arable land: 38.4%
permanent crops: 2%
permanent pasture: 3.4%

Mauritius has transitioned from a country of high fertility and high mortality rates in the 1950s and mid-1960s to one with among the lowest population growth rates in the developing world today. After World War II Mauritius’ population began to expand quickly due to increased fertility and a dramatic drop in mortality rates as a result of improved health care and the eradication of malaria. This period of heightened population growth – reaching about 3% a year – was followed by one of the world’s most rapid birth rate declines.
The total fertility rate fell from 6.2 children per women in 1963 to 3.2 in 1972 – largely the result of improved educational attainment especially among young women accompanied by later marriage and the adoption of family planning methods. The family planning programs’ success was due to support from the government and eventually the traditionally pronatalist religious communities which both recognized that controlling population growth was necessary because of Mauritius’ small size and limited resources. Mauritius’ fertility rate has consistently been below replacement level since the late 1990s a rate that is substantially lower than nearby countries in southern Africa.
With no indigenous population Mauritius’ ethnic mix is a product of more than two centuries of European colonialism and continued international labor migration. Sugar production relied on slave labor mainly from Madagascar Mozambique and East Africa from the early 18th century until its abolition in 1835 when slaves were replaced with indentured Indians. Most of the influx of indentured labor – peaking between the late 1830s and early 1860 – settled permanently creating massive population growth of more than 7% a year and reshaping the island’s social and cultural composition. While Indians represented about 12% of Mauritius’ population in 1837 they and their descendants accounted for roughly two-thirds by the end of the 19th century. Most were Hindus but the majority of the free Indian traders were Muslims.
Mauritius again turned to overseas labor when its success in clothing and textile exports led to a labor shortage in the mid-1980s. Clothing manufacturers brought in contract workers (increasingly women) from China India and to a lesser extent Bangladesh and Madagascar who worked longer hours for lower wages under poor conditions and were viewed as more productive than locals. Downturns in the sugar and textile industries in the mid-2000s and a lack of highly qualified domestic workers for Mauritius’ growing services sector led to the emigration of low-skilled workers and a reliance on skilled foreign labor. Since 2007 Mauritius has pursued a circular migration program to enable citizens to acquire new skills and savings abroad and then return home to start businesses and to invest in the country’s development.

urban: 99.9% of population
rural: 99.8% of population
total: 99.9% of population
urban: 0.1% of population
rural: 0.2% of population
total: 0.1% of population (2015 est.)

urban: 93.9% of population
rural: 92.6% of population
total: 93.1% of population
urban: 6.1% of population
rural: 7.4% of population
total: 6.9% of population (2015 est.)

Alliance Lepep (Alliance of the People) [Pravind JUGNAUTH] (coalition including MSM PMSD and ML)
Labor Party (Parti Travailliste) or PTR or MLP [Navinchandra RAMGOOLAM]
Mauritian Militant Movement (Mouvement Militant Mauricien) or MMM [Paul BERENGER]
Mauritian Social Democratic Party (Parti Mauricien Social Democrate) or PMSD [Xavier Luc DUVAL]
Mauritian Solidarity Front (Front Solidarite Mauricienne) or FSM [Cehl FAKEERMEEAH known as Cehl MEEAH]
Militant Socialist Movement (Mouvement Socialist Mauricien) or MSM [Pravind JUGNAUTH]
Muvman Liberater or ML [Ivan COLLENDAVELLOO]
Rodrigues Peoples Organization (Organisation du Peuple Rodriguais) or OPR [Serge CLAIR]

Since independence in 1968 Mauritius has undergone a remarkable economic transformation from a low-income agriculturally based economy to a diversified upper middle-income economy with growing industrial financial and tourist sectors. Mauritius has achieved steady growth over the last several decades resulting in more equitable income distribution increased life expectancy lowered infant mortality and a much-improved infrastructure.
The economy currently depends on sugar tourism textiles and apparel and financial services but 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’ textile sector has taken advantage of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act a preferential trade program that allows duty free access to the US market with Mauritian exports to the US growing by 40% from 2000 to 2014.
Mauritius' sound economic policies and prudent banking practices helped mitigate negative effects of the global financial crisis in 2008-09. GDP grew in the 3-4% per year range in 2010-16 and the country continues to expand its trade and investment outreach around the globe. Growth in the US and Europe fostered goods and services exports including tourism while lower oil prices kept inflation low in 2016. Mauritius continues to rank first in sub-Saharan Africa on the World Bank’s Doing Business Report.

$25.96 billion (2016 est.)
$24.67 billion (2015 est.)
$23.58 billion (2014 est.)

3.9% (2016 est.)
3.5% (2015 est.)
3.6% (2014 est.)

$20,500 (2016 est.)
$19,800 (2015 est.)
$19,100 (2014 est.)

16.3% of GDP (2016 est.)
16.3% of GDP (2015 est.)
17% of GDP (2014 est.)

7.2% (2016 est.)
7.9% (2015 est.)

35.9 (2012 est.)
39 (2006 est.)

65% of GDP (2016 est.)
62.7% of GDP (2015 est.)

1% (2016 est.)
1.3% (2015 est.)

8.5% (31 December 2016 est.)
8.5% (31 December 2015 est.)

$2.833 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
$2.547 billion (31 December 2015 est.)

$13.27 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
$12.2 billion (31 December 2015 est.)

$13.7 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
$13.28 billion (31 December 2015 est.)

$7.239 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
$8.751 billion (31 December 2014 est.)
$8.942 billion (31 December 2013 est.)

$-531 million (2016 est.)
$-586 million (2015 est.)

$2.359 billion (2016 est.)
$2.662 billion (2015 est.)

$4.408 billion (2016 est.)
$4.524 billion (2015 est.)

$4.967 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
$4.26 billion (31 December 2015 est.)

$14.34 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
$14.64 billion (31 December 2015 est.)

Mauritian rupees (MUR) per US dollar -
35.542 (2016 est.)
35.542 (2015 est.)
35.057 (2014 est.)
30.622 (2013 est.)
30.05 (2012 est.)

0.19% of GDP (2016)
0.18% of GDP (2015)
0.15% of GDP (2014)
0.19% of GDP (2013)
0.14% of GDP (2012)