The economy of Mauritius grew 4.1 percent in 2011 and will expand at a fractionally slower pace of 4 percent in the new year, the statistics office said on Tuesday, matching the finance minister's most recent forecast.
"Taking into consideration measures announced in the last budget and (the) economic situation in our main markets, gross domestic product is expected to grow by around 4.0 percent in 2012, slightly lower than the 4.1 percent registered in 2011," Mauritius Statistics said in a statement on its website.
The Indian Ocean island's tourism sector, a key driver of economic growth and source of hard currency, saw revenue increase to 42.5 billion rupees this year from 39.45 billion rupees in 2010, official data showed.
Mauritius' textiles industry, a one-time cornerstone of the roughly $10 billion economy, grew by 8.3 percent, sharply up from its 0.7 percent growth in 2010.
Finance Minister Xavier Duval last week cut his 2011 budget deficit forecast to 3.4 percent from 3.8 percent and welcomed improved coordination of fiscal and monetary policy to steer the country through the global downturn.
The statistics office also said the unemployment rate rose to 7.9 percent in 2011 from 7.8 percent in 2010, with a total of 45,900 unemployed this year.
Statistics Mauritius said the unemployment rate was 7.9 percent in the third quarter, compared with 7.6 percent a year earlier.
While tourism and textiles performed well during 2011, the global economic downturn still reduced demand for leisure on the Indian Ocean island and exports such as textiles.