Multidimensional Poverty Index Report 2019: Seychelles

This report presents the findings of the national MPI for Seychelles. The Seychelles MPI was developed by the Poverty Alleviation Department and the National Bureau of Statistics of Seychelles with technical support from the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI). As a high-income country, and a Small Island Developing State, the challenges faced by Seychelles in poverty reduction are different from other contexts. Seychelles’ MPI, which includes innovative indicators on obesity, substance abuse and crime, can help policymakers identify those being left behind and target their programmes more effectively.

Key findings include:

• In the third quarter of 2019, the poverty incidence (H) was 11.88%, and the average intensity (A) was 33.26%. The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), which is the product of H and A (H*A) was 0.040.
• Those living in the largest households may be more likely to experience multidimensional poverty (with a headcount ratio of 31.15%), than those living in the smallest households (with a headcount ratio of 4.89%).
• Multidimensional poverty is more prevalent among the unemployed (with a headcount ratio of 57.35%), than among those who are employed and those who are outside the labour force. 
• The lower the education level (no schooling), the higher the headcount ratio (34.58%). The same pattern can be observed in the MPI, whereby those with no schooling, has the highest MPI (0.115), and the MPI decreases as the education level increases.