Mauritius Falling Fertility Rate Challenge
Population dynamics influencing development were being analysed through the lens of an increasing fertility rate, or at least a fertility rate higher than replacement level. Mauritius is in a post-demographic phase and is presenting a different context compared to most other countries of the region. After facing the risk of a population explosion which was likely to lead to a social crisis in the 1960s and 1970s, Mauritius is now facing the threats caused by a fertility rate below replacement level and a rapidly ageing population. Just as the upward population growth was a source of concern in the 1950s and 1960s, so is the reversing trend to-day. Government and the major actors in the economic sector are viewing the fall in the fertility rate as dramatic with possible adverse effects on the country's future. Population policies which have, up to now, consisted essentially of strategies to curb population growth are no longer applicable, especially if the objective of any intended policy is to focus on a fertility increase.