Photo: Unknown author · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale
Topic 08 of 18 · Country Index 2026
Seychelles: Gender & Equality
How wide is the gap between women's and men's lives?
Seychelles is placed joint 43rd of 183 countries on gender & equality in the Country Index 2026, from 3 of its 4 key statistics. Readings behind it: Women, Business and the Law 79.38 (2025); Women's Political Empowerment Index 0.908 (2025).
Share
Gender & Equality
joint43rd
of 183 countries placed
Placed from 3 of 4 key statistics
- 79.38Women, Business and the Law, 2025WBL Index (0–100, where 100 is full legal parity)
- 0.908Women's Political Empowerment Index, 2025Women's political empowerment index (0–1)
- 26.31Firms with a Female Top Manager, 2025Firms with a female top manager (%)
- —Social Institutions and Gender Index, 2023No reading for this country
01The evidence
The 4 key statistics that decide it
Only these place Seychelles on gender & equality — one vote each. Every value is the publisher’s own, read at the edition the Country Index 2026 used — or, for a survey-based key, each country’s latest reading; the grey ticks are every other country it was compared with, lowest on the left.
79.38
WBL Index (0–100, where 100 is full legal parity)
Higher is better
Seychelles: 79.38. Across the 190 countries in this edition, values run from 3.125 (Afghanistan) to 100 (Sweden); the world median is 81.25.
- World median
- 81.25
- Best in Eastern Africa
- 91.88 Rwanda
Key 2 of 4
Women's Political Empowerment Index
V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
2025 edition · data for 2025 · CC BY-SA 4.0
0.908
Women's political empowerment index (0–1)
Higher is better
Seychelles: 0.908. Across the 176 countries in this edition, values run from 0.028 (Afghanistan) to 0.954 (Denmark); the world median is 0.772.
- World median
- 0.772
- Best in Eastern Africa
- 0.908 Seychelles
Key 3 of 4
Firms with a Female Top Manager
World Bank Group
Latest reading per country, 2016–2025 · Seychelles’s is from 2023 · CC BY 4.0
26.31
Firms with a female top manager (%)
Higher is better
Seychelles: 26.31. Across the 179 countries at their latest reading, values run from 1.429 (Qatar) to 62.9 (Kiribati); the world median is 19.16.
- World median
- 19.16
- Best in Eastern Africa
- 37.34 Madagascar
Key 4 of 4
Social Institutions and Gender Index
OECD
2023 edition · data for 2023 · OECD Terms and Conditions — data clause
No reading
SIGI score (0 = no discrimination, 100 = absolute)
Lower is better
OECD publishes no 2023 figure for Seychelles, so the standing rests on the other keys.
Across the 140 countries in this edition, values run from 6.7 (Norway) to 67.4 (Mauritania); the world median is 25.2.
- World median
- 25.2
- Best in Eastern Africa
- 19 Rwanda
02Over time
Which way Seychelles is moving
Each key’s published value, edition by edition, beside the world median. The Country Index 2026 is the first edition of the standing, so the standing itself has no history to chart yet.
Women, Business and the Law
WBL Index (0–100, where 100 is full legal parity) · higher is better
SeychellesWorld median
Seychelles rose from 73.75 in 2000 to 79.38 in 2025; the world median went from 63.13 to 81.25.
Every year’s figures
Year Seychelles World median 2025 79 81.3 2023 76 81.3 2022 76 80.3 2021 76 80.0 2020 76 79.7 2019 76 78.8 2018 76 77.5 2017 76 77.5 2016 76 76.9 2015 74 75.9 2014 74 75.6 2013 74 75.0 2012 74 73.8 2011 74 73.1 2010 74 73.1 2009 74 72.5 2008 74 71.3 2007 74 69.7 2006 74 68.8 2005 74 67.2 2004 74 66.9 2003 74 64.7 2002 74 63.8 2001 74 63.8 2000 74 63.1 Women's Political Empowerment Index
Women's political empowerment index (0–1) · higher is better
SeychellesWorld median
Seychelles rose from 0.8 in 2000 to 0.908 in 2025; the world median went from 0.681 to 0.772.
