Demographics of Mauritius explained

Place:	Mauritius
Size Of Population:	1,308,222 (2022 est.)
Nation:	Mauritian
Age 0–14 Years:	15.4%
Age 65 Years:	11.08%
Growth:	0.1% (2022 est.)
Birth:	9.86 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Death:	8.86 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Net Migration:	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Infant Mortality:	12.08 deaths/1,000 live births
Life:	74.86 years
Life Male:	72.04 years
Life Female:	77.88 years
Fertility:	1.35 children born/woman (2022 est.)
Density:	640 inhabitants per km² (2023)

Mauritian society incorporates several ethnic and multi-ethnic groups. A majority of the republic's^[1] residents are descendants of people from India. Mauritius also comprises migrants from continental Africa, China, France, and the East African island of Madagascar. As of 2023, Mauritius now has the highest population density in Africa.^[2]

Overview of 2022 Census

Mauritius has a population of 1,235,260 (608,090 males, 627,170 females) according to the 2022 Census.^[3] The population on the island of Mauritius^[4] was 1,191,280 (586,590 males and 604,690 females); Rodrigues island was 43,650 (21,330 males and 22,320 females); and Agalega island was 330 (170 males and 160 females).^{[5] [6] [7]}

The average age of the population was 38 years;^{[8] [9] [10]} the proportion of children aged under 15 years decreased from 20.7% (in 2011) to 15.4% (in 2022); and the number of adults aged 60 years and over increased from 12.7% (2011) to 18.7% (2022).^[11]

Ethnic groups

Indo-Mauritians are roughly sixty-six percent of the population. The Indo-Mauritian population consists of Hindu, Muslim and Christian descendants of Indian laborers.

Mauritian Creoles (descendants of Africans) are twenty-eight percent of the population.^[12] Today, a significant proportion of Creoles are of African descent, with varying amounts of French and Indian ancestry. The Creole community also includes the country's ‘Metisse’ or mixed-race communities, which consist of people with any admixture of the island's other groups.^[13] Rodrigues and Chagossians are usually incorporated within the Creole ethnic group.

Along with the French European community, there are about three percent of British expatriates or people of British descent in Mauritius.^{[14] [15]}

Sino-Mauritians from the Hakka and other Chinese sub-ethnic/linguistic groups make up around three percent of Mauritian society.

While the government officially groups Mauritians into four ethnic groups – Hindus, Muslims, Chinese, and General Population – the general population includes all who do not practice the Hindu or Muslim religion and are not Chinese by ethnicity. Hence, the general population is the Christian community, which includes Creoles, mixed-race people, white people, and those who have converted to Christianity.

Small groups of foreign students from Europe or the Indian Ocean region are also present. Recent years have seen a steady flow of foreign workers into the textile industry (primarily Chinese women), the construction industry (primarily Indian workers), and harbor-related activities (primarily Taiwanese men).

Population

According to the total population was in, compared to 479,000 in 1950.

The proportion of the population aged under 15 was 21.9% in 2010. 71.2% were between 15 and 65 years of age, with 6.9% being 65 years or older.^[16]

	Total population	Population aged 0–14 (%)	Population aged 15–64 (%)	Population aged 65+ (%)
1950	479 000	45.2	51.9	3.0
1955	570 000	46.1	51.3	2.6
1960	662 000	46.6	50.9	2.5
1965	754 000	46.2	51.3	2.5
1970	828 000	43.8	53.6	2.6
1975	891 000	39.9	57.3	2.8
1980	966 000	35.4	61.0	3.6
1985	1 021 000	31.4	64.5	4.1
1990	1 059 000	29.7	65.8	4.5
1995	1 122 000	27.8	67.2	5.0
2000	1 187 000	26.7	67.6	5.7
2005	1 243 000	24.8	69.1	6.1
2010	1 281 000	21.9	71.2	6.9

Structure of the population

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2012) (Based on the results of the 2011 Population Census.) :

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	621 297	634 585	1,255,882	100
0–4	38 379	37 772	76 151	6.06
5–9	46 802	45 130	91 932	7.32
10–14	49 926	48 044	97 970	7.80
15–19	50 158	49 996	100 154	7.97
20–24	48 747	47 374	96 121	7.65
25–29	43 794	43 392	87 186	6.94
30–34	52 325	51 550	103 875	8.27
35–39	45 447	44 448	89 895	7.16
40–44	43 961	43 150	87 111	6.94
45–49	49 134	48 570	97 704	7.78
50–54	43 718	44 514	88 232	7.03
55–59	37 174	38 625	75 799	6.04
60–64	28 929	31 946	60 875	4.85
65–69	16 986	20 842	37 828	3.01
70–74	11 099	14 471	25 570	2.04
75–79	7 761	11 311	19 072	1.52
80–84	4 077	7 033	11 110	0.88
85+	2 880	6 417	9 297	0.74
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	135 107	130 946	266 053	21.18
15–64	443 387	443 565	886 952	70.62
65+	42 803	60 074	102 877	8.19

Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 04.VII.2019) (Excludes the islands of St. Brandon and Agalega.):^[17]

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	610 848	625 969	1,236,817	100
0–4	36 702	36 376	73 078	5.91
5–9	44 947	44 068	89 015	7.20
10–14	47 302	46 337	93 639	7.57
15–19	50 715	50 293	101 008	8.17
20–24	46 871	45 800	92 671	7.49
25–29	45 589	45 348	90 937	7.35
30–34	52 182	51 247	103 429	8.36
35–39	44 241	43 556	87 797	7.10
40–44	45 150	44 236	89 386	7.23
45–49	49 800	49 541	99 341	8.03
50–54	42 996	43 341	86 337	6.98
55–59	35 713	37 341	73 054	5.91
60–64	27 143	30 199	57 342	4.64
65–69	15 846	19 593	35 439	2.87
70–74	10 986	14 389	25 375	2.05
75–79	7 349	10 695	18 044	1.46
80–84	4 176	7 193	11 369	0.92
85–89	2 135	4 233	6 368	0.51
90–94	512	1 470	1 982	0.16
95–99	107	384	491	0.04
100+	13	83	96	0.01
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	128 951	126 781	255 732	20.68
15–64	440 400	440 902	881 302	71.26
65+	41 124	58 040	99 164	8.02
unknown	373	246	619	0.05

Vital statistics

Mauritius has an estimated population of 1,283,415 on 31 December 2010. 14,701 children were born in 2011 (birth rate 11.4 per 1,000).^[18]

The table below presents the population development of Mauritius since 1900. The figure up to 1945 are for the island of Mauritius only. As of 1946 the island of Rodrigues is included.

Figures from Statistics Mauritius^[19] and United Nations Demographic Yearbook.^[20]

