From sugar cane to tourism and services: the Mauritian economy

Three centuries of sugar cane

Sugar cane arrived with the Dutch in the 17th century but remained marginal. Under the French, and above all under the British, it became the backbone of the economy. According to the Encyclopædia Universalis, the area under cane roughly doubled between 1825 and 1831. This boom relied first on enslaved labour and then, after 1835, on indentured workers from India, who arrived in their hundreds of thousands to work on the sugar estates.

The landscape still shows it: cane fields, chimneys of old sugar mills, colonial estates turned into museums or restaurants.

1968: a single-crop economy

At independence the dependence was almost total. According to an analysis presented at UNCTAD by an official of the Mauritian Ministry of Agro-Industry, sugar then accounted for about 30% of GDP and 90% of export value; cane covered 90% of arable land, and the island had about 25 sugar factories. Diversification became a necessity.

1970: the export processing zone

A first attempt at industrialisation through import substitution, launched in 1964, was disappointing. In 1970 Mauritius set up Export Processing Zones: companies producing for export received tax and customs advantages. By March 1973 they had created more than 14,000 jobs in 34 factories, mostly in textiles and clothing. Textiles became the second pillar of the economy.

Crises and recoveries

The late 1970s were hard: cyclones destroyed about 30% of the cane crop in 1979-1980, and the economy went through a severe crisis between 1980 and 1982 (inflation up to 42%, unemployment up to 23%). With IMF support the country reformed, and the late 1980s saw a boom driven by export-zone manufacturing, tourism and property.

Finance, free port and services

Diversification continued: an offshore financial centre was created in 1989, the Stock Exchange of Mauritius started around the same time, and the free port opened in 1992. In the 2000s the country absorbed several shocks, including the end of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement for textiles and cuts to the EU's guaranteed sugar prices. The sugar sector turned into a "cane cluster" also producing electricity, ethanol and refined sugars, and textiles moved upmarket. In 2021 services made up 75.6% of GDP and 68.3% of employment.

Tourism, the country's showcase

Tourism, boosted by air links with Europe, has become a major pillar. According to figures announced by the Ministry of Tourism in January 2026, Mauritius welcomed 1,436,250 visitors in 2025, up 3.9% on 2024.

What it means for visitors

Touring an old sugar mill, driving past cane fields on the way south or strolling around the Caudan in Port Louis means crossing, in a few hours, the three ages of the Mauritian economy: plantation, industry and services.