That dollar amount results from a -33.5% decline from $864.8 million in 2021, but a 41.3% acceleration compared to $407.2 million during 2018.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2021, Seychelles’ legal currency is the Seychellois rupee which depreciated by -2.6% against the US dollar since 2018 but appreciated by 15.6% from 2021 to 2022. Seychelles’ weaker local currency compared to 2018 makes its exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers.
Seychelles’ top 3 most valuable exported products are preserved or prepared fish including caviar, frozen whole fish, and pleasure or sports vessels including yachts. Collectively, that triad of major exports represents 89.1% of the overall value of goods exported from Seychelles during 2022. Such a high percentage indicates Seychelles’ intensely concentrated portfolio of export goods.
Seychelles’ Major Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 92.8% of products exported from Seychelles were bought by importers in: United Arab Emirates (36.2% of the global total), France (28.3%), United Kingdom (10.9%), Italy (6.1%), Bahamas (3.6%), Germany (2.4%), Spain (1.2%), Hong Kong (1.01%), Netherlands (1%), Romania (0.84%), Ivory Coast (0.77%) and the United States of America (0.6%).
From a continental perspective, 52.9% of Seychelles’ exports by value was delivered to buyers in European countries while 39.8% was sold to Asian importers. Seychelles shipped another 3.6% worth of goods to Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean.
Smaller percentages went to customers in Africa (2.6%), North America (0.8%), and Oceania’s Australia (0.3%).
Given Seychelles’ population of 107,118 people, its total $575.5 million in 2022 exports translates to roughly $5,400 for every resident in the East African archipelago. That dollar metric falls below the average $7,100 per capita one year earlier during 2021.
Seychelles Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in global shipments from Seychelles during 2022. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Seychelles.
- Meat/seafood preparations: US$285.4 million (49.6% of total exports)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $195.9 million (34%)
- Ships, boats: $36.4 million (6.3%)
- Fish: $25.8 million (4.5%)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: $9.9 million (1.7%)
- Food industry waste, animal fodder: $6.7 million (1.2%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $2.4 million (0.4%)
- Beverages, spirits, vinegar: $1.7 million (0.3%)
- Articles of iron or steel: $1.44 million (0.2%)
- Iron, steel: $1.4 million (0.2%)
Seychelles ’s top 10 exports accounted for 98.5% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Aircraft and spacecraft was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 2,050% since 2021.
In second place for improving export sales was the mineral fuels including oil, which rose by 116.5% led by refined petroleum oils.
Seychelles ‘s shipments of beverages, spirits and vinegar posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 107.2%.
The leading decliner among Seychelles ‘s top 10 export categories was animal or vegetable fats, oils and waxes, dragged down by a -45.4% reduction compared to 2021.
At the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, preserved or prepared fish including caviar represent Seychelles’ most valuable exported product at 49.6% of the country’s overall total. In second place were processed petroleum oils (34%) trailed by pleasure or sports vessels including yachts (5.5%), frozen whole fish (2.6%), aircraft and spacecraft (1.4%), inedible meat flour (1.2%), fresh whole fish (0.9%), aquatic invertebrates (0.8%), cruise and cargo ships (0.4%), then rafts and other floating structures (also 0.4%).
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$276.2 million (Up by 17.8% since 2021)
- Other base metals: $42,000 (Down by -66.4%)
- Live animals: $13,000 (Down by -98.8%)
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$831.8 million product trade deficit for 2022, expanding by 4.9% compared to the -$792.9 million deficit one year earlier in 2021.
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.
- Fish: -US$147.4 million (Up by 27.6%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: -$115.5 million (Down by -23.8%)
- Machinery including computers: -$89.5 million (Up by 14.9%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$78.1 million (Up by 30.1%)
- Vehicles: -$54.7 million (Up by 111%)
- Paper, paper items: -$51.1 million (Up by 235.3%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$47.1 million (Down by -11.8%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$34.9 million (Up by 36.9%)
- Meat: -$30.7 million (Up by 36.2%)
- Dairy, eggs, honey: -$27.9 million (Up by 19.2%)
Seychelles has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the fish and mineral fuels-related 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 15.7% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2022 ($3.669 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 15.7% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2022 compares to 22.2% for 2021. 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 2022, same as one year earlier according to Trading Economics.
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 October 8, 2023
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Africa: Seychelles. Accessed on October 8, 2023
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on October 8, 2023
Foreign Trade, United States Census Bureau. Accessed on October 8, 2023
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on October 8, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on October 8, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on October 8, 2023
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on October 8, 2023
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Seychelles. Accessed on October 8, 2023
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on October 8, 2023
Wikipedia, Seychelles. Accessed on October 8, 2023