	Average population (x 1000)	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	TFR
1900	371	14 490	13 695	795	38.6	36.5	2.1
1901	371	12 910	14 970	-2 060	34.8	40.4	-5.6
1902	371	13 495	12 716	779	35.9	33.8	2.1
1903	371	13 611	15 034	-1 423	36.3	40.1	-3.8
1904	371	14 103	12 064	2 039	37.2	31.9	5.3
1905	370	14 043	15 379	-1 336	37.2	40.7	-3.5
1906	370	12 669	15 124	-2 455	33.6	40.0	-6.4
1907	370	14 186	13 037	1 149	37.7	34.6	3.1
1908	370	13 456	15 094	-1 638	36.0	40.3	-4.3
1909	369	12 837	13 761	– 924	34.4	36.9	-2.5
1910	369	13 329	12 488	841	36.1	33.8	2.3
1911	369	14 585	12 204	2 381	39.2	32.8	6.4
1912	370	13 209	14 429	-1 220	35.5	38.8	-3.3
1913	371	15 153	13 201	1 952	40.8	35.5	5.3
1914	372	15 229	12 134	3 095	40.8	32.5	8.3
1915	373	13 094	13 101	– 7	34.8	34.8	-0.0
1916	374	13 162	11 432	1 730	35.0	30.4	4.6
1917	375	13 887	12 234	1 653	36.9	32.5	4.4
1918	375	13 109	12 794	315	34.8	33.9	0.9
1919	375	13 261	24 455	-11 194	35.2	64.9	-29.7
1920	376	12 791	11 773	1 018	35.1	32.3	2.8
1921	376	14 360	15 159	– 799	38.1	40.3	-2.2
1922	376	13 955	12 967	988	37.0	34.5	2.5
1923	377	13 879	10 778	3 101	36.8	28.5	8.3
1924	380	15 430	10 558	4 872	41.1	28.1	13.0
1925	383	16 545	9 327	7 218	42.6	24.9	17.7
1926	386	15 520	9 958	5 562	39.4	25.3	14.1
1927	389	13 748	10 015	3 733	34.5	25.1	9.4
1928	391	15 206	11 342	3 864	37.9	28.2	9.7
1929	393	13 771	12 413	1 358	34.0	30.7	3.3
1930	393	12 793	14 341	-1 548	31.6	35.4	-3.8
1931	393	11 941	15 467	-3 526	29.7	38.4	-8.7
1932	390	10 266	12 848	-2 582	25.7	32.2	-6.5
1933	390	13 479	10 615	2 864	33.8	26.6	7.2
1934	392	13 516	10 069	3 447	33.7	25.1	8.6
1935	394	13 246	10 445	2 801	32.8	25.8	7.0
1936	398	13 867	10 500	3 367	34.1	25.8	8.3
1937	400	14 097	11 527	2 570	34.4	28.1	6.3
1938	402	13 420	12 046	1 374	32.6	29.2	3.4
1939	405	14 578	11 340	3 238	35.2	27.4	7.8
1940	407	12 145	10 373	1 772	29.1	24.9	4.2
1941	407	13 430	10 436	2 994	32.2	25.0	7.2
1942	408	13 553	11 927	1 626	32.5	28.6	3.9
1943	410	13 604	10 642	2 962	32.6	25.5	7.1
1944	419	18 258	11 355	6 903	43.4	27.0	16.4
1945	424	16 290	15 277	1 013	38.4	36.0	2.4
1946	437	16 939	12 678	4 261	38.8	29.0	9.8
1947	445	19 458	8 830	10 628	43.7	19.8	23.9
1948	455	19 429	10 680	8 749	42.7	23.5	19.2
1949	458	20 931	7 523	13 408	45.7	16.4	29.3
1950	479	23 667	6 611	17 056	49.4	13.8	35.6
1951	498	23 543	7 305	16 238	47.3	14.7	32.6
1952	514	24 689	7 569	17 120	48.0	14.7	33.3
1953	537	24 428	8 550	15 878	45.5	15.9	29.6
1954	551	22 513	8 587	13 926	40.9	15.6	25.3
1955	570	23 612	7 260	16 352	41.4	12.7	28.7
1956	591	25 666	6 910	18 756	43.4	11.7	31.7
1957	609	26 055	7 823	18 232	42.8	12.8	29.9
1958	627	25 398	7 307	18 091	40.5	11.7	28.9
1959	644	24 792	7 040	17 752	38.5	10.9	27.6
1960	662	26 017	7 588	18 429	39.3	11.5	27.8
1961	680	27 028	6 697	20 331	39.7	9.8	29.9
1962	700	27 162	6 485	20 677	38.8	9.3	29.5
1963	715	28 859	6 912	21 947	40.4	9.7	30.7
1964	735	28 610	6 421	22 189	38.9	8.7	30.2
1965	754	27 195	6 637	20 558	36.1	8.8	27.3
1966	773	27 831	6 944	20 887	36.0	9.0	27.0
1967	789	24 471	6 750	17 721	31.0	8.6	22.5
1968	804	25 409	7 382	18 027	31.6	9.2	22.4
1969	815	22 621	6 733	15 888	27.7	8.3	19.5
1970	828	22 765	6 520	16 245	27.5	7.9	19.6
1971	841	21 926	6 436	15 490	26.1	7.7	18.4
1972	851	21 495	6 753	14 742	25.3	7.9	17.3
1973	869	20 015	6 779	13 236	23.0	7.8	15.2
1974	881	24 002	6 424	17 578	27.3	7.3	20.0
1975	891	22 557	7 201	15 356	25.3	8.1	17.2	3.19
1976	903	23 274	6 968	16 306	25.8	7.7	18.0	3.13
1977	918	23 859	7 154	16 705	26.0	7.8	18.2	3.04
1978	934	25 278	6 596	18 682	27.1	7.1	20.0	3.09
1979	948	26 163	6 871	19 292	27.6	7.2	20.3	3.07
1980	966	26 294	6 919	19 375	27.2	7.2	20.1	3.19
1981	981	24 967	6 653	18 314	25.5	6.8	18.7	2.68
1982	993	22 459	6 584	15 875	22.6	6.6	16.0	2.39
1983	1 002	21 073	6 532	14 541	21.0	6.5	14.5	2.23
1984	1 011	20 332	6 646	13 686	20.1	6.6	13.5	2.16
1985	1 021	19 376	6 906	12 470	19.0	6.8	12.2	2.02
1986	1 028	19 170	6 805	12 365	18.6	6.6	12.0	1.99
1987	1 037	20 033	6 753	13 280	19.3	6.5	12.8	2.05
1988	1 043	20 941	6 879	14 062	20.1	6.6	13.5	2.14
1989	1 051	21 822	7 149	14 673	20.8	6.8	14.0	2.23
1990	1 059	22 602	7 031	15 571	21.3	6.6	14.7	2.32
1991	1 070	22 197	7 027	15 170	20.7	6.6	14.2	2.30
1992	1 084	22 902	7 023	15 879	21.1	6.5	14.6	2.37
1993	1 098	22 329	7 433	14 896	20.3	6.8	13.6	2.31
1994	1 113	21 795	7 402	14 393	19.6	6.7	12.9	2.25
1995	1 122	20 549	7 465	13 084	18.3	6.7	11.7	2.14
1996	1 134	20 763	7 670	13 093	18.3	6.8	11.5	2.12
1997	1 148	20 012	7 986	12 026	17.4	7.0	10.5	2.04
1998	1 160	19 434	7 839	11 595	16.8	6.8	10.0	1.97
1999	1 175	20 311	7 944	12 367	17.3	6.8	10.5	2.05
2000	1 187	20 205	7 982	12 223	17.0	6.7	10.3	1.99
2001	1 200	19 696	7 983	11 713	16.4	6.7	9.8	1.93
2002	1 210	19 983	8 310	11 673	16.5	6.9	9.6	1.96
2003	1 223	19 343	8 520	10 823	15.8	7.0	8.8	1.91
2004	1 233	19 230	8 475	10 755	15.6	6.9	8.7	1.92
2005	1 243	18 820	8 646	10 174	15.1	7.0	8.2	1.88
2006	1 253	17 604	9 162	8 442	14.0	7.3	6.7	1.77
2007	1 261	17 034	8 498	8 536	13.5	6.7	6.8	1.74
2008	1 268	16 372	9 004	7 368	12.9	7.1	5.8	1.67
2009	1 275	15 344	9 224	6 120	12.0	7.2	4.8	1.59
2010	1 281	15 005	9 131	5 874	11.7	7.1	4.6	1.57
2011	1 286	14 701	9 170	5 531	11.7	7.3	4.4	1.55
2012	1 256	14 502	9 343	5 159	11.5	7.4	4.1	1.54
2013	1 259	13 688	9 440	4 248	10.9	7.5	3.4	1.44
2014	1 261	13 283	9 682	3 601	10.5	7.7	2.8	1.43
2015	1 263	12,738	9,747	2,991	10.1	7.7	2.4	1.36
2016	1 263	12,948	10,174	2,774	10.2	8.1	2.1	1.40
2017	1 265	13,385	10,140	3,245	10.6	8.0	2.6	1.44
2018	1 265	12,980	10,787	2,193	10.3	8.5	1.8	1.41
2019	1 266	12,862	11,174	1,688	10.2	8.8	1.4	1.40
2020	1 266	13,465	11,060	2,405	10.6	8.7	1.9	1.44
2021	1 264	12,982	13,274	-292	10.3	10.5	-0.2	1.41
2022	1 261	12,096	12,938	-842	9.6	10.2	-0.6	1.32
2023	1 260	12,872	11,839	1,033	10.2	9.4	0.8

