Demographics of Seychelles

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Seychelles, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

About 90% of the Seychellois people live on the island of Mahé. Most of the rest live on Praslin and La Digue, with the remaining smaller islands either sparsely populated or uninhabited.

Most Seychellois are descendants of early French settlers and East Africans who arrived in the 19th century. Tamils, along with other South Indians and Chinese (1.1% of the population) account for the other permanent inhabitants. About 1,703 (2000) expatriates live and work in Seychelles.

Seychelles culture is a mixture of French and African (Creole) influences. The local Seychellois Creole (Kreol), a creole language derived from French and African tongues, is the native language of 91.8% of the people; but English and French are also commonly used. English remains the language of government and commerce.

About 91.9% of the adult population is literate, and the literacy rate of school-aged children has risen to well over 98%. Increases are expected, as nearly all children of primary school age attend school, and the government encourages adult education.

Vital statistics

Demographics of Seychelles, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands.

	Population (in thousands)	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	TFR
1950	36	1 061	418	643	29.5	11.6	17.9
1951	34	1 033	425	608	30.4	12.5	17.9
1952	36	1 037	456	581	28.8	12.7	16.1
1953	37	1 169	438	731	31.6	11.8	19.8
1954	37	1 209	457	752	32.7	12.4	20.3
1955	39	1 303	456	847	33.4	11.7	21.7
1956	38	1 458	468	990	38.4	12.3	26.1
1957	38	1 534	424	1 110	40.4	11.2	29.2
1958	39	1 553	450	1 103	39.8	11.5	28.3
1959	40	1 595	421	1 174	39.9	10.5	29.4
1960	42	1 714	450	1 264	40.8	10.7	30.1
1961	43	1 775	574	1 201	41.3	13.3	27.9
1962	44	1 733	504	1 229	39.4	11.5	27.9
1963	45	1 855	513	1 342	41.2	11.4	29.8
1964	46	1 867	485	1 382	40.6	10.5	30.0
1965	47	1 772	563	1 209	37.7	12.0	25.7
1966	47	1 895	515	1 380	40.3	11.0	29.4
1967	48	1 827	536	1 291	38.1	11.2	26.9
1968	49	1 738	538	1 200	35.5	11.0	24.5
1969	51	1 715	561	1 154	33.6	11.0	22.6
1970	52	1 660	437	1 223	31.9	8.4	23.5
1971	53	1 837	464	1 373	34.7	8.8	25.9
1972	55	1 723	529	1 194	31.3	9.6	21.7
1973	56	1 639	475	1 164	29.3	8.5	20.8
1974	57	1 860	497	1 363	32.6	8.7	23.9
1975	59	1 806	433	1 373	30.6	7.3	23.3
1976	61	1 642	466	1 176	26.9	7.6	19.3
1977	62	1 599	477	1 122	25.8	7.7	18.1
1978	62	1 796	466	1 330	29.0	7.5	21.5
1979	63	1 730	438	1 292	27.5	7.0	20.5
1980	63	1 830	444	1 386	29.0	7.0	22.0
1981	64	1 802	442	1 360	28.2	6.9	21.3
1982	64	1 552	482	1 070	24.3	7.5	16.7
1983	64	1 662	452	1 210	25.8	7.0	18.8
1984	65	1 739	488	1 251	26.9	7.6	19.4
1985	65	1 729	468	1 261	26.5	7.2	19.3
1986	66	1 722	498	1 224	26.2	7.6	18.6
1987	66	1 684	505	1 179	25.4	7.6	17.8
1988	67	1 643	504	1 139	24.7	7.6	17.1
1989	69	1 600	563	1 037	23.2	8.2	15.0
1990	70	1 617	543	1 074	23.3	7.8	15.5
1991	71	1 708	545	1 163	24.2	7.7	16.5
1992	71	1 603	522	1 081	22.7	7.4	15.3
1993	72	1 689	597	1 092	23.4	8.3	15.1
1994	74	1 700	550	1 150	23.0	7.5	15.6
1995	75	1 582	525	1 057	21.0	7.0	14.0
1996	76	1 611	566	1 045	21.1	7.4	13.7
1997	77	1 475	603	872	19.1	7.8	11.3
1998	79	1 412	570	842	17.9	7.2	10.7
1999	80	1 460	560	900	18.2	7.0	11.2
2000	81	1 512	553	959	18.6	6.8	11.8
2001	81	1 440	554	886	17.7	6.8	10.9
2002	84	1 481	647	834	17.7	7.7	10.0
2003	83	1 498	668	830	18.1	8.1	10.0
2004	83	1 435	611	824	17.3	7.4	9.9
2005	84	1 536	673	863	18.3	8.0	10.3
2006	85	1 467	664	803	17.3	7.8	9.4
2007	86	1 499	630	869	17.4	7.3	10.1
2008	87	1 546	662	884	17.8	7.6	10.2
2009	87	1 580	684	896	18.1	7.8	10.3	2.38
2010	87	1 504	664	840	16.8	7.4	9.4	2.17
2011	88	1 625	691	934	18.6	7.9	10.7	2.33
2012	89	1 645	651	994	18.6	7.4	11.3	2.37
2013	92	1 566	717	849	17.4	8.0	9.4	2.26
2014	92	1 557	725	832	17.0	7.9	9.1	2.25
2015	93	1 592	703	889	17.0	7.5	9.5	2.31
2016	95	1 645	747	898	17.4	7.9	9.5	2.39
2017	96	1 651	748	903	17.2	7.8	9.4	2.41
2018	97	1 650	818	832	17.1	8.4	8.7	2.41
2019	98	1 605	795	810	16.4	8.1	8.3	2.34

