Economy: Inflation rate reaches 12.2% in December
Year-on-year inflation reached 12.2 percent in December 2022, up from 6.8 percent in December 2021. Headline inflation for the 12 months ending December 2022 was 10.8%, compared with 4.0% for the 12 months ending December 2021. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.3 points to 127.1 points from 126.8 points in November 2022. This is attributed to increases in almost all household products including vegetables, alcoholic beverages including whiskey, interest on home loans and other products and services, all of which increased by 0.1 points.
Tourism: 997,290 visitors in 2022
The aim was a million tourist arrivals for the year 2022 and the country and according to the latest figures from Statistics Mauritius, 997,290 travelers landed on Mauritian soil last year. In 2021, Mauritius welcomed 179,780 tourists. In December alone, 134,730 travelers came to Mauritius. The European market remains the most prolific with 674,511 tourists including 238,864 from France. The British came next with 140,847. The country also welcomed 207,010 tourists from Africa including 96,316 South Africans and 88,096 from neighboring islands. It should be noted that the average length of stay of a tourist in the island in 2022 was 11.8 nights.
Domestic violence: soon a new law
A draft of a new law against domestic violence is currently being reviewed by the State Law Office (SLO). The draft law will then be submitted to the Council of Ministers for approval, before being presented to Parliament. The authorities receive more than 3,000 complaints of domestic violence every year. However, this figure is outdated. The new law should allow for the implementation of a much more effective protection order and stiffer penalties.