Current vital statistics^[21]

!Period!Live births!Deaths!Natural change

January–June 2023	6,079	6,519	−440
January–June 2023	6,508	5,738	+725
Difference	+429 (+7.1%)	−781 (−12.0%)	+1165

Life expectancy

Period	Life expectancy in Years^[22]
1950–1955	50.19
1955–1960	55.74
1960–1965	61.23
1965–1970	62.96
1970–1975	63.55
1975–1980	65.58
1980–1985	68.10
1985–1990	68.49
1990–1995	70.28
1995–2000	70.36
2000–2005	72.09
2005–2010	72.75
2010–2015	74.13

Language

The main languages spoken in Mauritius are English, French, Mauritian Creole, and Bhojpuri. There is no official language. English is the official language of the parliament, though French is also permitted. However, the lingua franca is Mauritian Creole and the newspapers and television programs are usually in French.^[23] The Mauritian currency features the Latin, Tamil and Devanagari scripts.

Mauritian Creole, which is spoken by 90 percent of the population, is considered to be the native language of the country and is used most often in informal settings.^[24] It was developed in the 18th century by African slaves who used a pidgin language to communicate with each other as well as with their French masters, who did not understand the various African languages. The pidgin evolved with later generations to become a casual language.^[25]

Mauritian Creole is a French-based creole.

Religion

In 2015, the population was estimated to be 48.5% Hindu, 27.2% Roman Catholic, 17.5% Muslim, 3.9% No religion and unspecified, 2.5% Protestantism, 0.4% Other religions.^[26]

More than 90% of the Sino-Mauritian community are Christian; the remainder are largely Buddhist.

Migrants

According to the United Nations, there were 28,713 international migrants in Mauritius in 2017.

