8
8. Demographic trends
8.1 Sex ratio
Figure 8.1.1 – Sex ratio of resident population, Republic of Mauritius1, 1977 – 2023
106.0
104.0
102.6
102.0
Sex Ratio
100.0 98.9
100.1 97.6
98.0
96.0
94.0
1977
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
2015
2017
2019
2021
2023
Year
1
excluding Agalega and St Brandon
Figure 8.1.1 depicts the evolution of sex ratio (i.e. the number of males per 100 females) for the past
forty-six years. Before the eighties, males outnumbered females in the population (e.g. 102.6 males
per 100 females in 1977) and as from the nineties, the reverse trend was noted whereby females
outnumbered males in the population (e.g. 97.6 males per 100 females in 2023). This shift was
mainly due to ageing of the population given that females live longer than males.
8.2 Population growth rate
Figure 8.2.1 – Growth rate of resident population, Republic of Mauritius1, 1977 – 2023
1
excluding Agalega and St Brandon
Figure 8.2.1 shows the evolution of the growth rate of the resident population from 1977 to 2023.
The population growth rate reached its peak in the late seventies and then declined in the eighties.
There was a catch up in the nineties after which it continued to drop. The declining fertility rate,