Every year’s figures
Year Seychelles World median 2025 0.908 0.7715 2024 0.887 0.7745 2023 0.901 0.7755 2022 0.897 0.7825 2021 0.877 0.7785 2020 0.848 0.7755 2019 0.844 0.7665 2018 0.849 0.7715 2017 0.839 0.7710 2016 0.852 0.7780 2015 0.870 0.7755 2014 0.865 0.7795 2013 0.856 0.7730 2012 0.820 0.7740 2011 0.822 0.7650 2010 0.796 0.7610 2009 0.796 0.7515 2008 0.796 0.7505 2007 0.801 0.7380 2006 0.812 0.7290 2005 0.813 0.7350 2004 0.813 0.7205 2003 0.813 0.7160 2002 0.813 0.7150 2001 0.800 0.6950 2000 0.800 0.6810
03In context
Seychelles beside its neighbours
A position reads best beside the countries around it. Every position below is a place among all 183 countries on gender & equality, never a place within the region.
Seychelles and Eastern Africa
Seychelles has no land border, so the table compares it with its sub-region. Standing among all 183; the key columns are the publishers’ own values.
| Country | Standing | Women, Business and the LawWBL Index (0–100, where 100 is full legal parity) | Women's Political Empowerment IndexWomen's political empowerment index (0–1) | Firms with a Female Top ManagerFirms with a female top manager (%) | Social Institutions and Gender IndexSIGI score (0 = no discrimination, 100 = absolute) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seychelles | =43rd | 79.38 | 0.908 | 26.31 | — |
 Rwanda | 60th | 91.88 | 0.626 | 28.1 | 19 |
 Mauritius | 72nd | 89.38 | 0.814 | 18.08 | — |
 Zimbabwe | 86th | 86.88 | 0.727 | 17.77 | 19.3 |
 Mozambique | =97th | 79.38 | 0.725 | 21.32 | 20.7 |
 Madagascar | 100th | 81.25 | 0.704 | 37.34 | 41 |
 Zambia | 103rd | 83.75 | 0.791 | 18.42 | 29.5 |
 Kenya | =106th | 83.75 | 0.804 | 17.75 | 32.9 |
 Uganda | 108th | 80.63 | 0.636 | 22.61 | 27.4 |
 Djibouti | 110th | 71.25 | 0.584 | 31.61 | — |
 Tanzania | 115th | 81.25 | 0.834 | 17.51 | 49.6 |
 Malawi | =125th | 80 | 0.755 | 13.51 | 31.5 |
 Ethiopia | 127th | 80 | 0.691 | 16.44 | 30.8 |
 Burundi | 142nd | 76.25 | 0.653 | 11 | 40.7 |
 Comoros | 144th | 65 | 0.556 | 20.55 | 54.7 |
 South Sudan | =151st | 73.75 | 0.476 | 10.55 | 40.6 |
 Eritrea | 165th | 69.38 | 0.151 | 7.647 | — |
 Somalia | =168th | 55.63 | 0.337 | 9.172 | 51.3 |
| Somaliland | not placed | — | 0.468 | — | — |
“—”: no published reading in that edition. What a standing is
Across Eastern Africa
Every country in the sub-region, by its place among all 183.
Placed either side on gender & equality
The countries immediately above and below Seychelles in the topic’s list.
04Context, no vote
Where Seychelles is ahead of the world, and behind
13 more statistics filed under gender & equality, published in full and deliberately given no vote in the standing. Select a row for the publisher, the rank and the links.
Ahead of the world median7
Statistics on which Seychelles does better than the middle country measured.
Firms with Female Participation in OwnershipWorld Bank Group · 2026 · world median 35.1260.6335.12No earlier reading
Seychelles: 60.63 · world median 35.12 · Firms with at least one woman among the owners (%). World Bank Group, 2026 edition, data for 2026.
Published values in that edition run from 1.273 to 86.78; higher is better.
Position 9th of 181 · derived.
Female Share of Senior and Middle ManagementILO · 2024 · world median 35.8650.1635.86No real change since 2014
Seychelles: 50.16 · world median 35.86 · Women in senior and middle management (% of managers). International Labour Organization (ILO), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 7.226 to 56.69; higher is better.
Position 5th of 86 · derived.
Gender Development IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 2023 · world median 0.9711.0040.971▲ Improved since 2013
Seychelles: 1.004 · world median 0.971 · Gender Development Index (1.000 = parity). UNDP Human Development Report Office, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.407 to 1.038; higher is better.
Position 12th of 184 · derived.
Length of Paid Paternity LeaveWorld Bank Group · 2025 · world median 3143▲ Improved since 2015
Seychelles: 14 · world median 3 · Paid paternity leave set in law (calendar days). World Bank Group, 2026 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 196; higher is better.
