Mauritius’ economy expanded by 3.7% y/y in the fourth quarter of 2014, accelerating slightly from a revised 3.6% y/y growth in the preceding quarter, data from Statistics Mauritius showed. On a seasonally adjusted quarterly comparison basis, the economy grew 0.6% in Q4, at the same rate as in Q3.

For the full year 2014, the Indian Ocean island’s economy expanded by 3.5%. The statistics office forecast GDP growth to speed up to 4.1% in 2015 on the back of higher growth in manufacturing, agriculture, tourism, and ICT, and a rebound in construction after four years of contraction.

The main contributors to the 3.7% y/y GDP growth in Q4 were the manufacturing industry with a contribution of 0.7pp, followed by the wholesale and retail trade and the financial and insurance sectors, each contributing 0.5pp, the statistics office said. The y/y growth in these sectors quickened - to 3.7% in Q4 from 2.7% in Q3 in manufacturing, to 3.5% from 3.2% in trade, and to 5.4% from 4.8% in finance and insurance.

On the opposite side, the construction sector was the single largest underperformer, contributing -0.5pp to the overall GDP development. The y/y contraction in the sector, however, softened to 9.0% in Q4 from 9.2% in Q3.

Total final consumption expenditure grew 3.4% y/y in Q4, accelerating from a 3.2% y/y growth in Q3. The final consumption expenditure of households, which accounts for 75.3% of the total, grew 2.9% y/y in Q4, decelerating from 3.1% in Q3, while the growth in general government consumption quickened to 5.9% from 3.5% in Q3.

At the same time, investment continued shrinking, but the y/y rate of contraction softened to 4.2% in Q4 from 11.4% in Q3.

Exports of goods and services edged up 1.6% y/y, slowing from a 14% y/y rise in Q3, and imports grew 2.8% y/y after a 7.2% increase in Q3.