Mauritius no longer a ‘high-income’ country

Mauritius has been reclassified as a middle-income country, only a year after being hyped by the World Bank as a high-income country. 

L’Express reported that the reclassification was to be expected and economists were already questioning the sustainability of the high-income ranking since last year. 

It added that the reclassification is the result of the shock suffered by Mauritius last year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It cited the World Bank as indicating that the gross national income (GNI) per capita for 2020 fell to USD 10,230, a decrease of 20.6% from that of 2019 (USD 12,740) – the reason being that a contraction of GDP and net foreign income coupled with the depreciation of the rupee against the dollar.

The high income threshold, adjusted annually, is now USD 12,695.