Length of Paid Maternity LeaveWorld Bank Group · 2025 · world median 9811298▲ Improved since 2015
Seychelles: 112 · world median 98 · Paid maternity leave set in law (calendar days). World Bank Group, 2026 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 410; higher is better.
Maternal Mortality RatioMMEIG · 2023 · world median 46.6541.8946.65No real change since 2013
Seychelles: 41.89 · world median 46.65 · Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.11 to 992.83; lower is better.
Position 102nd of 195 · derived, 1st = worst.
Gender Parity Index, Tertiary EnrolmentUIS · 2024 · world median 1.2441.5111.244▲ Improved since 2014
Seychelles: 1.511 · world median 1.244 · Adjusted gender parity index, tertiary gross enrolment (1 = parity). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 0.74 to 1.83; higher is better.
Position 88th of 95 · derived.
Behind the world median1
Statistics on which Seychelles does worse than the middle country measured.
Adolescent Birth Rate (Ages 15–19)UN DESA Population Division · 2023 · world median 27.4654.5227.46▼ Worsened since 2013
Seychelles: 54.52 · world median 27.46 · Live births per 1,000 women aged 15–19. UN DESA Population Division, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.465 to 163.09; lower is better.
Position 63rd of 222 · derived, 1st = worst.
No better end5
These describe the shape of a country — more is not better or worse, only different — so they are never ahead or behind.
Female-Headed HouseholdsUN DESA Population Division · 2026 · world median 33.2149.1233.21No earlier reading
Seychelles: 49.12 · world median 33.21 · Households headed by a woman (% of households). UN DESA Population Division, 2026 edition, data for 2026.
Published values in that edition run from 5.33 to 64.59.
Female Share of STEM GraduatesUIS · 2023 · world median 35.337.635.3Moved since 2015
Seychelles: 37.6 · world median 35.3 · STEM graduates who are women (%; 50 = parity). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 8.333 to 55.96.
Mean Age at First Marriage, WomenUN DESA Population Division · 2019 · world median 24.6525.224.65No earlier reading
Seychelles: 25.2 · world median 24.65 · Singulate mean age at marriage, women (years). UN DESA Population Division, 2019 edition, data for 2019.
Published values in that edition run from 17 to 34.
Female Share of ResearchersUIS · 2024 · world median 38.1734.938.17No earlier reading
Seychelles: 34.9 · world median 38.17 · Researchers who are women (% of headcount; 50 = parity). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 76.54.
Sex Ratio at BirthUN DESA Population Division · 2023 · world median 105.1103.6105.1No real change since 2013
Seychelles: 103.6 · world median 105.1 · Male births per 100 female births. UN DESA Population Division, 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 101.1 to 116.3.
No current reading for Seychelles
Account Ownership Among Women, Antenatal Care Coverage, At Least Four Visits, Births Attended by Skilled Health Staff (last 2022), Caesarean Section Rate, Child Marriage, Demand for Family Planning Satisfied by Modern Methods, Female Genital Mutilation Prevalence, Female Labour Force Participation Rate, Gender Inequality Index, Gender Social Norms Index, Global Gender Parity Index, Institutional Deliveries, Legal Guarantees of Women's Equal Rights to Land, Social Institutions and Gender Index, Women Who Think a Husband Is Justified in Hitting or Beating His Wife, Women's Empowerment Index and Women's Share of Agricultural Landowners. Listed rather than hidden, so the page can be checked against it.
“Position · derived” is this site’s ordering of the published values, 1st = best unless the row says otherwise; the publisher ranks no country on it. Rank, position and standing
05Country Index 2026
Gender & Equality among Seychelles’s 14 topics
Gender & Equality is Seychelles’s 6th best-placed topic of 14. Strongest first, each marker at its share of that topic’s field.
- Peace & Security4th of 1774/4 keys
- Risk & Resiliencejoint 27th of 1933/4 keys
- Food & Agriculture31st of 1842/4 keys
- Governance & Institutions38th of 1944/4 keys
- Democracy & Civil Liberties44th of 1984/4 keys
- Gender & Equalityjoint 43rd of 1833/4 keys
- Economy & Innovationjoint 49th of 1762/4 keys
- Development & Human Capital74th of 1963/3 keys
- Poverty & Inequality64th of 1593/3 keys
- Digital & Technology105th of 1984/4 keys
- Health & Wellbeing108th of 2002/4 keys
- Education & Knowledge109th of 1983/4 keys
- Energy116th of 1652/3 keys
- Mobility & Tradejoint 172nd of 1773/4 keys
No standing on Work & Labour, Environment & Sustainability: too few of those topics’ key statistics are published for this country.
