Mauritius inflation rises to 12.2%, driven by increase in bank interest rates

Year-on-year (Y-o-y) inflation in Mauritius rose to 12.2% in December 2022, compared to 6.8% in December 2021, according to latest figures issued by Statistics Mauritius.

Headline inflation for the 12-months ending December 2022 soared to 10.8%, compared to 4.0% for the 12-months ending December 2021.

Inflation is a rise in prices, which can be translated as the decline of purchasing power over time. The rate at which purchasing power drops can be reflected in the average price increase of a basket of selected goods and services over some period of time.

The rise in prices, which is often expressed as a percentage, means that a unit of currency effectively buys less than it did in prior periods. 

Meanwhile, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 0.3 point or 0.2% from 126.8 in November 2022 to 127.1 in December 2022. 

During this period, the main contributors to the change were vegetables, certain food products and whisky, but also the increase in interest rates on housing loans. 

Source: Statistics Mauritius