The fifteenth issue of the Economic and Social Indicators on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) statistics compiled by Statistics Mauritius has been published. It presents statistics on ICT sector, including ICT infrastructure, access and usage based on information gathered from various administrative sources as well as from surveys conducted by Statistics Mauritius.
At the end of 2020, there were two fixed-line telephone service providers, three mobile cellular service providers and eleven internet service providers.
The volume of internet downloads went up by 60.1% from 444,397 terabytes in 2019 to 711,287 terabytes in 2020. Similarly, during the same period, the volume of internet uploads increased by 50.6% from 49,279 terabytes to 74,232 terabytes.
The number of fixed telephone lines increased by 4.4% from 458,700 in 2019 to 478,700 in 2020. The number of fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants moved up from 36.2 in 2019 to 37.8 in 2020.
The population covered by mobile cellular telephony comprises the number of inhabitants who live within areas covered by a mobile cellular network, irrespective of whether they subscribe to the service. In 2020, some 99% of the population was covered by mobile cellular telephony, same as in 2019 (Table 1).
Between 2019 and 2020,
- the total number of mobile cellular subscriptions went up by 2.5% from 1,866,600 to 1,912,900. Prepaid subscriptions increased by 1.9% from 1,659,600 to 1,691,200 and postpaid subscriptions registered an increase of 7.1% from 207,000 to 221,700; and
- mobidensity (the number of mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants) went up by 2.4%, from 147.5 to 151.1.
As shown in Figure 1, over the period 2011 to 2020 both mobidensity and teledensity (fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants) follow an upward trend.
Internet subscriptions
Between 2019 and 2020,
- the number of internet subscriptions increased by 10.1% from 1,496,300 to 1,648,000 (Table 2) as a result of increases of 11.4% in the number of mobile internet subscriptions (from 1,189,100 to 1,324,700) and 5.2% in that of fixed internet subscriptions (from 307,200 to 323,300); and
- the number of internet subscriptions per 100 inhabitants went up from 118.2 to 130.2.
ICT access by households
Comparative figures between 2018 and 2020 show that ICT access by households improved as follows the proportion of households with:
- smartphones: 71.3% to 81.4%;
- internet access: 69.7% to 72.6%
- paid TV channels: 38.9% to 42.4%;
- Smart TV: 22.6% to 37.7%.
ICT access and use by individuals
In 2020, some 91% of persons aged five years and above used a mobile phone, compared to around 88% in 2018.
Data on computer use showed that in 2020:
- 8% of persons aged five years and above used computer, compared to 49.6% in 2018;
- younger people, particularly those in the age bracket 12 – 29 years are more likely to be computer users than older ones, same as in 2018.
Main uses of smartphones in 2020 were:
- Instant messaging (Whatsapp, Viber, Wechat) – (87.1%);
- Visiting social networking sites (81.0%);
- General internet browsing (75.9%);
- Sending/receiving emails (41.9%).
ICT usage in business
Based on data collected through the Survey of Employment and Earnings among ‘large establishments’ employing 10 or more persons, the following changes have been observed in ICT usage for years 2019 and 2020
Employment
The number of large establishments (employing 10 or more persons) operating in the ICT sector in 2020 was 121, lower than the figure of 123 in 2019 (Table 17).
However, employment in large establishments increased by 0.4%, i.e. 16,800 (8,735 males and 8,065 females) in 2019 and 16,865 (8,780 males and 8,085 females) in 2020. The share of employment in the ICT sector over total employment for 2020 stood at 5.2%, against 5.0% in 2019.
Contribution to Gross Value Added (GVA)
The value added of ICT sector went up by 4.2% in nominal terms from Rs 25,356 million in 2019 to Rs 26,432 million in 2020. Its share in GVA was 7.0%, higher than in 2019 (5.8%).
Trade in ICT goods between 2019 and 2020 was as follows:
- imports went down by 22.8 % from Rs 11,524 million to Rs 8,892 million;
- exports which includes re-exports, decreased by 35.3% from Rs 1,074 million to Rs 695 million.
Trade in ICT services between 2019 and 2020 was as follows:
- imports increased by 21.7% from Rs 3,830 million to Rs 4,662 million; while
- exports decreased by 1.3% from Rs 4,970 million to Rs 4,907 million.
Between 2019 and 2020, the share of ICT goods and services increased:
- from 5.7% to 6.5% over total imports; and
- from 3.1% to 4.4% over total exports.
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