The government of Mauritius has announced a significant upward revision of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) following the release of rebased national accounts by Statistics Mauritius. This revision incorporates new economic data, updated international standards, and the merchanting activities of Global Business Companies (GBCs). The changes aim to provide a more accurate representation of the country's economic performance.
According to Mukesh Dawoonauth, Director of Statistics Mauritius, the new data was published with complete transparency, accompanied by detailed explanations of sources and methodological changes. The institute received technical assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in producing and validating the estimates. This move is expected to enhance the credibility of Mauritius' economic data.
The revision is based on the latest benchmark revision, which shifts the base year to 2023, succeeding the previous June 2022 review based on the 2018 Census of Economic Activities (CEA). The new 2023 standard combines three major statistical sources: the Census of Economic Activities (CEA) 2023, the Census of Agriculture 2024, and the Household Budget Survey 2023.
These sources are analyzed and cross-referenced through Supply and Use Tables (SUTs) to verify consistency between domestic production, imports, and consumption, investment, or export, leading to coherent GDP estimations. The incorporation of GBC merchanting activities addresses complexities in cross-border flows without physical transit through Mauritius.
Dawoonauth explained that data on GBC merchanting is initially collected and validated by the Financial Services Commission (FSC). To prevent double counting with the balance of payments, the Bank of Mauritius and Statistics Mauritius carry out additional joint verifications and data validation. Both institutions utilize identical baseline figures and harmonize their statistical treatment.
The adoption of the System of National Accounts (SNA) 2025 added approximately Rs 11 billion to the 2023 GDP via the introduction of a “capital return” concept applied to non-market services, such as state-provided services. The SNA 2025 extends the traditional calculation of production costs to estimate the value of services rendered by the capital utilized in production.
Full implementation of the SNA 2025 is scheduled for 2029, with upcoming challenges and milestones including analyzing new SNA 2025 recommendations, adapting data sources and calculation methods, enhancing the measurement of the digital economy, and developing environment-related economic estimates. Securing sufficiently detailed and reliable data while maintaining consistency with existing series remains a key priority.
Key points
- The revision of Mauritius' GDP figures incorporates fresh economic data, updated international standards, and the merchanting activities of Global Business Companies (GBCs).
- The new data was published with complete transparency, accompanied by detailed explanations of sources and methodological changes.
- The adoption of the System of National Accounts (SNA) 2025 added approximately Rs 11 billion to the 2023 GDP.
