 100 people
Sources
Source of data: -—
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—- except indicators listed below.
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—- except indicators listed below.
- Adult literacy rate: -—
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—- - Arable land: -—
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—- https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.ARBL.ZS - CO2 emissions per capita: -—
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—- https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.ATM.CO2E.PC - CO2 emissions per GDP: -—
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—- https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.ATM.CO2E.KD.GD - Distance to nearest neighbour: -—
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—- https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/cshapes/index.html - Economic losses due to disasters: -—
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—- https://www.sdg.org/datasets/e3adb2406c2e452b81c3654e276fc5ca_0 - Exclusive economic zone: -—
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—- http://www.seaaroundus.org/ - Fixed broadband/mobile subscriptions: -—
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—-. World telecommunication/ICT indicators database. Available at https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/publications/wtid.aspx (accessed 28 May 2020). - Forest area: -—
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—- https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.FRST.ZS - Gender inequality index: -—
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—-. Gender inequality index (GII), http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/gender-inequality-index-gii - Human assets index: -—
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—- http://data.uis.unesco.org/ - Human development index: -—
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—- http://hdr.undp.org/en/data# - Life expectancy at birth: -—
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—- https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN - Marine protected area: -—
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—- https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/ER.MRN.PTMR.ZS - Material footprint: -—
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—- https://environmentlive.unep.org/indicator/index/12_2_1 - Number of people affected by disasters: -—
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—- https://www.sdg.org/datasets/1beb260e9ca14674b391b815e4874990_0 - ODA: -—
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—- https://stats.oecd.org - Percentage of population in low elevated coastal zones: -—
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—- https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.POP.EL5M.ZS - Poverty headcount ratio: -—
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—- https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.DDAY - Renewable energy share in total energy consumption: -—
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—- https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.ATM.CO2E.KD.GD - Share of internet users: -—
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—-. World telecommunication/ICT indicators database. Available at https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/publications/wtid.aspx (accessed 28 May 2020). - Terrestrial protected area: -—
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—- https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/ER.LND.PTLD.ZS - Tourism: -—
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—- Compendium of Tourism Statistics dataset [Electronic], UNWTO, Madrid, data updated on 21/09/2020. - Unemployment rate, total/female/male: -—
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—- https://www.ilo.org/shinyapps/bulkexplorer2/?lang=en&segment=indicator&id=SDG_0852_SEX_AGE_RT_A - World risk index: -—
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—-: https://weltrisikobericht.de/download/1386/
References
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Donec tincidunt vel mauris a dignissim. Curabitur sodales nunc id vestibulum tempor. Nunc tortor orci, sodales nec eros eget.
Donec tincidunt vel mauris a dignissim. Curabitur sodales nunc id vestibulum tempor. Nunc tortor orci, sodales nec eros eget.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
Donec tincidunt vel mauris a dignissim. Curabitur sodales nunc id vestibulum tempor. Nunc tortor orci, sodales nec eros eget.
Donec tincidunt vel mauris a dignissim. Curabitur sodales nunc id vestibulum tempor. Nunc tortor orci, sodales nec eros eget.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
Donec tincidunt vel mauris a dignissim. Curabitur sodales nunc id vestibulum tempor. Nunc tortor orci, sodales nec eros eget.
Donec tincidunt vel mauris a dignissim. Curabitur sodales nunc id vestibulum tempor. Nunc tortor orci, sodales nec eros eget.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
Donec tincidunt vel mauris a dignissim. Curabitur sodales nunc id vestibulum tempor. Nunc tortor orci, sodales nec eros eget.
Donec tincidunt vel mauris a dignissim. Curabitur sodales nunc id vestibulum tempor. Nunc tortor orci, sodales nec eros eget.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
Donec tincidunt vel mauris a dignissim. Curabitur sodales nunc id vestibulum tempor. Nunc tortor orci, sodales nec eros eget.
Donec tincidunt vel mauris a dignissim. Curabitur sodales nunc id vestibulum tempor. Nunc tortor orci, sodales nec eros eget.