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Country Report Mauritius June 2011
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HTMLEconomic performance: The trade deficit increases by 15.7% in the first quarter
According to provisional estimates from the CSO, Mauritius's trade deficit was MRs16.9bn (US$575m) in the first quarter of 2011, 15.7% higher than a year earlier. The continuing high level of the trade deficit matches the 16% rise in 2010 as a whole. The value of exports rose sharply in the first quarter, by 25.6% year on year, helped by the strong growth in both sugar exports, which were up by 167.1%, and clothing exports, up by 20.8%. However, the value of imports, which is just over double that of exports, rose by 20.6% year on year, pushing the trade deficit up to its uncomfortably high level.
The main cause of the continuing surge in imports was the 63.6% increase in the value of imports of fuels and lubricants. These accounted for 27% of total imports, compared with 20% in the first three months of 2010, and were driven up by higher world oil prices. This illustrates Mauritius's dependence on imported energy and the vulnerability of the economy to global developments; the resulting large trade deficit will continue to be one of the main constraints on economic policy.
| External trade | ||||||||
| (MRs bn unless otherwise indicated) | ||||||||
| 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2010 | 2011 | |||
| Year | Year | Year | Yeara | % changeb | 1 Qtra | 1 Qtra | % changec | |
| Exports (fob) | 69.7 | 68.0 | 61.7 | 69.6 | 12.8 | 14.2 | 17.8 | 25.6 |
| Domestic exports | 50.5 | 46.4 | 45.8 | 50.9 | 11.3 | 9.8 | 12.7 | 30.0 |
| Sugar | 9.6 | 8.3 | 6.8 | 7.7 | 13.4 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 167.1 |
| Clothing | 24.7 | 22.0 | 21.7 | 23.0 | 5.8 | 4.9 | 5.9 | 20.8 |
| Fish | 6.1 | 6.1 | 6.9 | 7.8 | 13.5 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 4.6 |
| Re-exports | 13.8 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 11.1 | 6.1 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 1.8 |
| Ships' stores & bunkering | 5.4 | 9.0 | 5.5 | 7.6 | 37.0 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 37.4 |
| Imports (cif) | 121.0 | 132.2 | 118.4 | 135.4 | 14.3 | 28.8 | 34.7 | 20.6 |
| Food | 20.0 | 23.8 | 22.1 | 24.6 | 11.6 | 5.8 | 5.9 | 2.1 |
| Fuels & lubricants | 22.2 | 28.4 | 18.6 | 25.9 | 39.6 | 5.7 | 9.4 | 63.6 |
| Machinery & transport equipment | 28.5 | 25.9 | 27.7 | 27.5 | -0.9 | 5.8 | 5.7 | -1.1 |
| Road vehicles | 5.2 | 6.1 | 5.4 | 6.8 | 24.8 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 6.7 |
| Trade balance | -51.3 | -64.2 | -56.8 | -65.8 | 16.0 | -14.6 | -16.9 | 15.7 |
| % of GDP | -21.0 | -23.4 | -20.1 | -21.9 | – | – | – | – |
| a Provisional. b 2010/09. c 1 Qtr 2011/1 Qtr 2010. | ||||||||
| Source: Central Statistics Office. | ||||||||
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