Their most common countries of origin were as follows:

International migrants in Mauritius in 2017
	8,689
	8,364
	2,964
	2,287
	1,511
	1,131
	624
	456
	187
	146
	136
	124

Other demographic statistics

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.

• One birth every 41 minutes
• One death every 46 minutes
• Net gain of one person every 360 minutes

The following demographics are from the CIA World Factbook unless otherwise indicated.

Population

1,308,223 (2022 est.)

Age structure

0–14 years: 19.44% (male 137,010/female 131,113)

15–24 years: 14.06% (male 98,480/female 95,472)

25–54 years: 43.11% (male 297,527/female 297,158)

55–64 years: 12.31% (male 80,952/female 88,785)

65 years and over: 11.08% (2020 est.) (male 63,230/female 89,638)

Median age

total: 36.3 years. Country comparison to the world: 80th

male: 35 years

female: 37.6 years (2020 est.)

Birth rate

9.86 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 190th

Death rate

8.86 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 64th

Total fertility rate

1.35 children born/woman (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 218th

Population growth rate

0.1% (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 188th

Contraceptive prevalence rate

63.8% (2014)

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 92nd

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 74.86 years. Country comparison to the world: 131st

male: 72.04 years

female: 77.88 years (2022 est.)

Infant mortality rate

9.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2018 est.)

Dependency ratios

total dependency ratio: 41.6 (2015 est.)

youth dependency ratio: 27.5 (2015 est.)

elderly dependency ratio: 14.1 (2015 est.)

potential support ratio

7.1 (2015 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 40.8% of total population (2022)

rate of urbanization: 0.28% annual rate of change (2020–25 est.)

Ethnic groups

Mauritians of Indian Origin 65.8%, Mauritians of African Origin 27.7%, Mauritians of Chinese Origin 3%, Mauritians of French Origin 2%

Languages

As mother tongue: Mauritian Creole 86.8%, Bhojpuri 5%, French 4.1%, Two languages 1.4%, Other 2.6%, Unspecified 0.1% (2011 est.)

As ancestral languages: Bhojpuri 29.5%, Urdu 17.3%, Tamil 10%, Chinese 3%, Telugu 2%, Marathi 2%

Education expenditures

4.6% of GDP (2020) Country comparison to the world: 80th

Literacy

Definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2016 est.)

total population: 91.3%

male: 93.4%

female: 89.4% (2018)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 15 years (2017)

male: 14 years (2017)

female: 16 years (2017)

Unemployment, youth ages 15–24

total: 21.8%

male: 16.8%

female: 28.4% (2019 est.)

Further reading

• Book: Eriksen, T. H.. Thomas Hylland Eriksen. 1998. Common denominators: nation-building and compromise in Mauritius. Oxford. Berg Publishers. 9781859739594.

Notes and References

1. Republic of Mauritius (govmu.org)
2. Web site: Africa: population density by country 2023 . 2024-03-06 . Statista . en.
3. statsmauritius.govmu.org/Pages/Censuses and Surveys/Census/census_2022.aspx
4. statsmauritius.govmu.org/Pages/Censuses and Surveys/Census/2022_Population_census_Main_results.aspx
5. https://statsmauritius.govmu.org/Pages/Censuses%20and%20Surveys/Census/census_2022.aspx
6. https://statsmauritius.govmu.org/Pages/Censuses%20and%20Surveys/Census/2022_Population_census_Main_results.aspx
7. https://statsmauritius.govmu.org/Documents/Statistics/ESI/2022/EI1687/2022%20Population%20Census_Main%20Results_18112022.pdf
8. https://statsmauritius.govmu.org/Pages/Censuses%20and%20Surveys/Census/census_2022.aspx
9. https://statsmauritius.govmu.org/Pages/Censuses%20and%20Surveys/Census/2022_Population_census_Main_results.aspx
10. https://statsmauritius.govmu.org/Documents/Statistics/ESI/2022/EI1687/2022%20Population%20Census_Main%20Results_18112022.pdf
11. https://statsmauritius.govmu.org/Documents/Statistics/ESI/2022/EI1687/2022%20Population%20Census_Main%20Results_18112022.pdf
12. Web site: The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency. Cia.gov. 2017-08-29.
13. Common Denominators: Ethnicity nationalism and the politics of compromise in Mauritius
14. Web site: BBC NEWS Special Reports Brits Abroad. news.bbc.co.uk. 2020-04-19.
15. Web site: Mauritius – UK Relations.
16. Web site: World Population Prospects, the 2010 Revision. 6 May 2011. 29 August 2017. deviated. https://web.archive.org/web/20110506065230/http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/index.htm. 6 May 2011.
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