PORT LOUIS: The trade deficit in Mauritius widened 6.9 percent to 7.32 billion rupees ($232.01 million) in October from a year earlier, driven largely by higher imports of food and live animals, Statistics Mauritius said on Monday.

The value of imports climbed 6.9 percent to 15.96 billion rupees, with the cost of food and live animals rising to 3.33 billion rupees from 2.71 billion rupees in October last year, the agency said in a statement.

Exports from the Indian Ocean island nation rose 6.9 percent to 8.64 billion, the data showed.

The United Arab Emirates was the main buyer of goods from Mauritius in October, overtaking Britain and accounting for 15.9 percent, while India supplied 16.6 percent of the nation's imports.

Copyright Reuters, 2014