Mauritius Economy 2008

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. Sugarcane is grown on about 90% of the cultivated land area and accounts for 25% 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 9,000 offshore entities, many aimed at commerce in India and South Africa, and 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).

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$14.9 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
$7.757 billion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
5.5% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$11,900 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 4.8%
industry: 25%
services: 70.1% (2007 est.)

Labor force:
550,000 (2007 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture and fishing 14%, construction and industry 36%, transportation and communication 7%, trade, restaurants, hotels 16%, finance 3%, other services 24% (1995)

Unemployment rate:
9.2% (2007 est.)

Population below poverty line:
10% (2001 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
37 (1987 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
9.1% (2007 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
23.4% of GDP (2007 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $1.34 billion
expenditures: $1.642 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2007 est.)

Public debt:
59.9% of GDP (2007 est.)

Agriculture - products:
sugarcane, tea, corn, potatoes, bananas, pulses; cattle, goats; fish

Industries:
food processing (largely sugar milling), textiles, clothing, mining, chemicals, metal products, transport equipment, nonelectrical machinery, tourism

Industrial production growth rate:
4.7% (2007 est.)

Electricity - production:
2.122 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - consumption:
1.973 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2005)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2005)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - consumption:
22,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - exports:
0 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - imports:
21,380 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - proved reserves:
0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - consumption:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2005)

natural gas - proved reserves:
0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Current account balance:
-$552 million (2007 est.)

Exports:
$2.475 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities:
clothing and textiles, sugar, cut flowers, molasses

Exports - partners:
UK 32.5%, France 15.1%, UAE 11.4%, US 8.3%, Madagascar 4.8% (2006)

Imports:
$3.627 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Imports - partners:
France 14.3%, India 13.6%, China 8.6%, South Africa 7.3% (2006)

Economic aid - recipient:
$31.93 million (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$1.772 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt - external:
$2.583 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$NA

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$NA

Market value of publicly traded shares:
$3.598 billion (2006)

Currency (code):
Mauritian rupee (MUR)

Exchange rates:
Mauritian rupees per US dollar - 31.798 (2007), 31.656 (2006), 29.496 (2005), 27.499 (2004), 27.902 (2003)