01Key Takeaways
- Seychelles imported $1.47 billion worth of goods in 2023, down 30.7% from $2.12 billion in 2022, the most recent year with verified trade data available in this dataset.
- Mineral fuels led import categories at 21.1% ($310.09 million), by far the largest single category.
- The United Arab Emirates supplied 34.4% of imports ($505.50 million), by far the largest single partner.
- Spain ranked second among partners at 9.0% ($132.68 million).
025-Year Trend
| Year | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $1.4B | $2.0B | $1.8B | $2.1B | $1.5B |
03Top Import Markets (2023)
| Rank | Partner | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Arab Emirates | $505.5M | 34.4% |
| 2 | Spain | $132.7M | 9.0% |
| 3 | France | $106.6M | 7.3% |
| 4 | South Africa | $98.3M | 6.7% |
| 5 | India | $94.3M | 6.4% |
| 6 | China | $61.1M | 4.2% |
| 7 | Singapore | $45.3M | 3.1% |
| 8 | United Kingdom | $44.2M | 3.0% |
| 9 | Mauritius | $44.2M | 3.0% |
| 10 | Italy | $32.1M | 2.2% |
04Top Import Categories (2023)
| Rank | Category | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mineral Fuels, Mineral Oils and Products of their Distillation; Bituminous Substances; Mineral Waxes | $310.1M | 21.1% |
| 2 | Fish and Crustaceans, Molluscs and other Aquatic Invertebrates | $134.8M | 9.2% |
| 3 | Nuclear Reactors, Boilers, Machinery and Mechanical Appliances; Parts thereof | $122.9M | 8.4% |
| 4 | Electrical Machinery and Equipment and parts thereof; Sound Recorders and Reproducers, Television Image and Sound Recorders and Reproducers, and Parts and Accessories of such Articles | $87.3M | 5.9% |
| 5 | Vehicles other than Railway or Tramway Rolling-Stock, and parts and accessories thereof | $73.5M | 5.0% |
| 6 | Articles of Iron or Steel | $65.0M | 4.4% |
| 7 | Ships, Boats and Floating Structures | $46.2M | 3.1% |
| 8 | Furniture; Bedding, Mattresses, Mattress Supports, Cushions and similar Stuffed Furnishings; Lamps and Lighting Fittings, not elsewhere specified or included; Illuminated Signs, Illuminated Name-plates and the like; Prefabricated Buildings | $44.5M | 3.0% |
| 9 | Paper and Paperboard; Articles of Paper Pulp, of Paper or of Paperboard | $34.1M | 2.3% |
| 10 | Plastics and Articles thereof | $33.8M | 2.3% |
05Trade Partner Map
06Analysis
Import Value Fell Sharply After Peaking in 2022
Seychelles imported $1.47 billion worth of goods in 2023, down 30.7% from $2.12 billion in 2022. This is the most recent year with verified trade data available in this dataset. The dataset covers a full five years, from 2019 through 2023 inclusive.
Import value moved unevenly across those years. It stood at $1.44 billion in 2019, jumped to $2.04 billion in 2020, then eased to $1.85 billion in 2021, before climbing back to $2.12 billion in 2022, the highest point in this five-year window. It then fell back sharply to $1.47 billion in 2023, close to where it stood at the very start of this five-year window.
On the export side of trade for this country, value has fallen for three straight years since 2020. Import value followed a choppier path, rising and falling from year to year rather than declining steadily. This dataset does not include information explaining either pattern. The 30.7% drop between 2022 and 2023 is a substantial single-year move for an economy of this size, where a handful of large shipments can shift the total meaningfully from one year to the next.
Fuel Leads a List Spanning Energy, Food and Machinery
Mineral fuels and related products led every import category in 2023. They were worth $310.09 million, or 21.1% of the total, far ahead of every other category. SEYPEC, the sole importer and distributor of petroleum in Seychelles, supplies bunker fuel to ships and aircraft calling at Port Victoria. That business is consistent with fuel's leading position on this list and with the United Arab Emirates' position as the top import partner, covered below. Fish and crustaceans in unprocessed form followed at 9.2% ($134.81 million), a category that likely supplies the canning industry covered in the companion export data for this country.
Machinery, boilers and mechanical appliances contributed a further 8.4% ($122.92 million). Electrical machinery and equipment added 5.9% ($87.33 million), and together the two categories form a meaningful share of the overall total. Vehicles contributed 5.0% ($73.51 million), and iron or steel articles added 4.4% ($64.98 million). Ships, boats and floating structures contributed 3.1% ($46.22 million), and furniture added 3.0% ($44.46 million). Paper and paperboard contributed 2.3% ($34.05 million), and plastics closed out the top ten at 2.3% ($33.79 million).
Unprocessed fish appearing among Seychelles' leading import categories, alongside processed fish leading its export list, describes an economy that imports raw catch for canning and then exports the finished product, much of it to Europe. Machinery, vehicles and electrical equipment further down this list point to a broader need for imported capital goods and consumer products, on top of the fuel and fish that dominate the top of the list.
The UAE Supplies More Than a Third of All Imports
The United Arab Emirates supplied 34.4% of Seychelles' imports in 2023, worth $505.50 million, by far the largest single partner. Spain ranked second at 9.0% ($132.68 million), and France followed at 7.3% ($106.61 million). Together, these top three suppliers made up 50.7% of total import value, meaning just three of the ten listed partners account for more than half of everything Seychelles buys from abroad.
South Africa contributed 6.7% ($98.35 million), and India added 6.4% ($94.28 million). China contributed 4.2% ($61.14 million), and Singapore added 3.1% ($45.30 million). United Kingdom contributed 3.0% ($44.25 million), and Mauritius added 3.0% ($44.15 million). Italy closed out the top ten at 2.2% ($32.07 million).
The UAE's 34.4% share of imports here closely matches its 35.9% share of exports, covered in the companion export data for this country, where it was also the top partner. That symmetry, a single country dominating both sides of trade at almost identical shares, is one of the more distinctive features of this dataset's coverage of Seychelles. It lines up with fuel's leading position on both the import and export category lists.
Taken together, this dataset's most recent confirmed year describes a small economy importing fuel, raw fish and machinery primarily from the UAE, with Spain, France and a handful of other countries filling out a comparatively modest remainder. The UAE's matching role on both sides of Seychelles' trade sets this country apart from most others covered in this series, where import and export partner lists usually look quite different from each other. Here, the same country tops both lists at almost the same share, a pairing this dataset does not explain but that lines up closely with the fuel trade described above.