Mauritius
Demographics

Mauritius had a population of 1,235,260 (608,090 males, 627,170 females) according to the final results of the 2022 Census. The population on the island of Mauritius was 1,191,280 (586,590 males and 604,690 females), and that of Rodrigues island was 43,650 (21,330 males and 22,320 females); Agalega island total population of 330 (170 males and 160 females). Mauritius has the second highest population density in Africa. According to the 2022 census, the average age of the population was 38 years. 2022 Censusindicated that: The proportion of children aged below 15 years went down from 20.7% in 2011 to 15.4% in 2022; The share of persons aged 60 years and over has risen from 12.7% in 2011 to 18.7% in 2022. Subsequent to a Constitutional amendment in 1982, the census does not compile data on ethnic identities anymore but still does on religious affiliation. The 1972 census was the last one to measure ethnicity. Mauritius is a multiethnic society, drawn from Indian, African, Chinese and European (mostly French) origin.

In 2022, the number of Bangladeshi nationals had risen to 1.21% of the total resident population skewing religious figures and with Bengali now spoken at home by 1.18% of the population. Non-Mauritians make up 2.62% of the total resident population.

According to the Constitution of Mauritius, there are 4 distinct communities on the island for the purposes of representation in the National Assembly. Schedule I, Paragraph 3(4) of the Constitution states that The population of Mauritius shall be regarded as including a Hindu community, a Muslim community, and a Sino-Mauritian community, and every person who does not appear, from his way of life, to belong to one or other of those three communities shall be regarded as belonging to the General Population, which shall itself be regarded as a fourth community. Thus each ethnic group in Mauritius falls within one of the four main communities known as Hindus, General Population, Muslims and Sino-Mauritians.

As per the above constitutional provision, the 1972 ethnic statistics are used to implement the Best Loser System, the method used in Mauritius since the 1950s to guarantee ethnic representation across the entire electorate in the National Assembly without organising the representation wholly by ethnicity.

Religion in Mauritius (2022)
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