Structure of the population

Structure of the population (2013 estimates):

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	44 735	45 214	89 949	100
0-4	3 777	3 631	7 408	8,24
5-9	3 179	3 215	6 394	7,11
10-14	3 131	2 952	6 083	6,76
15-19	3 411	3 187	6 598	7,34
20-24	3 393	2 844	6 237	6,93
25-29	3 609	3 473	7 082	7,87
30-34	3 751	3 681	7 432	8,26
35-39	3 529	3 693	7 222	8,03
40-44	3 656	3 536	7 192	8,00
45-49	3 371	3 628	6 999	7,78
50-54	3 162	3 153	6 315	7,02
55-59	2 473	2 351	4 824	5,36
60-64	1 459	1 604	3 063	3,41
65-69	1 106	1 193	2 299	2,56
70-74	789	999	1 788	1,99
75-79	468	890	1 358	1,51
80-84	286	634	920	1,02
85-89	141	349	490	0,54
90-94	37	152	189	0,21
95-99	6	44	50	0,06
100+	1	5	6	0,01

Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0-14	10 087	9 798	19 885	22,11
15-64	31 814	31 150	62 964	70,00
65+	2 834	4 266	7 100	7,89

Other demographic statistics

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2019.

• One birth every 360 minutes
• One death every 720 minutes
• One net migrant every 1440 minutes
• Net gain of one person every 1440 minutes

The following demographic are from the CIA World Factbook unless otherwise indicated.

Population

94,633 (July 2018 est.)

81 534 July 2005 est.)

Age structure

Population pyramid of Seychelles in 2017

0-14 years: 19.52% (male 9,482 /female 8,989)

15-24 years: 12.96% (male 6,461 /female 5,806)

25-54 years: 49.29% (male 24,841 /female 21,800)

55-64 years: 10.44% (male 5,008 /female 4,870)

65 years and over: 7.79% (male 2,974 /female 4,402) (2018 est.)

0–14 years: 26.4% (male 10,839; female 10,601)

15–64 years: 67.4% (male 26,709; female 28,025)

65 years and over: 6.2% (male 1,622; female 3,392) (2005 est.)

Median age

total: 35.8 years. Country comparison to the world: 76th

male: 35.3 years

female: 36.5 years (2018 est.)

Birth rate

13.4 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 142nd

Death rate

7 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 130th

Total fertility rate

1.85 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 144th

1.75 children born/woman (2005 est.)

Population growth rate

0.74% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 136th

0.789098% (2005 est.)

Demographics profile

Seychelles has no indigenous population and was first permanently settled by a small group of French planters, African slaves, and South Indians in 1770. Seychelles’ modern population is composed of the descendants of French and later British settlers, Africans, and Indian, Chinese, and Middle Eastern traders and is concentrated on three of its 155 islands – the vast majority on Mahe and lesser numbers on Praslin and La Digue. Seychelles’ population grew rapidly during the second half of the 20th century, largely due to natural increase, but the pace has slowed because of fertility decline. The total fertility rate dropped sharply from 4.0 children per woman in 1980 to 1.9 in 2015, mainly as a result of a family planning program, free education and health care, and increased female labor force participation. Life expectancy has increased steadily, but women on average live 9 years longer than men, a difference that is higher than that typical of developed countries.

The combination of reduced fertility and increased longevity has resulted in an aging population, which will put pressure on the government’s provision of pensions and health care. Seychelles’ sustained investment in social welfare services, such as free primary health care and education up to the post-secondary level, have enabled the country to achieve a high human development index score – among the highest in Africa. Despite some of its health and education indicators being nearly on par with Western countries, Seychelles has a high level of income inequality.

Net migration rate

1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 61st

Dependency ratios

total dependency ratio: 42.8 (2015 est.)

youth dependency ratio: 31 (2015 est.)

elderly dependency ratio: 11.7 (2015 est.)

potential support ratio: 8.5 (2015 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 56.7% of total population (2018)

rate of urbanization: 1.26% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 75.2 years

male: 70.7 years

female: 79.8 years (2018 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.48 male(s)/female
total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Nationality

noun: Seychellois (singular and plural), adjective: Seychelles

Ethnic groups

predominantly creole (mainly of East African and Malagasy heritage); also French, Indian, Chinese, and Arab populations

Religions

Roman Catholic (76.2%), Protestant (10.5%) (Anglican (6.1%), Pentecoastal Assembly (1.5%), Seventh-Day Adventist (1.2%), other Protestant (1.6)), other Christian (2.4%), Hindu (2.4%), Islam (1.6%), other non-Christian (1.1%), unspecified (4.8%), none (0.9%) (2010 est.)

Languages

Seychellois Creole (official) 89.1%, English (official) 5.1%, French (official) 0.7%, Other 3.8%, Unspecified 1.4% (2010 est.)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 91.8%

male: 91.4%

female: 92.3% (2012 est.)

total population: 91.9%

male: 91.4%

female: 92.3% (2003 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 16 years

male: 15 years

female: 16 years (2016)

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24

total: 14%

male: 12.1%

female: 16.2% (2015 est.)

Census

The Seychelles census has now been postponed by one year, from August 2020 to August 2021. Field mapping, questionnaire design, and pretest of data collection tools using tablets, are all proceeding.