Due to the world crisis, 2009 was a disappointing year for Mauritius. Compared to the situation that prevailed between 2006 and 2008, the outcome in 2009 shows a marked slowdown of the economy.  Indeed, from an average of 5.2% during the three previous years, growth rate dropped sharply to 3.1%.

This performance is well below the level necessary to induce a reduction of unemployment rate.  It is a setback due mainly to economic downturns in our main markets for textiles and tourism and the indirect impact on the rest of the economy.

Looking at sectoral performance, it is observed that Agriculture and Sugar were the only sectors with higher growth rates in 2009 compared to each of the three previous years.  With this notable exception, which is the result of favourable climatic conditions, all other sectors slowed down.  It is an indication that the misfortunes of the tourism and the textile sectors was not an isolated phenomenon and that the effects of the crisis were diffused through the whole economy.  It is also the result of subdued demand after three consecutive years of high inflation rates and falling purchasing power. 

The “Hotels” and “Textiles” sectors suffered important contractions while “Financial Intermediation” and “Business Activities” slowed down, though their respective growth rates of 5% and 8% in 2009 were quite appreciable.  It is also remarkable that the average growth rate of “Business Activities” from 2004 to 2009 has been 8.9%.  In the “Wholesale and Retail Trade”sector however, growth rate has dropped to only 1% compared to an average of 5% over the previous five years.  It is also to be noted that the “Construction “ sector which grew by 15.2% and 11.1% in 2007 and 2008 respectively, registered a growth rate of 6.5% in 2009.