Reunion is a remote Indian Ocean island located between Madagascar and Mauritius Islands.
It is a French overseas territory. The Island’s political status and other departments in mainland France are the same. Is Reunion Island rich or poor?
The last time I visited, the island was densely populated and has wide ethnic diversity. About one-fifth of the Island’s population lives in its capital city, Saint-Denis.
Regarding its prosperity, the Island owes its economy to sugar cane farming, but the base of its economy is tourism and financial aid from Paris.
Recently, there was social tension on the Island due to the uneven distribution of wealth among its citizens. There was a high rate of unemployment among the youth and immigrants.
The climate on Reunion Island is tropical, and the Island has various kinds of landscapes. One of the most active volcanoes in the world, the Piton de la Fournier, is located on the Island. This volcano is a World Heritage site.
Is Reunion Island rich or poor?
Reunion has the statutes as an overseas department of France. The Island is small and has wide ethnic diversity. The dominant industry on the Island is the sugarcane industry.
This industry resulted in the uneven distribution of wealth among its citizens. For this reason, the majority of its 840,000 citizens are poor.
The Island is known for striking volcanic eruptions and frequent shark attacks. The day-to-day activities on the Island are agricultural exports and tourism.
The social disparity between the rich and the poor on the Island is very obvious. This has at several times, resulted in social tensions like riots and other demonstrations. The most significant was the one that happened in the 1990s.
However, groups like “All Together in Dignity Fourth World” changed. Aid organizations formed youth groups, cultural activities, and human rights support.
These organizations were able to close the economic and social gap between the wealthy and the poor.
Things to Know About Poverty in Reunion
May of the citizens of Reunion Island is nearly poor or poor. The actual data on wealth distribution on this small Island is difficult to get, but by estimate, about 50 percent of its citizens live below the poverty line.
Minority groups face particular disadvantages. Employment on the Island is scarce, and young people between the ages of 15 to 25 years compete for the few job opportunities available.
This resulted in them being poor. About 60 percent of its citizens depend on social welfare benefits.
State welfare benefits are the life support of many citizens of the Island. More than half of the Island’s citizens are forced by unemployment to utilize the welfare benefits. The high unemployment rate calls for serious concern on the Island.
The birth rate on the Island is high, and the death rate is low, which resulted in a large population of young people.
Therefore, unemployment has become a big problem. According to the records, the Island’s unemployment rate as of 2013 stood at 29.6 percent of the working population.
This led the government to work with some organizations to develop programs to integrate unemployed young people into the workforce.
These programs came in form of assisted contracts and some other specific measures. This measure was necessary because 26 percent of the Island’s population was about 15 years old and would enter the workforce very soon.
There were a lot of school dropouts, and the rate of brain drain was high. The concerns in the education sector also contributed to unemployment and poverty problems.
Attending school was no longer mandatory for citizens above the age of 16. Only about 84 percent of the students above 16 years were in school. This rate is lower than the 93 percent rate recorded in mainland France.
Wage gaps perpetuate inequality.
The disparity in wages between various classes of workers resulted in a lot of social tension and riots. The minimum-wage paid to workers in Reunion Island was 10 percent lower than what workers in mainland France receive.
The Caucasians and Indians living on the Island were richer than Africans that were also living on the island. French immigrants headed all the high administrative positions. In every way, you look at the socioeconomic trends in Reunion Island, and you will see inequalities for different reasons.
The three factors you will use in assessing poverty in Reunion Island are ethnicity, educational background, and wage division.
If proper attention should be paid to these factors and the issue of inequality is eradicated, Reunion Island will record tremendous progress.
Is Reunion Island a rich country?
The wealth level of the average citizen of Reunion Island is low. Citizens of any country with very low wealth per person always have a low life expectancy and low standard of living.
The ethnic diversity of Reunion Island is unequaled. The Island has a very multiracial population. Different religion like Muslims, Christians, Hindus, and Chinese has peaceful cohabitation.
You can hear this peace in their traditional music’s, in the sega beats and maloya rhythm. If you go out in the evening, you will see live shows, music festivals or cultural events that prove the unity among the locals and the visitors.
There is the warm hospitality and a Creole lifestyle on Reunion Island for you to enjoy. You will see plenty of cultural monuments, sites, and workshops for total immersion. The citizens of the Island have so much respect for other people.
This is one of the pride of the Island. You will see plenty of Churches, Tamil temples, mosques, and Chinese pagodas in the urban landscape, which is a concrete symbol of intercultural.
FAQs
Is Reunion Island a poor country?
Many of the citizens of the Island live near or below the poverty line. It is difficult to get conclusive data on the poverty rate of the small island. It is estimated that about 50 percent of the citizens are poor.
How wealthy is Réunion?
The government provides its citizens with social services like public education, healthcare, and law enforcement.
What is the economy of Reunion Island?
The mainstay of the Island’s economy is agriculture, but recently services have taken that over. For more than a century, Sugarcane farming was the dominant farming on the Island. It contributed to about 85% of the country’s exports in some years.