Trade has been a centrepiece of Mauritius’ economic success, focusing predominantly on an export-led growth strategy. This success was based on effectively taking advantage of the country’s preferential access to developed markets, particularly the EU, in sugar, and textile, clothing and apparel sectors combined with a tariff-free policy on inputs, tax incentives. Additionally, trade in services has become a key driver of Mauritius’ external trade in recent years. Today, the plethora of trade agreements that Mauritius has signed provides the country with preferential market access to nearly 75% of the world’s population.
Total trade for the year 2022 amounted to MUR 678 billion. Total exports of goods and services for the year 2022 witnessed a growth of 51.2%, increasing from MUR 211.7 billion in 2021 to MUR 320.1 billion in 2022.
According to Statistics Mauritius’ latest projections, total exports of goods and services for year 2023 would be around MUR 346.4 billion and total imports around MUR 390.2 billion.
On the trade front, from 2012 to 2022, the nominal value of exports to Africa have increased by over 77% from MUR 14 billion to reach MUR 24 billion. Africa is the second main market of Mauritian exports with a share of 29% in 2022 compared to 20% in 2012. In 2023, the share remained at 29%.
The main export destination of Mauritian products has been Europe followed by Africa, representing 29% of total export market, even though Europe is the main traditional market, South Africa was the top export destination for Mauritius in 2022 with a total export value of MUR 11bn, representing 13% of total export, followed by Madagascar with a total export value of MUR 7.4bn, representing 9% of total exports. Main commodities exported are textile & apparels and sugar.
