The economy of Seychelles is based on fishing, tourism, processing of coconuts and vanilla, coir rope, boat building, printing, furniture and beverages.

[citation needed] The French originally settled the Seychelles in 1770, setting up plantations which relied heavily on slave labour to produce cotton, sugar, rice, and maize.

[citation needed] Growth has been led by the tourist sector, which employs about 30% of the labor force and provides more than 70% of hard currency earnings, followed by tuna fishing.

[citation needed] At the same time, the government has moved to reduce the dependence on tourism by promoting the development of farming, fishing, small-scale manufacturing and most recently the offshore sector.

[citation needed] Despite attempts to improve its agricultural base and emphasize locally manufactured products and indigenous materials, Seychelles imports 90% of the food it consumes.

[citation needed] In an effort to increase agricultural self-sufficiency, Seychelles has undertaken steps to make the sector more productive and to provide incentives to farmers.

Much of the state holdings in the agricultural sector have been privatized, while the role of the government has been reduced to conducting research and providing infrastructure.

Earnings are growing annually from licensing fees paid by foreign trawlers fishing in Seychelles' territorial waters.

[citation needed] The next few years were also slow due to the worldwide economic downturn and the fear of flying brought on by the terrorism on 11 September 2001.

[citation needed] The increased availability of flights to and from the archipelago due in part to new entrants Emirates and Qatar airlines is also beginning to show.

Both at official exchange rates and at purchasing power parity (PPP), Seychelles remains the richest territory in Africa in terms of GDP per capita (US$9,440.095 at real exchange rates and US$17,560.062 at PPP 2008 estimate),[12] Because of economic contraction (the economy declined by about 2% in 2004 and 2005 and lost another 1.4% in 2006 according to the International Monetary Fund) the country was moving downwards in terms of per capita income.

However, the economy bounced back in 2007, growing by 5.3% due in part to record tourism numbers and the booming building and offshore industries.

The rescue package came with a few stipulations; The country laid off 1,800 government workers, floated its currency, lifted foreign exchange controls and sold off state assets.

When the Seychellois rupee became freely floated on 3 November 2008, its value quickly fell drastically, decreasing from eight per U.S. dollar to 16, effectively doubled the prices of imports.

[16] The global recession and piracy in the Indian Ocean hit Seychelles hard in 2009, with the GDP projected to contract by 7.5 percent.

The head of the mission, Mr. Jean Le Dem, said at the conclusion of the visit:[18]The economy is recovering from a recession that put real gross domestic product (GDP) to almost a stand in 2009.

Twelve-month inflation, which was negative during the past few months, is expected to return to about 1 percent by year-end In 2017 the Seychelles joined the World Trade Organisation, facilitated by Omani economist Hilda al-Hinai, who chaired the Working Group.

[19] In addition to the now booming tourism and building/real estate markets, Seychelles has renewed its commitment to developing its financial services sector.

New detailed studies and exploration shows that the Seychelles potentially have large off-shore petroleum reservoirs which are yet to be discovered.

Drills have proven the presence of: However, to date all exploratory and stratigraphic test wells (a total of 9 since the 1970s) in the Seychelles have failed to find commercial hydrocarbons.

Agriculture - products: coconuts, cinnamon, vanilla, sweet potatoes, cassava (tapioca), bananas; poultry; tuna Exports: $564.8 million (2017 est.)