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African economies
Seychelles · Economy

Seychelles economy: GDP, investment, trade and remittances

How large the Seychelles economy is and how fast it is growing, who invests in it, what it sells and buys, how much its citizens abroad send home, who it owes and what it holds in reserve. The latest published year is shown with each figure.

GDP
US$2.4 billion
current US$, 2025
Real GDP growth
5.8%
2025
GDP per person
US$19,449
current US$, 2025
Exports of goods
US$587 million
2025
Remittances received
US$13 million
2025, 0.5% of GDP
Foreign direct investment, net inflows
US$239 million
2025, 10.0% of GDP

Seychelles economy snapshot: GDP, growth and income per person

Seychelles's GDP was US$2.4 billion in 2025, after real growth of 5.8%.

GDP

Current US dollars.

01.0bn2.0bn3.0bn201520172019202120232025GDP 2015: US$1.4 billionGDP 2016: US$1.6 billionGDP 2017: US$1.7 billionGDP 2018: US$1.8 billionGDP 2019: US$1.9 billionGDP 2020: US$1.4 billionGDP 2021: US$1.5 billionGDP 2022: US$2.0 billionGDP 2023: US$2.2 billionGDP 2024: US$2.2 billionGDP 2025: US$2.4 billion

Real GDP growth

Annual change, per cent. Red bars are contractions.

-20%-10%0%10%20%201520172019202120232025Real GDP growth 2015: 8.9%Real GDP growth 2016: 12.1%Real GDP growth 2017: 7.0%Real GDP growth 2018: 4.9%Real GDP growth 2019: 5.5%Real GDP growth 2020: -11.7%Real GDP growth 2021: 0.6%Real GDP growth 2022: 9.9%Real GDP growth 2023: 5.2%Real GDP growth 2024: 3.3%Real GDP growth 2025: 5.8%

GDP per person

Current US dollars.

05k10k15k20k201520172019202120232025GDP per person 2015: US$15,333GDP per person 2016: US$16,567GDP per person 2017: US$17,480GDP per person 2018: US$18,440GDP per person 2019: US$19,142GDP per person 2020: US$14,041GDP per person 2021: US$14,983GDP per person 2022: US$16,683GDP per person 2023: US$18,131GDP per person 2024: US$18,365GDP per person 2025: US$19,449

Source: World Bank, 2025. Method

Who invests in Seychelles and in what

Direct investment by investing country

Mauritius was the largest investing country in Seychelles, at 19% of inward direct investment positions in 2024.

Inward direct investment positions in Seychelles at the end of 2024: the stock of foreign direct investment, not a year's new flow. The 10 largest investing countries.

MauritiusUS$903 million19.3%
United Arab EmiratesUS$743 million15.9%
ChinaUS$454 million9.7%
IndonesiaUS$433 million9.2%
ThailandUS$293 million6.2%
BrazilUS$266 million5.7%
South AfricaUS$254 million5.4%
FranceUS$86 million1.8%
BulgariaUS$81 million1.7%
LuxembourgUS$49 million1.1%

Source: IMF, 2024. Method

What Seychelles sells and buys

Meat and fish preparations was 43% of exports in 2025.

Seychelles sold the most to United Arab Emirates, 32% of exports in 2025.

Exports by product, 2025

Tile area follows value. Each tile is a customs chapter of the Harmonized System; hover for the full name.

Meat, fish, crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates, or insects: US$251 million, 42.7%Meat and fish preparations43%Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation: US$175 million, 29.8%Mineral fuels and oils30%Fish and crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates: US$108 million, 18.4%Fish and seafood18%Ships, boats and floating structures: US$14 million, 2.3%Food industries, residues and wastes thereof: US$9.9 million, 1.7%Aluminium and articles thereof: US$7.7 million, 1.3%Machinery and mechanical appliances, boilers, nuclear reactors: US$7.4 million, 1.3%Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products: US$2.5 million, 0.4%Iron and steel: US$1.5 million, 0.2%Aircraft, spacecraft, and parts thereof: US$1.2 million, 0.2%Meat and edible meat offal: US$1.1 million, 0.2%Pharmaceutical products: US$1.1 million, 0.2%All other chapters: US$7.0 million, 1.2%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2025. Method

Top buyers, 2025

Share of Seychelles's exports.

United Arab EmiratesUS$188 million32.0%
FranceUS$92 million15.7%
GermanyUS$52 million8.9%
United KingdomUS$45 million7.7%
ItalyUS$41 million7.1%
SpainUS$24 million4.1%
ThailandUS$17 million2.9%
NetherlandsUS$16 million2.8%
MauritiusUS$14 million2.5%
Côte d'IvoireUS$14 million2.3%

Top suppliers, 2025

Share of Seychelles's imports.

United Arab EmiratesUS$488 million31.5%
SpainUS$130 million8.4%
Marshall IsdsUS$122 million7.9%
South AfricaUS$98 million6.3%
ChinaUS$90 million5.8%
IndiaUS$89 million5.8%
FranceUS$88 million5.7%
ThailandUS$56 million3.6%
United KingdomUS$41 million2.6%
MauritiusUS$39 million2.5%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2025. Method

What Seychelles buys, 2025

The 8 largest product chapters in imports.

