Economical overview
Mauritius is one of Africa's strongest
economies, where fewer than one in ten people are
considered poor. On the UN agency's list of human
development, Mauritius ranks second highest among
sub-Saharan countries. Only the Seychelles are ranked
higher.
Since independence from the British in 1968,
Mauritius has evolved from an agricultural country to an
industrial and service nation, although sugar production
still provides important export earnings. The four
cornerstones of the economy are now sugar production,
textile manufacturing, tourism and financial services.
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Countryaah.com:
Major imports by Mauritius, covering a full list of top products imported by the country and trade value for each product category.
Tourism is the third largest source of income in
foreign currency, second only to the manufacturing
industry and agriculture. The number of foreign tourists
increased from 422,000 in 1995 to more than 965,000 in
2012 (see Tourism).
Fight against corruption
The financial sector with banks, investment and
insurance companies has grown sharply since the
mid-1990s, and in 2013 it accounted for 22 percent of
gross domestic product (GDP). In 2000, Mauritius was
singled out by the economic cooperation organization
OECD as a tax haven suspected of accepting money
laundering. Since then, the authorities have introduced
new rules to increase transparency in companies and
banks and are now considered to have an essentially
sound financial system. In 2002, an Independent
Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) was established. In
2013, Mauritius was the second least corrupt country in
sub-Saharan Africa, according to Transparency
International. Only Botswana was less corrupt.
Governments have made major investments since the
beginning of the 2000s to make the country a center for
IT and telecommunications. Large investments in IT
education have been made in the schools.
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Abbreviationfinder.org: Check this abbreviation website to find three letter ISO codes for all countries in the world, including MUS which represents the country of Mauritius.
Mauritius had an annual growth of over five percent
in 1980–2000. Growth then slowed down due to the
economic crisis in Asia 2000, severe drought in
1998–2000 and the cyclone Dina's progress in 2002 which
led to reduced sugar production. At the same time,
unemployment increased, inflation rose, as did the
external debt, and the consequences of the low level of
education and the aging population began to become
evident. In a new trade agreement in 2005, Mauritius
also lost the favorable conditions that the country had
in the European and American markets for sugar and
textile exports.
Continued economic growth
When the coalition government led by the Labor Party
came to power in 2005, a radical reversal of economic
policy was launched, with sharply reduced state
involvement in the economy. The labor market was
liberalized, investments were made on small businesses
and a new fixed income and corporate tax was introduced.
During the years 2003-2008, growth was five percent per
year to decrease to four percent in 2010 due to the
recession in Europe which affected not only trade but
also the increasingly important tourism sector.
The costs of developing the education system and
infrastructure projects led to a growing budget deficit.
Foreign debt amounted to nearly $ 3 billion in 2013.
The Labor Party-led coalition government, which had
power in 2010–2014, promised greater investment in
infrastructure and the country's poor. A five-year plan
was launched with increased investments in the fishing,
sugar and textile industries as well as in the tourism
sector. In 2013, the government sought to increase
domestic demand through government initiatives on, for
example, entrepreneurs and lower taxes.
The government's measures yielded results and in
2011–2014, annual growth was around 3-4%. While the
financial, tourism and manufacturing industries
performed well, however, sugar production and the
construction industry continued to show declining
numbers.
The government that took office after the December
2014 elections also had an improved economy as the
primary election promise.
FACTS - FINANCE
GDP per person
US $ 11,239 (2018)
Total GDP
US $ 14,220 million (2018)
GDP growth
3.8 percent (2018)
Agriculture's share of GDP
2.8 percent (2018)
Manufacturing industry's share of GDP
11.4 percent (2018)
The service sector's share of GDP
67.4 percent (2018)
Inflation
0.9 percent (2019)
Government debt's share of GDP
66.2 percent (2018)
External debt
US $ 10 483 million (2017)
Currency
rupee
Merchandise exports
US $ 2,372 million (2018)
Imports
US $ 5,387 million (2018)
Current account
- US $ 815 million (2018)
Commodity trade's share of GDP
57 percent (2018)
Main export goods
various industrial products, especially textiles and
clothing, sugar, flowers and fish
Largest trading partner
EU, South Africa, India, China, USA
2005
October
State visit to India
Prime Minister Ramgoolam makes a state visit to India.
The social alliance is growing
The opposition party PMSD changes sides and joins the ruling Social Alliance.
July
Media climate is getting tougher
The media climate hardens shortly after the change of government. Prime
Minister Ramgoolam launches a state boycott of the privately owned media group
La Sentinelle, which publishes, among other things, the newspaper L´Express.
Ramgoolam accuses La Sentinelle of supporting the opposition. He bans all
ministries, government institutions and libraries and the state airline Air
Mauritius to subscribe to or advertise in L´Express. Newspaper journalists from
not attending the government's press conferences.
The Social Alliance wins elections
The five-party coalition Social Alliance, in which
Mauritius's Labor Party (MLP) is the dominant party,
wins the parliamentary election with 42 out of 70 seats. 24 mandates go to the
Alliance MSM-MMM, which in addition to the Militant
Socialist Movement (MSM) and Mauritius
Militant Movement (MMM) also includes the
Mauritius Social Democratic Party (PMSD). The
remaining 2 mandates go to the Rodrigues People (PR)
Organization. The turnout is 81.5 percent.
MLP party leader Navim Ramgoolam becomes prime minister in the new coalition
government, which consists of a total of 19 ministers.
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