06The top of the list
Who leads on gender & equality
The three countries placed highest of 183, and the leaders Seychelles can most readily be measured against.
1
LatviaNorthern Europe
1st of 183 · 4 of 4 keys
Photo: Marcin Szala · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
2
TaiwanEastern Asia
2nd of 183 · 3 of 4 keys
Photo: xiangyang17 · CC BY-SA 2.0, greyscale
3
ItalySouthern Europe
3rd of 183 · 4 of 4 keys
Photo: Francisco Antunes · CC BY 2.0, greyscale
Placed highest nearby
Highest in Africa
Cabo Verde=34th3/4 keysHighest in Eastern Africa
Seychelles=43rd3/4 keys
Positions out of 183 placed on the topic. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed, and the top of the list is often held on fewer of them.
07Questions
Seychelles on gender & equality: questions answered
Every answer is built from the numbers on this page, so none can say something the page does not.
How does Seychelles rank on gender & equality?
Seychelles is placed joint 43rd of 183 countries on Gender & Equality in the Country Index 2026, from 3 of its 4 key statistics (Women, Business and the Law, Women's Political Empowerment Index and Firms with a Female Top Manager). The position is this site’s ordering of published statistics, not a rank any publisher printed.
What is the latest Women, Business and the Law figure for Seychelles?
79.38 in 2025 (wBL Index (0–100, where 100 is full legal parity)), according to World Bank Group. The world median in the same edition was 81.25.
What is the latest Women's Political Empowerment Index figure for Seychelles?
0.908 in 2025 (women's political empowerment index (0–1)), according to V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg. The world median in the same edition was 0.772.
How have Seychelles’s gender & equality figures changed?
Women, Business and the Law rose from 73.75 in 2000 to 79.38 in 2025; Women's Political Empowerment Index rose from 0.8 in 2000 to 0.908 in 2025.
Which gender & equality statistics are missing for Seychelles?
No current reading is published for Seychelles on Account Ownership Among Women, Antenatal Care Coverage, At Least Four Visits, Births Attended by Skilled Health Staff, Caesarean Section Rate, Child Marriage, Demand for Family Planning Satisfied by Modern Methods, Female Genital Mutilation Prevalence, Female Labour Force Participation Rate, Gender Inequality Index, Gender Social Norms Index, Global Gender Parity Index, Institutional Deliveries, Legal Guarantees of Women's Equal Rights to Land, Social Institutions and Gender Index, Women Who Think a Husband Is Justified in Hitting or Beating His Wife, Women's Empowerment Index and Women's Share of Agricultural Landowners. They are listed rather than hidden, so the evidence on the page can be checked against it.
08Method
Method, sources and how to cite
What this topic does not measure
Violence against women is not a key here, because comparable data covers too few countries. The Gender Inequality Index is published here as context rather than as a key: its reading is driven largely by maternal and adolescent health, which moves with a country’s overall development and is already measured under Development and Health. Women’s labour force participation, women in management and child marriage are published here as context too.
How the Gender & Equality standing is decided
A standing is this site’s ordering, named with its edition — never a publisher’s rank. 4 key statistics vote, one vote each; every country’s published value becomes a place within that key’s own field, the places are averaged, and the average is never published. A country needs 2 of the 4 keys to be placed.
The gender & equality method, step by stepHow every standing on this site is built
The key statistics and their licences
- Women, Business and the Law — World Bank Group, CC BY 4.0
- Women's Political Empowerment Index — V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Firms with a Female Top Manager — World Bank Group, CC BY 4.0
- Social Institutions and Gender Index — OECD, OECD Terms and Conditions — data clause
The other 13 statistics on this page come from 6 publishers, each named beside its numbers, with every edition and licence on the datasets pages.
The standing itself is part of the Country Index 2026, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photographs
Seychelles’s banner and the countries placed highest, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Seychelles (banner) — Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Latvia — Marcin Szala, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Taiwan — xiangyang17, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Italy — Francisco Antunes, CC BY 2.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Seychelles: Gender & Equality — standing and statistics, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/countries/seychelles/gender