Seychelles - Economic sectors

Economic development in the Seychelles is limited by its geographic isolation, lack of natural resources, and a small population. The country heavily relies on international tourism from European and North American countries. The number of tourists arriving to the Seychelles

Communications
Country	Telephones a	Telephones, Mobile/Cellular a	Radio Stations b	Radios a	TV Stations a	Televisions a	Internet Service Providers c	Internet Users c
Seychelles	19,635	16,316 (1999)	AM 1; FM 2;shortwave 2	42,000	2	11,000	1	5,000
United States	194 M	69.209 M (1998)	AM 4,762; FM 5,542;shortwave 18	575 M	1,500	219 M	7,800	148 M
South Africa	5.075 M (1999)	2 M (1999)	AM 14; FM 347;shortwave 1	13.75 M	556	5.2 M	44	1.82 M
Mauritius	223,000	37,000	AM 5; FM 9;shortwave 2	420,000	2	258,000	2	55,000
a Data is for 1997 unless otherwise noted.
b Data is for 1998 unless otherwise noted.
c Data is for 2000 unless otherwise noted.
SOURCE: CIA World Factbook 2001 [Online].

rose steadily from the 1970s until the middle of the 1990s, and declined slightly afterwards. While employment in tourism-related industries dominates private sector employment, the largest single employer is the government, which employed 9,989 people, or 32 percent of the labor force , in 1999.

Manufacturing, which in 1999 accounted for 28.8 percent of total GDP according to Seychelles in Figures 2000 , is the fastest-growing sector of the national economy, with an average annual growth rate of 4.8 percent between 1979 and 1989, while services were growing at an average annual rate of 2.8 percent. Services accounted for 68 percent of GDP in 1999, however, and employed 57 percent of the population in 1998. During the 1990s, the agricultural sector experienced a gradual decline and by 1999 contributed only 3.2 percent of GDP. Large investments into expansion of the manufacturing and other sectors led to considerable balance-of-payment deficits and foreign-exchange shortages.