That dollar amount results from a -35.2% decline from $844.9 million 5 years earlier in 2019, and a -4.8% year-over-year slowdown compared to $575.5 million starting from 2022.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2022, Seychelles’ legal currency is the Seychellois rupee which appreciated by 0.1% against the US dollar since 2019 and improved by 1.8% from 2022 to 2023. Seychelles’ stronger local currency compared to 2019 makes its exports paid for in weaker US dollars relatively more expensive for international buyers.
Seychelles’ top 3 most valuable exported products are preserved or prepared fish including caviar, processed petroleum oils and iron or steel scrap. Collectively, that trio of major exports represents 88.7% of the overall value of goods exported from Seychelles during 2023. Such a high percentage indicates Seychelles’ intensely concentrated portfolio of export goods.
Seychelles’ Major Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 94.6% of products exported from Seychelles was bought by importers in: United Arab Emirates (35.9% of the Seychellois total), France (23%), United Kingdom (10.1%), Italy (7.4%), Singapore (6.9%), Germany (5.1%), Ivory Coast (1.4%), Hong Kong (1.2%), Spain (1.1%), Netherlands (1%), Ireland (0.8%) and United States of America (0.5%).
From a continental perspective, 49.9% of Seychellois exports by value was delivered to European countries while 46.7% was sold to importers in Asia. Seychelles shipped another 2.5% worth of goods to buyers in Africa.
Smaller percentages went to customers in North America (0.7%), Oceania led by Australia (0.2%) then Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean (0.03%).
Given Seychelles’ population of 107,118 people, its total $547.8 million in 2023 exports translates to roughly $5,500 for every resident in the East African archipelago. That dollar metric exceeds the average $5,400 per capita one year earlier during 2022.
Seychelles Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in global shipments from Seychelles during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Seychelles.
- Meat/seafood preparations: US$252.9 million (46.2% of total exports)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $194 million (35.4%)
- Iron, steel: $38.9 million (7.1%)
- Fish: $29.6 million (5.4%)
- Food industry waste, animal fodder: $7.5 million (1.4%)
- Machinery including computers: $4.2 million (0.8%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $3.7 million (0.7%)
- Beverages, spirits, vinegar: $2.55 million (0.5%)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: $2.54 million (0.5%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $2.2 million (0.4%)
Seychelles ’s top 10 export product categories generated 98.2% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Iron and steel represent the fastest growers among the top 10 export categories, up by 2,687% since 2022.
In second place for improving export sales was machinery including computers which rose 434.6%.
Seychelles ‘s shipments of optical, technical and medical apparatus posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 72.2%.
The leading decliner among Seychelles ‘s top 10 export categories was aircraft and spacecraft which fell -74.4% year over year.
At the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, preserved or prepared fish including caviar represent Seychelles’ most valuable exported product at 46.2% of the country’s overall total. In second place were processed petroleum oils (35.4%) trailed by iron or steel scrap (7.1%), frozen whole fish (3%), inedible meat flour (1.4%), fresh whole fish (1.2%), aquatic invertebrates (0.9%), fish or marine mammals fats and oils (0.6%), alcoholic beverages (0.5%) then aircraft parts (also 0.5%).
Products Generating Seychelles’ Best Trade Surpluses
The following types of product shipments from Seychelles represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.
In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Meat/seafood preparations: US$243 million (Down by -12% since 2022)
- Iron, steel: $21.1 million (Reversing a -$27.4 million deficit)
- Food industry waste, animal fodder: $892,000 (Reversing an -$873,000 deficit)
- Live animals: $225,000 (Up by 1630.8%)
- Other base metals: $116,000 (Up by 176.2%)
- Nickel: $33,000 (Reversing a -$43,000 deficit)
Seychelles has highly positive net exports in the international trade of meat or seafood preparations. In turn, these cashflows indicate Seychelles’ strong competitive advantages under that food product category.
Products Causing Seychelles’ Worst Trade Deficits
Seychelles incurred a projected -US$920.4 million product trade deficit for 2023, expanding by 10.6% compared to the -$831.8 million deficit one year earlier in 2022.
Below are exports from Seychelles that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Seychelles’ goods trail its importer spending on foreign products.
- Machinery including computers: -US$118.7 million (Up by 32.7% since 2022)
- Mineral fuels including oil: -$116 million (Up by 0.4%)
- Fish: -$105.2 million (Down by -28.6%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$86.7 million (Up by 11.1%)
- Vehicles: -$73.2 million (Up by 33.8%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$63.3 million (Up by 34.3%)
- Ships, boats: -$44.8 million (Up by 859.5%)
- Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefabricated buildings: -$44.4 million (Up by 117.2%)
- Paper, paper items: -$34 million (Down by -33.4%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$33.4 million (Down by -4.3%)
Seychelles has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the machinery including computers, the mineral fuels-related plus the fish product categories.
International Trade Players in Seychelles
According to Alibaba.com listings, the following companies are examples of companies exporting products from Seychelles.
- Crosby Ltd (metal/plastic scrap, chemical waste, recycled tires)
- East-West Trading & Consulting (alcoholic beverages, dairy, machinery)
- Globarom (cinnamon bark, oils, spices, lemongrass)
- Insite Traders PTY Ltd (wood flooring, shingles, logs)
- NDE Nelson (wood pellets, briquettes)
- Seaweed Seychelles Pty Ltd (seaweed growth/soil conditioning)
- Shakhnar Holding (diamonds, emeralds)
- TChem Limited (sulfur products)
Wikipedia also lists entities from Seychelles that engage in international trade transactions, either directly or by providing financial services.
Selected examples are shown below.
- Air Seychelles (commercial airliner)
- Central Bank of Seychelles (government central bank)
- Seychelles Trading Company Ltd (government importer/wholesaler)
In macroeconomic terms, Seychelles’ total exported goods represent 14% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($3.917 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 14% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2023 compares to 15.7% for 2022. Those percentages indicate a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Seychelles’ total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of economic performance is the unemployment rate. Seychelles’ average unemployment rate was 3% for 2023, same as one year earlier according to Trading Economics metrics.
Seychelles’ capital city is Victoria.
See also Top African Export Countries, South Africa’s Top 10 Exports and Ghana’s Top 10 Exports
Research Sources:
Alibaba, Seychelles Showroom. Accessed on November 22, 2024
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Africa: Seychelles. Accessed on November 22, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on November 22, 2024
Foreign Trade, United States Census Bureau. Accessed on November 22, 2024
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on November 22, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on November 22, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on November 22, 2024
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on November 22, 2024
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Seychelles. Accessed on November 22, 2024
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on November 22, 2024
Wikipedia, Seychelles. Accessed on November 22, 2024