13/11/2025
Here’s a breakdown of key recent data for energy/fuel imports into Mauritius, by fuel type and in terms of tonnes‐of‐oil‐equivalent (toe) or proportions.
# # # ✅ What we know
From the 2023 publication by Statistics Mauritius:
* Total primary energy requirement in 2023: **1,537,622 toe**.
* Imported fuels (almost wholly fossil fuels) accounted for **90.2%** of the total.
* The breakdown of imports (2023) by fuel type:
* Coal: ~19.3% of imported fuel. ([Stats Mauritius][1])
* Among petroleum products:
* Fuel oil: ~35.5% of imports. ([Stats Mauritius][1])
* Diesel oil: ~17.1%. ([Stats Mauritius][1])
* Dual-purpose kerosene: ~13.1%. ([Stats Mauritius][1])
* Gasolene (gasoline): ~9.8%. ([Stats Mauritius][1])
* Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG): ~5.1%. ([Stats Mauritius][1])
* The import bill in 2023 for petroleum products + coal: **Rs 56,966.5 million**, accounting for ~20.0% of total merchandise imports. ([Stats Mauritius][1])
* In 2024, the imported fuels made up ~90.9% of the total primary energy requirement (1,467,806 toe of imported vs 1,614,872 toe total) and of that import‐fuel share: petroleum products ~61.1% and coal ~29.8% in 2024.
# # # 📊 Summary Table (2023 as basis)
| Fuel Type | Approx % of imported fuels | Notes |
| --------------------- | -------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| Coal | ~19.3% | Thermal coal used for power generation etc. |
| Fuel oil | ~35.5% | Largest single petroleum product import. |
| Diesel oil | ~17.1% | Road transport + industrial use. |
| Dual-purpose kerosene | ~13.1% | Transport and maybe some heating / lighting. |
| Gasolene (petrol) | ~9.8% | Vehicle fuel. |
| LPG | ~5.1% | Cooking, possibly some vehicular use. |
# # # 🔍 Additional observations & caveats
* The data are expressed in toe for quantities (for 2023). For 2023: “some 1,956,815 toe of fuel were imported” (almost all fossil fuels). ([Stats Mauritius][1])
* Of those imports, re-exports and bunkering also figure: out of the 1,956,815 toe imported in 2023, some 626,580 toe were re-exported or bunkered (i.e., shipped out again or used for ships/aircraft) — which means effective consumption/import use is lower. ([Stats Mauritius][1])
* The value data (Rs terms) shows some volatility due to fuel price changes; for example the average import price of many petroleum products declined in 2023 vs 2022: petrol (gasolene) -0.9%, diesel -13.5%, jet fuel kerosene -7.9%, fuel oil -13.8%, LPG -13.6%, coal -45.6%. ([Stats Mauritius][1])
* The breakdown by **value** (US$, Rs) by fuel type is less readily available in my sources; most of the breakdown is by *quantity* (toe) and by % share of imported volume.
* The figures for 2024 show a shift: petroleum’s share of imported fuels dropped to ~61.1% (from ~63.9% in 2023) and coal ~29.8%. This suggests a slightly rising role of coal in the import mix (or declining petroleum share) though absolute quantities need checking.
# # # 📝 Implications
* Mauritius remains **highly dependent** on imported fossil fuels (coal + petroleum) for its energy needs (over 90% of primary energy requirement).
* The major single import item (by volume) among petroleum products is fuel oil, followed by diesel, kerosene, gasoline and LPG.
* Coal remains a significant import (approx one-fifth of imported fuels in 2023) despite being less used for transport.
* There is a portion of imports which are **not** consumed locally but re‐exported or bunkered (ships/aircraft).
* Efforts to diversify into renewables/local sources are ongoing but the fossil fuel import dependency is structurally large.
If you like, I can check **historical trends** (say 2015-2024) by fuel type (both volume and value) so you can see how e.g. diesel or fuel oil import shares have changed over time. Would you like that?
[1]: https://statsmauritius.govmu.org/Documents/Statistics/ESI/2024/EI1791/Energy_Water_Yr23_070624.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Economic"
