Cost of Living in Mauritius: A Detailed Monthly Budget

The cost of living in Mauritius is the thing most future residents get wrong. Someone told them life is cheaper here, which is true of the fish at Tamarin market and untrue of cars, cheese and school fees. Here is a monthly budget line by line, based on what we see with European families who have been on the island a year or more.

The monthly budget at a glance

Ranges observed in 2026 on the west coast and in the north, excluding mortgage payments on an owned home. Euro figures are converted from Mauritian rupees and move with the exchange rate.

Monthly item	Couple	Family (2 children)
Food and groceries	EUR 500 – 800	EUR 900 – 1,400
Renting a 3-bedroom villa (west or north)	EUR 1,200 – 2,200	EUR 1,500 – 3,000
Electricity, water, fibre internet	EUR 120 – 250	EUR 180 – 350
School fees (international curriculum)	—	EUR 600 – 1,400
International health insurance	EUR 150 – 350	EUR 300 – 700
Transport (fuel, servicing, insurance)	EUR 150 – 300	EUR 250 – 450
Part-time housekeeper and gardener	EUR 150 – 300	EUR 200 – 400
Eating out and leisure	EUR 200 – 500	EUR 300 – 700
Indicative total	EUR 2,500 – 4,700	EUR 4,200 – 8,400

A quiet couple lives well on around EUR 2,500. A family of four with two children in an international school reaches EUR 5,000 quickly once fees and health cover are paid. If you own rather than rent, remove the rent line and add roughly 5% of the property value per year in maintenance, syndic charges and insurance.

What is genuinely cheap

Local fresh produce: fruit, vegetables, fish, chicken. A weekly market shop for a family often lands between EUR 40 and EUR 70. Domestic help next: a housekeeper two or three times a week plus a gardener remains affordable, and it changes daily life more than anything else on the list. And everything outdoors — beach, hiking, kitesurfing, running — costs close to nothing.

What costs more than in Europe

Cars

This is the first shock. Import duty is high and the used market is tight: a family SUV second-hand often trades at the price of a new entry-level car in Europe. Treat it as a relocation cost, not a running one.

Imported goods

Cheese, charcuterie, wine, cereals, cosmetics, electronics: expect 30% to 100% above European prices. Families that keep their European shopping habits see their grocery budget roughly double compared with those who cook local.

School fees

International and accredited French curriculum schooling is the heaviest line after housing. Add first-year registration, school transport and activities.

Healthcare

Private clinics are excellent but work on direct payment. Decent international family cover runs EUR 300 to EUR 700 a month depending on age and level. Going uninsured is not a realistic plan.

Electricity

A villa with bedroom air conditioning and a pool uses considerably more than a European apartment. In the hot season the bill can double, and pool chemicals and pump time add to it.

Renting versus buying: the budget effect

Rent is the most elastic line in the table. A three-bedroom villa in Tamarin or Grand Bay commonly rents at EUR 1,500 to EUR 3,000 a month depending on season and distance to the lagoon, and high season pushes short-term rates sharply higher. Buying removes that line and adds others: scheme charges, maintenance, cyclone-grade insurance, refuse tax.

This is the calculation that settles a lot of files: past a certain rental budget, buying inside an approved scheme becomes the rational move, and above USD 375,000 it carries a residence permit as well. We break the acquisition costs down in what it costs to buy a villa in Mauritius, and you can compare your current rent against our luxury villas for sale in Mauritius.

Is the north more expensive than the west?

Slightly, and mostly on rent. Grand Bay and Pereybère absorb the tourist demand, which lifts seasonal rents; in exchange you get more shops, more restaurants and faster resale. See current villas for sale in Grand Bay and the wider north Mauritius market. The west, around Tamarin and Rivière Noire, is calmer and often a little cheaper for the same floor area. The east and south are the cheapest on the island, at the cost of a longer run to schools and the airport.

The costs people forget

• Flights to Europe, once or twice a year, for the whole family.
• Setting up: shipping container, customs clearance, furniture, rental deposit.
• Banking and FX fees on every transfer from Europe.
• Tax still owed at home until your tax residence genuinely changes.
• Salt-air maintenance on a coastal property: joinery, air conditioning, pool pump. See what owning a beachfront villa in Mauritius involves.

How much do you need to earn to live in Mauritius?

A net EUR 3,000 a month lets a couple live comfortably in rented accommodation. For a family of four with international schooling and health insurance, EUR 5,000 to EUR 6,000 net is a solid base. Below that a move is still possible, but it means cooking local, one car, and a home inland rather than on the lagoon.

If your plan includes buying, cost both halves together: the monthly living budget and the acquisition budget. Our guide to buying property in Mauritius covers the second half, and we can send you the properties that match your envelope, including the ones we do not publish.