Distillers Mauritius
A one-page guide to Mauritius for the spirits trade: the country, its people, its economy and how it drinks.
At a glance
- Capital
- Port Louis
- Official languages
- No de jure official language; English and French are used de facto
- Currency
- Mauritian rupee (MUR)
- Time zone
- UTC+4 (MUT)
- Area
- 2,040 km²
People
- Population
- 1.2 million (2025)
- Population growth
- -0.2% a year
- Living in towns and cities
- 39.0%
- Aged under 15
- 14.5%
- Aged 65 and over
- 14.1%
- Life expectancy
- 73.8 years
Economy
- GDP
- US$16.2 billion (2025)
- GDP per person
- US$12,991 (2025)
- Economic growth
- 3.2% (2025)
- Inflation
- 3.7% (2025)
Climate
Tropical. Warm, humid summer November to April (mean 24.7 C); cool, dry winter June to September (mean 20.4 C). Annual rainfall 900-1,500 mm depending on location. Tropical cyclones occur occasionally, mainly January to March.
Alcohol
- Alcohol is
- Legal
- Legal drinking age
- 18 (selling, serving or supplying alcohol to under-18s is prohibited)
- Alcohol per adult a year
- 7.8 litres of pure alcohol (2019)
- What people drink
- Beer 28.6%, wine 3.7%, spirits 67.1%, other 0.5% (2019)
Sources: World Bank (population, economy and demographics), WHO Global Health Observatory (alcohol per adult and drinking mix); Phoenix Beverages (Wikipedia); Legal drinking age; Mauritius (Wikipedia); World Bank country data; WHO Global status report on alcohol and health 2024 (via Wikipedia table); UN Comtrade public API, HS 2208; Difford's Guide: Mauritian rum. Figures are the latest each source publishes; the year is shown beside each one.