The success of the EPZs has meant that sugar, the traditional leader in exports, has been replaced by manufactured goods. Although the level of sugar exports has remained relatively flat (rising to MauR5.3 billion in 1992 from MauR4.3 billion in 1987), EPZ exports have risen from MauR6.6 billion in 1987 to MauR13.5 billion in 1992. Most exports went to Britain (35 percent in 1991), followed by France (19 percent), the United States (11 percent), and Germany (11 percent).

Manufactured goods accounted for 34 percent of imports in 1991, followed by machinery and transportation equipment (25 percent), food (11 percent), and fuels (8 percent). In the same year, France was the main supplier of imported goods (13 percent), followed by South Africa (12 percent), Britain (7 percent), and Japan (7 percent). Other sources of imports are Germany, India, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

The country's geographic isolation, reliance on imported fuel, food, and manufactured goods, and its limited export base have combined to create persistent visible balance of trade deficits in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Imports outpaced exports by MauR1.1 billion in 1987, and the trade deficit grew to an estimated MauR5.8 billion in 1992.

Data as of August 1994