What language is spoken in Mauritius?

A multilingual island

Mauritius is one of the world's most linguistically diverse small nations. The day-to-day language that Mauritians use among themselves — at home, in the market, and in casual conversation — is Mauritian Creole (Kreol Morisyen). Creole is a French-based creole with significant inputs from African languages and English. It is not mutually intelligible with French despite sharing a large portion of its vocabulary.

French

French is the de facto dominant language for formal social life, the private sector, advertising, most major newspapers (L'Express, Le Défi), television, and written communication between educated Mauritians. The vast majority of Mauritians are fluent in French. For expats, French fluency opens up far more of Mauritius — socially, professionally, and practically. That said, most Mauritians in customer-facing roles also speak English.

English

English is the official language of government, law, and the education system. Parliament debates in English. Contracts and legal documents are written in English. International schools teach in English. Most Mauritians who have been through the education system (which follows the British curriculum) are literate in English even if they are more comfortable speaking French. Signage is predominantly in English and French.

Other languages

A significant portion of the population — primarily the Indo-Mauritian community — also speaks Hindi, Bhojpuri, Tamil, Telugu, or Marathi at home or in religious contexts. The Sino-Mauritian community speaks Mandarin, Cantonese, or Hakka. The Franco-Mauritian community (the original European settler descendants) speaks French as their first language.

For expats

English-speaking expats can live very comfortably in Mauritius without French. However, learning basic French will significantly enrich your experience and allow you to navigate situations — particularly with older Mauritians or in rural areas — where English is less common. Even a modest French vocabulary is warmly appreciated by locals.