Economy - overview Since independence in 1976, per capita output in this Indian Ocean archipelagohas grown to roughly seven times the old near-subsistence level, led by thetourist sector, which employs about 30% of the labor force and provides morethan 70% of hard currency earnings. In recent years the government has encouragedforeign investment in order to upgrade hotels and other services. At the sametime, the government has moved to reduce the dependence on tourism by promotingthe development of farming, fishing, and small-scale manufacturing. The vulnerabilityof the tourist sector was illustrated by the sharp drop in 1991-92 due largelyto the Gulf war. Although the industry has rebounded, the government recognizesthe continuing need for upgrading the sector in the face of stiff internationalcompetition.

GDP purchasing power parity - $450 million (1995 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 1.1% (1995 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $6,000 (1995 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture : 3.6%
industry: 15%
services: 81.4% (1994)

Inflation rate - consumer price index -0.3% (1995 est.)

Labor force
total: 26,000 (1996)
by occupation: industry and commerce 31%, services 21%, government 20%, agriculture,forestry, and fishing 12%, other 16% (1985)

Unemployment rate NA%

Budget
revenues: $220 million
expenditures: $241 million, including capital expenditures of $36 million (1994 est.)

Industries tourism; fishing; processing of coconuts and vanilla, coir (coconutfiber) rope, boat building, printing, furniture; beverages

Industrial production growth rate 4% (1992)

Electricity - capacity 33,000 kW (1995)

Electricity - production 110 million kWh (1992)

Electricity - consumption per capita 1,582 kWh (1992 est.)

Agriculture - products coconuts, cinnamon, vanilla, sweet potatoes, cassava (tapioca), bananas;broiler chickens; tuna fishing (expansion under way)

Exports
total value: $56.1 million ( f.o.b. 1995)
commodities: fish, cinnamon bark, copra, petroleum products (re-exports)
partners : France, UK, China, Germany, Japan (1993)

Imports
total value: $238 million (c.i.f., 1995)
commodities: manufactured goods, food, petroleum products, tobacco, beverages, machineryand transportation equipment
partners: China, Singapore, South Africa, UK (1993)

Debt - external $170 million (1994 est.)

Economic aid
recipient: ODA, $NA

Currency 1 Seychelles rupee (SRe) = 100 cents

Exchange rates Seychelles rupees (SRe) per US$1 - 4.9968 (January 1997), 4.9700 (1996),4.7620 (1995), 5.0559 (1994), 5.1815 (1993), 5.1220 (1992)

Fiscal year calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Seychelles on this page is re-published from the 1997 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Seychelles Economy 1997 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Seychelles Economy 1997 should be addressed to the CIA.