Mauritius is an island nation in the Indian Ocean that won independence in 1968. It has Africa's second-highest GDP per person at around $12,000—eight times the African average—behind only tiny Seychelles.
At independence Mauritius was as poor as the average African country and reliant on a single crop: sugar. A Nobel economics laureate reckoned the "outlook for peaceful development" was "poor", given the island's ethnic diversity (Indo- and Sino-Mauritians mix with Creoles and people of French descent). Democratic governments worked with business to diversify into textiles, tourism, offshore finance and property.
Property accounts for 80% of foreign direct investment, mostly by foreigners buying houses in estates that come with residency status. Annual sugar exports are under half their peak in the 1980s; preferential access to EU countries ended in 2009. Textile firms that flourished after the government gave incentives to sugar barons to go into garment-making have moved to lower-wage countries like Madagascar.
Tourism accounts for a fifth of jobs but visitor numbers remain below the peak of 2018; the average tourist spends 11.5% less than before covid-19. Financial services, the biggest contributor to GDP, have been hit since India renegotiated a tax treaty that had made Mauritius a big conduit of capital to that country.
The population is 1.3m with a median age of 38—a decade older than India's and nearly twice the African average. By 2050 the UN projects the population will fall to 1.1m.
The ratio of public debt to GDP is 90% (2025). The budget deficit is expected to widen to 6.6% of GDP. Credit-rating agencies have threatened to downgrade sovereign bonds to junk status.
Under former prime minister Pravind Jugnauth, handouts became the norm: cash for new mothers, phone credit for 18- to 25-year-olds, and an obligation for firms to pay an extra end-of-year bonus. In November 2024 Navin Ramgoolam became prime minister for the third time, trouncing Jugnauth. His government has pledged to fix the public finances. Jugnauth banned social media before the election after leaked audio recordings embarrassed ruling circles. In February 2025 he was charged with money laundering (he denies the charges).
In May 2025 Britain ceded sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, an Indian Ocean archipelago, to Mauritius. Britain had separated the islands from Mauritius in 1965 as it prepared to grant independence. The International Court of Justice ruled that the separation had been unlawful. The military base at Diego Garcia was retained on an initial 99-year lease.
Mauritius's strategic location in the Indian Ocean may help it strike new deals with the West, China and India. Its taxes remain low; its rule of law and democratic culture are strong. Rama Sithanen, the central-bank governor, has compared the country to Queen's Park Rangers, an English second-tier football team: it outperforms in the lower divisions of development but finds it hard to make it to the very top.
Football combines the two worst features of American life. It is violence punctuated by committee meetings.