Seychelles named most vegetarian-friendly country in the world

Island nations and countries with long coastlines dominate a new Global Vegetarian Index, created as a guide to help meat-free travellers choose vegetarian-friendly destinations.

After looking at the number of vegetarian restaurants, the ratio to population size, and the annual meat consumption per capita in countries around the world, online villa booking website Oliver's Travels named the Seychelles the most vegetarian-friendly country in the world.

It's not hard to see how the archipelago in the Indian Ocean would take the top spot, given its remote island location and modest meat production.

Food staples include fish, seafood, shellfish, rice, coconut, breadfruit, mangoes, plantains and sweet potatoes.

In the Seychelles, the per capita meat consumption is 35.6 kg -- for perspective, the US consumes 120 kg per person annually.

While the US may have the highest annual consumption of meat on the list, it redeems itself by ranking highest for the number of vegetarian-friendly restaurants (18,975).

Here are the top-ranked countries per continent:

Africa: Seychelles

Asia: Thailand

Europe: United Kingdom

North America: Canada

Central America: Belize

South America: Peru

Oceania: Solomon Islands

Here are the top 10 countries on the Global Vegetarian Index:

1. Seychelles

2. Thailand

3. Malaysia

4. Sao Tome & Principe

5. Peru

6. Singapore

7. Cambodia

8. Solomon Islands

9. United Kingdom

10. Botswana