Demographics of Mauritius

Mauritian society includes people from many different ethnic groups as well as a significant population of mixed-race people who have ancestry from more than one ethnic group. A majority of the republic's residents are the descendants of people from India. Mauritius also contains substantial populations from continental Africa, China, France, and the East African island nation of Madagascar.

Demographics of Mauritius
Population pyramid of Mauritius in 2020
Population1,308,222 (2022 est.)
Growth rate0.1% (2022 est.)
Birth rate9.86 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Death rate8.86 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Life expectancy74.86 years
 • male72.04 years
 • female77.88 years
Fertility rate1.35 children born/woman (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate12.08 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years19.44%
65 and over11.08%
Nationality
NationalityMauritian

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.[1] 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.[2] Rodrigues and Chagossians are usually incorporated within the Creole ethnic group.

Along with the French European community, there is a small number of British expatriates or people of British descent in Mauritius.[3][4]

Sino-Mauritians from the Hakka and other Chinese sub-ethnic/linguistic groups make up around three percent of Mauritian society.[5]

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 2022 revision of the World Population Prospects[6][7] the total population was 1,298,915 in 2021, compared to 479,000 in 1950.[8]

The proportion of the population aged under 15 was 21.9% in 2010.[8] 71.2% were between 15 and 65 years of age, with 6.9% being 65 years or older.[8]

Total population Population aged 0–14 (%) Population aged 15–64 (%) Population aged 65+ (%)
1950 479 00045.251.93.0
1955 570 00046.151.32.6
1960 662 00046.650.92.5
1965 754 00046.251.32.5
1970 828 00043.853.62.6
1975 891 00039.957.32.8
1980 966 00035.461.03.6
1985 1 021 00031.464.54.1
1990 1 059 00029.765.84.5
1995 1 122 00027.867.25.0
2000 1 187 00026.767.65.7
2005 1 243 00024.869.16.1
2010 1 281 00021.971.26.9

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.):[9]

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 December 31, 2010. 14,701 children were born in 2011 (birth rate 11.4 per 1,000).[10]

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[11] and United Nations Demographic Yearbook.[12]

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

Life expectancy
Period Life expectancy in
Years[13]
1950–1955 50.19
1955–1960 Increase 55.74
1960–1965 Increase 61.23
1965–1970 Increase 62.96
1970–1975 Increase 63.55
1975–1980 Increase 65.58
1980–1985 Increase 68.10
1985–1990 Increase 68.49
1990–1995 Increase 70.28
1995–2000 Increase 70.36
2000–2005 Increase 72.09
2005–2010 Increase 72.75
2010–2015 Increase 74.13

Language
Further information: Languages of Mauritius
Picture from the 1950s of the Central Market, Port Louis, Mauritius.

The main languages spoken in Mauritius are English, French, Mauritian Creole, and Bhojpuri.[14] 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.[15] 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.[14] 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.[16]

Mauritian Creole is a French-based creole.

Religion
Further information: Religion in Mauritius

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.[17]

More than 90% of the Sino-Mauritian community are Christian; the remainder are largely Buddhist.[5]

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
 India8,689
 Bangladesh8,364
 China2,964
 Madagascar2,287
 France1,511
 Sri Lanka1,131
 South Africa624
 Great Britain456
 Pakistan187
 Italy146
 Germany136
 Seychelles124
Source: United Nations "Migrant Stock by Origin and Destination" (PDF). 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2019.

Other demographic statistics

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.[18]

  • 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[19] unless otherwise indicated.

Population
1,308,222 (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.)

References
  1. "The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency". Cia.gov. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  2. Common Denominators: Ethnicity nationalism and the politics of compromise in Mauritius
  3. "BBC NEWS | Special Reports | Brits Abroad". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
  4. "Mauritius - UK Relations".
  5. Eriksen 1998, p. 82
  6. "World Population Prospects 2022". population.un.org. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  7. "World Population Prospects 2022: Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950-2100" (XSLX). population.un.org ("Total Population, as of 1 July (thousands)"). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  8. "World Population Prospects, the 2010 Revision". 6 May 2011. Archived from the original on 6 May 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  9. "United Nations Statistics Division - Demographic and Social Statistics". Unstats.un.org. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  10. "Population and vital statistics: Republic of Mauritius, year 2010" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2011-03-07.
  11. "Statistics Mauritius : Population and Vital Statistics". Statsmauritius.govmu.org. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  12. "United Nations Statistics Division - Demographic and Social Statistics". Unstats.un.org. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  13. "World Population Prospects - Population Division - United Nations". esa.un.org. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
  14. "English Usage in Mauritius". Chass.utoronto.ca. Archived from the original on 2010-06-17. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  15. "Coexistence International at Brandeis University" (PDF). Brandeis.edu. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
  16. "Mauritius". M2002.thecgf.com. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  17. "Mauritius, Religion And Social Profile | National Profiles | International Data | TheARDA". www.thearda.com. Retrieved 2021-06-12.
  18. "Mauritius Population 2022", World Population Review
  19. Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from "Mauritius". The World Factbook (2023 ed.). CIA. 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2022. (Archived 2018 edition)

Further reading
  • Eriksen, T. H. (1998). Common denominators: nation-building and compromise in Mauritius. Oxford: Berg Publishers. ISBN 9781859739594.
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