Mineral fuels and oilsUS$311 million20.1%
Ships and boatsUS$152 million9.9%
Fish and seafoodUS$141 million9.1%
Machinery and mechanical appliancesUS$116 million7.5%
Electrical machinery and equipmentUS$86 million5.6%
VehiclesUS$76 million4.9%
Iron or steel articlesUS$52 million3.3%
BeveragesUS$45 million2.9%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2025. Method

Trade balance of goods

Exports minus imports. Red bars are years when imports were larger. A year is left out when either side is not published.

-2.0bn-1.5bn-1.0bn-500m0201520172019202120232025Trade balance 2015: -US$501 million (exports US$476 million, imports US$977 million)Trade balance 2016: -US$1.0 billion (exports US$484 million, imports US$1.5 billion)Trade balance 2017: -US$292 million (exports US$3.2 billion, imports US$3.5 billion)Trade balance 2018: -US$895 million (exports US$850 million, imports US$1.7 billion)Trade balance 2019: -US$614 million (exports US$824 million, imports US$1.4 billion)Trade balance 2020: -US$1.1 billion (exports US$961 million, imports US$2.0 billion)Trade balance 2021: -US$1.2 billion (exports US$634 million, imports US$1.8 billion)Trade balance 2022: -US$1.5 billion (exports US$605 million, imports US$2.1 billion)Trade balance 2023: -US$920 million (exports US$548 million, imports US$1.5 billion)Trade balance 2024: -US$913 million (exports US$595 million, imports US$1.5 billion)Trade balance 2025: -US$960 million (exports US$587 million, imports US$1.5 billion)

Source: UN Comtrade, 2025. Method

Remittances against foreign direct investment in Seychelles

Foreign direct investment in Seychelles was 19.1 times remittances in 2025.

Remittances receivedForeign direct investment, net inflows
0100m200m300m400m201520172019202120232025Remittances 2015: US$18 millionRemittances 2016: US$22 millionRemittances 2017: US$22 millionRemittances 2018: US$23 millionRemittances 2019: US$24 millionRemittances 2020: US$10.0 millionRemittances 2021: US$9.5 millionRemittances 2022: US$11 millionRemittances 2023: US$11 millionRemittances 2024: US$12 millionRemittances 2025: US$13 millionForeign direct investment 2015: US$106 millionForeign direct investment 2016: US$68 millionForeign direct investment 2017: US$197 millionForeign direct investment 2018: US$305 millionForeign direct investment 2019: US$257 millionForeign direct investment 2020: US$80 millionForeign direct investment 2021: US$112 millionForeign direct investment 2022: US$190 millionForeign direct investment 2023: US$240 millionForeign direct investment 2024: US$226 millionForeign direct investment 2025: US$239 million

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Remittances and investment as a share of GDP

The same two flows measured against the size of the economy.

Remittances, share of GDPForeign direct investment, share of GDP
0%5%10%15%20%201520172019202120232025Remittances 2015: 1.3%Remittances 2016: 1.4%Remittances 2017: 1.3%Remittances 2018: 1.3%Remittances 2019: 1.3%Remittances 2020: 0.7%Remittances 2021: 0.6%Remittances 2022: 0.5%Remittances 2023: 0.5%Remittances 2024: 0.5%Remittances 2025: 0.5%Foreign direct investment 2015: 7.4%Foreign direct investment 2016: 4.4%Foreign direct investment 2017: 11.8%Foreign direct investment 2018: 17.1%Foreign direct investment 2019: 13.8%Foreign direct investment 2020: 5.8%Foreign direct investment 2021: 7.5%Foreign direct investment 2022: 9.5%Foreign direct investment 2023: 11.0%Foreign direct investment 2024: 10.1%Foreign direct investment 2025: 10.0%

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Who Seychelles owes

External debt stock by type of creditor. Creditor types cover public and publicly guaranteed debt; the grey part is the rest of the total external debt stock. A creditor type with no published figure is not shown.

No external debt by creditor figures for Seychelles are not published by the World Bank, so none are shown.

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Reserves and months of import cover

Total reserves including gold, and how many months of imports they cover.

Reserves, US$Months of imports
0200m400m600m800m024620152017201920212023Reserves 2015: US$536 millionReserves 2016: US$524 millionReserves 2017: US$545 millionReserves 2018: US$550 millionReserves 2019: US$581 millionReserves 2020: US$560 millionReserves 2021: US$703 millionReserves 2022: US$639 millionReserves 2023: US$683 millionReserves 2024: US$774 millionMonths of imports 2015: 4.2 monthsMonths of imports 2016: 3.7 monthsMonths of imports 2017: 3.3 monthsMonths of imports 2018: 3.0 monthsMonths of imports 2019: 3.2 monthsMonths of imports 2020: 4.8 monthsMonths of imports 2021: 4.4 monthsMonths of imports 2022: 3.2 monthsMonths of imports 2023: 3.2 monthsMonths of imports 2024: 3.7 months

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Aid received by Seychelles

Net official development assistance and official aid received.

05m10m15m20m201520162017Aid received 2015: US$6.8 millionAid received 2016: US$5.8 millionAid received 2017: US$16 million

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

More on Seychelles

World Bank data pages for Seychelles: GDP, GDP growth, GDP per person, remittances, foreign direct investment, reserves, months of imports, external debt, debt by creditor, aid. UN Comtrade: trade data. IMF: direct investment positions.