Economic Overview of the EPZ sector in Mauritius

Export Processing Zones Development Authority

Table IV: EPZ MAIN ECONOMIC INDICATORS, 1987-1997
EPZ Indicators 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
1. No of enterprises as at December 531 591 563 568 586 558 536 494 481 481 480*
  - New 114 95 79 62 52 33 38 27 25 43 17*
  - Closures 18 35 107 57 34 61 60 69 38 43 18*
2. Employment as at December 87,905 89,080 88,658 89,906 90,861 86,937 85,621 82,176 80,466 79,793 82,083*
  - Net Change 13,890 1,175 -422 1,248 955 -3,924 -1,316 -3,445 -1,710 -673 2290*
  -Growth rate (%) 18.8 1.3 -1.0 1.4 1.1 -4.3 -1.5 -4.0 -2.1 -0.8 2.9*
3. Exports (f.o.b) (Rs Mn) 6,567 8,176 9,057 11,474 12,136 13,081 15,821 16,533 18,267 21,001 23,500
4. Imports (c.i.f): (Rs Mn) 4,801 5,890 7,502 7,348 7,067 7,133 9,326 10,125 10,856 12,106 13,500
  - Raw materials (Rs Mn) [4,296] [5,056] [6,539] [6,554] [6,348] [6,456] [8,221] [9,016] [9,869] 10,988 12,200
  - Machinery & spare parts(Rs Mn) [505] [834] [963] [794] [719] [677] [1,105] [1,109] [987] 1,118 1,300
5. Net Exports (Rs Mn) 1,766 2,286 1,555 4,126 5,069 5,948 6,495 6,408 7,411 8,895 10,000
6. Net Exports to Exports (%) 27 28 17 36 42 45 41 39 41 42 43
7. Value added at current prices (Rs Mn) 2,585 3,125 3,400 3,975 4,406 5,011 5,702 6,373 7,096 8,163 9,345
  - Share in Manufacturing (%) 51.9 53.4 51.1 51.1 50.3 50.4 51.0 50.2 49.6 49.7 50.6
  - Share in GDP (%) 13.1 13.5 12.7 12.5 12.2 11.8 11.9 11.7 11.7 12.0 12.5
8. Value added at constant 1982 prices (Rs Mn) 1,390 1,557 1,650 1,766 1,854 1,965 2,083 2,173 2,281 2,441 2,587
  - Growth rate (%) 22.0 12.0 6.0 7.0 5.0 6.0 6.0 4.3 5.0 7.0 6.0
9. Partial Labour Productivity Index (1982=100) 89 96 102 110 115 124 136 145 155 169 -
  Partial Capital Productivity Index (1982=100) 98 85 77 80 84 93 98 104 112 121 -
  Multifactor productivity Index (1982=100) 93 90 89 95 100 110 117 124 133 141 -
10. Investment (Rs Mn) 655 870 900 690 648 560 900 900 815 975 -
  - Machinery (Rs Mn) [530] [730] [840] [640] [610] [540] [875] [880] 805 960 -
11. Value added per employee at 82 constant prices (Rs) 15,813 17,479 18,611 19,643 20,405 22,603 24,328 26,443 28,347 30,592 31,582
12. Exports (f.o.b.) per employee (Rs) 74,706 91,783 102,157 127,622 133,567 150,465 184,779 201,190 227,015 263,194 280,779

Source: CSO
1. Revised
2. Preliminary estimates * as at September 1997

Table I: GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT BY INDUSTRY GROUP AT CONSTANT 1992 PRICES, 1994 - 1997 (Rs M)
  Sectors 1994 1995 1996 1997
1. Agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing 3,961 4,294 4,471 4,595
2. Mining and Quarrying 80 85 90 94
3. Manufacturing of which 10,908 11,547 12,266 12,944
  EPZ 5,537 5,814 6,222 6,595
4. Electricity, gas and water 1,131 1,229 1,322 1,421
5. Construction 3,444 3,375 3,527 3,562
6. Wholesale & retail trade, restaurants and hotels 8,121 8,574 9,250 9,880
7. Transport, storage and communication 5,754 6,088 6,465 6,834
8. Financing, insurance, real estate and business services 7,537 8,194 8,700 9,204
9. Producers of government services 4,569 4,733 4,898 5,067
10. Other services 2,842 3,004 3,139 3,280
11. Imputed bank service charges -1,531 -1,669 -1,819 -1,963
12. Gross Domestic Product at factor cost 46,816 49,454 52,309 54,918
13. Indirect Taxes (net of subsidies) 7,644 7,568 7,811 8,202
  Gross Domestic Product at market prices 54,460 57,022 60,120 63,120

Source: CSO
1. Revised estimates
2. Provisional estimates 
3. Revised forecast

In 1997, the highest share of GDP came as usual from the manufacturing sector (24%), followed by the wholesale, retail trade and tourism (18%) and the finance group (17%). The EPZ sector contributed to more than half in manufacturing. The GDP at factory cost (constant 1992 prices) for 1997 is forecast to reach Rs 55 billion.

Table V: ENTERPRISES AND WORKFORCE DISTRIBUTION AND PERCENTAGE CHANGE BY EPZ PRODUCT GROUP, 1995 - 1997
  Product group No of Enterprises Total Employment No of Enterprises Total Employment Total Enterprises Total Employment Jun95- Jun 96 Jun96- Jun 97
1. Food 12 1,709 12 1,574 12 1,710 -7.9 8.6
2. Flowers 48 604 48 610 45 547 1.0 -10.3
3. Textile yarn and fabrics 33 3,688 33 3,934 34 3,820 6.7 -2.9
4. Wearing apparel: 243 67,757 234 65,014 231 67,700 -4.0 4.1
  Pullovers 32 20,287 32 18,560 28 18,477 -8.5 -0.4
  Other garments 211 47,470 202 46,454 203 49,223 -2.1 6.0
5. Leather products and footwear 8 1,565 9 1,503 10 1,336 -4.0 -11.1
6. Wood and paper products 26 581 27 521 29 602 -10.3 15.5
7. Optical goods 6 595 5 508 5 482 -14.6 -5.1
8. Electronic watches and clocks 3 557 3 612 3 459 9.9 -25.0
9. Electric and electronic products 9 460 9 507 11 562 10.2 10.8
10. Jewellery and related articles 19 1,346 19 1,395 20 1,585 3.6 13.6
11. Toys and carnival articles 7 1,098 8 1,115 7 1,111 1.5 -0.4
12. Other 63 1,863 68 1,976 72 2,001 6.1 1.3
  Total 477 81,823 475 79,269 478 81,915 -3.1 3.3