Southern African Middle Income Countries’ Profiles Series
Trends of selected population and sexual and reproductive health indicators in Southern African middle income countries
The world’s middle-income countries (MICs) are a diverse group by size, population and income levels. Lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) with a gross national income (GNI) per capita ranging from $1,026 to $3,995 and upper-middle-income countries (UMICs) with a GNI per capita ranging from $3,996 to $12,375 at 2019 levels, often demonstrate the complexity of co-existing wealth, economic prospects and development inequalities.
The African continent has eight UMICs and one high-income country (HIC) – Seychelles. Southern Africa is home to half of the UMICs on the continent.
This series presents a trend analysis of selected indicators related to the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action among Southern African UMICs, including a comparison with selected UMICs and HICs from other parts of the world, with a view to identifying opportunities for improvement.
The Republic of Seychelles is a Small Island Developing State in the Western Indian Ocean, covering 116 islands, with its capital city Victoria located about 932 miles east of mainland Southeast Africa. The Island has no indigenous population, with the current population comprising immigrant generations. Seychelles enjoys a stable political system with good public sector governance. It ranked second with a score of 73.4 in the 2017 Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance.
