page_title: Economy of Mauritius
section_title: Heterodox liberalisation and diversification
hierarchical_section_title: Economy of Mauritius / Policies for success / Heterodox liberalisation and diversification
caption_attribution_description: English: Export Trading Treemap. From MIT/Harvard Atlas of Economic Complexity
context_page_description: The economy of Mauritius is a mixed developing economy based on agriculture, exports, financial services, and tourism. Since the 1980s, the government of Mauritius has sought to diversify the country's economy beyond its dependence on just agriculture, particularly sugar production. In terms of energy, Mauritius' endowment with alternative energy resources and good governance makes it one of the potential winners in the global transition to renewable energy and the country is ranked no. 8 among 156 nations in the index of geopolitical gains and losses after energy transition.
context_section_description: Mauritius has followed a pragmatic development strategy in which liberalisation process was sequenced and tailored to its competitive advantages and weaknesses. The export-orientated approach has encouraged liberalisation supported by strong state involvement as a facilitator (of the enabling environment for the private sector); as operator (to encourage competition); and as regulator (to protect the economy as well as vulnerable groups and sectors from shocks). Strategies were evidence-based and adapted according to results. There has been consistency and stability, regardless of which political party is in power.
  Liberalisation occurred in phases that were initiated to build on advantages the economy enjoyed on the international market. 
  1970s: Mauritius profited from sugar rents, established an export processing zone EPZ and successfully attracted capital and foreign investment in manufacturing.
  1980s–1990s: EPZ expanded and led to a significant increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) and tourism. Preferential access to sugar and clothing markets amounted to 7% of GDP in the 1980s and 4.5% in the 1990s, capital and current accounts were liberalised, contributing to an investment and employment boom and the high inflow of FDI brought with it managerial skills.
  1990s–2010: Further diversification, liberalisation and investment.
caption: Graphical depiction of Mauritius's product exports in 28 color-coded categories.
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