Why Mauritians leave, and what brings people home
The population is shrinking and the young and qualified are leaving. The Budget courts foreign talent and the diaspora, but still offers no tax or career package to bring Mauritians back.
In short
The population fell from 1.266 million (2021) to 1.244 million (2025) (World Bank mid-year estimates); about 2,800 more people leave than arrive each year (UN estimates), mostly young adults.
The job market is tight: unemployment 5.5% in the second quarter of 2026, yet youth unemployment is about 17% and foreign workers now number about 48,000, up 11% a year since 2020.
Budget 2026-27 adds a migration policy, a National e-Diaspora Platform, direct hiring of diaspora experts, a Golden Visa and longer parental leave, but no returnee tax regime, no qualification fast-track and no pension portability.
Ireland (1990s) shows people return when senior jobs exist at home; Portugal (today) shows tax incentives help at the margin.
The arithmetic of leaving
For a young accountant, nurse or engineer, moving to France, the UK, Canada or Australia can multiply pay several times over. But pay is rarely the whole story: the career ladder is. In a small economy, the ladder often stops a few rungs up because the senior roles do not exist locally. Add 2022-23's price shock (prices up about 19% in two years), lending rates near 9%, housing costs and, in 2026, inflation back near 5%, and the calculation tips towards leaving.
The paradox is that Mauritius is short of workers. Unemployment fell to 5.7% in 2025 and 5.5% in the second quarter of 2026 (550,600 Mauritians employed), and foreign workers, about 48,000, have grown about 11% a year since 2020. The country is replacing the people it loses with people it imports.
Why each departure costs more every year
Each departure removes a taxpayer and pension contributor just as the population ages (14% are now 65+) and the State Age Pension starts in 2027. It also wastes public money spent on education. And because those who leave are disproportionately young, Mauritius also loses future births: the fertility rate is about 1.4 children per woman.
What the Budget does, and what is missing
Budget 2026-27 adds several talent measures: a comprehensive migration policy, a National e-Diaspora Platform run by the EDB, a change in procurement rules so public bodies can hire diaspora experts directly, post-study work for foreign graduates (30 hours a week in holidays), a Golden Visa for investors of US$1m, a revised Occupation Permit (minimum Rs 50,000 salary for professionals), higher training stipends (Rs 10,000 and Rs 120,000), and family measures: 12 months of maternity leave, 6 weeks of paternity leave and one day a month of menstrual leave.
Who is affected
Brain drain shows up differently depending on where you sit.