The population of Seychelles has increased to 95,843 according to the latest figures published in the twice-yearly bulletin of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). 

The increase represents a growth of 1.2 percent over the population of 2016, which was 94,677.

Therese Gopal, a statistician of NBS, said the population is predicted to reach 100,000 by 2020 based on the 2010 census.

The figures show that the male population is dominant with 48,793 with the female population a 47,050. This is influenced by the male migrant population. Most of the migrant male population is working in the field of construction, manufacturing and services, areas where there is not enough Seychellois interested in pursuing a career.

Despite the increase in the population of the island nation in the western Indian Ocean, Seychelles’ workforce has gone down. The latest figures show that people in the working age which are 20 to 44 years has decreased from 37.4 percent in 2016 to 35.3 percent in 2017.

The decline can be explained by social ills affecting this age group such as substance abuse and dependency on the social welfare assistance offered by the government.

The results of a recent survey to determine Seychelles’ population size of heroin users out of the present population of people aged 15 and over showed that the population of heroin users is around 4,800.

In an interview with SNA, the secretary of state responsible for the prevention of drug abuse and rehabilitation, Patrick Herminie had said that most of the addicts are among the male population in the age of 15 to 50 years.

“At this age, they are supposed to be working. It is not a surprise why we have a lot of foreigners in the country as a large group of our working force is not productive,” Herminie had said.

Seychelles is also facing critical issues with the level of education as many students are not taking learning seriously. The grades for final and international exams continue to deteriorate creating a greater dependency on the higher age group of 45 to 64 years which has increased by 3.1 percent.

The life expectancy has increased for the male from 68.7 in 2016 to 70.3 in 2017. While that of the female has gone down from 80.2 in 2016 to 78.5 in 2017.

Births dropped to 810 for 2017; the figure was 841 for 2016. The majority of births were by mothers between 20 and 29 years with 187 babies born in wedlock, 623 born out of marriage and 505 not acknowledged by their fathers.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in Seychelles, followed by cancer and respiratory diseases. 

Seychelles is an ever-growing attraction for tourists wishing to tie the knot and have their honeymoons on the islands. This is proven by with 2367 foreign weddings and only 454 by locals.

Another census will be carried out in 2020 and Gopal said that NBS is "hoping to have a clearer representation of the population after the next census in 2020.”