Mauritius

Mauritius: strong, sustained growth, 1980–2024

Mauritius transformed itself from a sugar-dependent economy into one of Africa's richest through export-processing zones for textiles, tourism, and offshore financial services, backed by stable democratic institutions. Between 1980 and 2024, Mauritius's GDP per capita grew from $1,187 to $11,991 (current US$), a compound annual growth rate of 5.4% — strong, sustained growth. Annual GDP growth averaged 4.1% with a year-to-year standard deviation of 4.0 points, reflecting considerable volatility and periodic crises. Structurally, agriculture's share of the economy moved from 10.4% to 4.2% of GDP (a classic decline as the economy industrialized/modernized), while services rose from 51.8% to 64.4% of GDP, underscoring a shift toward a services-driven economy. On human development, life expectancy rose from 66.8 to 73.8 years, while tertiary school enrollment moved from 1.0% to 45.8%, while the urban population share grew from 42.1% to 39.0%.

What this growth cost: Growth was not without cost: per-capita CO2 emissions rose from 0.60 to 3.54 tonnes CO2e per person; income inequality (Gini index) widened from 35.7 to 36.8; the poverty headcount ratio fell from 1.1% to 0.5%.