Business updates

Total exports for the third quarter of 2018 including domestic exports, re-exports and excluding ship’s stores and bunkers amounted to Rs 17 billion, 5.7% less compared to the corresponding quarter of 2017.

Domestic exports amounting to Rs 13.3 billion, accounted for 76.2% of total exports in the third quarter of 2018. Compared to a value of Rs 14.3 billion recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2017, domestic exports show a decrease of 6.9%.

Analysis by exports destination for the third quarter of 2018 showed that the European countries remained our main markets, importing some 45% of our total exports. The major destinations were UK (11.8%), France (10.9%), South Africa (10.6%), USA (10.6%), Madagascar (6.1%), Spain (5.6%), Italy (4.8%) and Netherlands (4.4%). Compared to the corresponding quarter 2017, exports to UK, France, Madagascar, Spain and Italy have decreased. While on the other hand, exports to South Africa, USA and Netherlands have increased.

Total imports for the third quarter of 2018 amounted to Rs 50 billion, showing an increase of 16.4% compared to the corresponding quarter of 2017. During the third quarter of 2018, Asia was our main supplier with imports originating mainly from India (17.8%) and China (16.2%). The other major suppliers were South Africa (9.5%) and France (8.3%).

Based on recent past trends and information from various sources, Statistics Mauritius has forecasted total exports for 2018 at around Rs 82 billion and imports at Rs 190 billion instead of exports of Rs 84 million and imports of Rs 193 million as forecasted in August 2018.

The full report can be downloaded from the website of Statistics Mauritius here.