Economy - overview:
Tuvalu consists of a densely populated, scattered group of nine
coral atolls with poor soil. The country has no known mineral
resources and few exports. Subsistence farming and fishing are the
primary economic activities. Fewer than 1,000 tourists, on average,
visit Tuvalu annually. Government revenues largely come from the
sale of stamps and coins and worker remittances. About 1,000
Tuvaluans work in Nauru in the phosphate mining industry. Nauru has
begun repatriating Tuvaluans, however, as phosphate resources
decline. Substantial income is received annually from an
international trust fund established in 1987 by Australia, NZ, and
the UK and supported also by Japan and South Korea. Thanks to wise
investments and conservative withdrawals, this Fund has grown from
an initial $17 million to over $35 million in 1999. The US
government is also a major revenue source for Tuvalu, because of
payments from a 1988 treaty on fisheries. In an effort to reduce its
dependence on foreign aid, the government is pursuing public sector
reforms, including privatization of some government functions and
personnel cuts of up to 7%. In 1998, Tuvalu began deriving revenue
from use of its area code for "900" lines and in 2000, from the
lease of its ".tv" Internet domain name. Royalties from these new
technology sources could increase substantially over the next
decade. With merchandise exports only a fraction of merchandise
imports, continued reliance must be placed on fishing and
telecommunications license fees, remittances from overseas workers,
official transfers, and investment income from overseas assets.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $12.2 million (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
3% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $1,100 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: NA%
Population below poverty line:
NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
5% (2000 est.)
Labor force:
7,000 (2001 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
people make a living mainly through exploitation of the sea, reefs,
and atolls and from wages sent home by those abroad (mostly workers
in the phosphate industry and sailors)
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Budget:
revenues: $22.5 million
expenditures: $11.2 million, including capital expenditures of $4.2
million (2000 est.)
Industries:
fishing, tourism, copra
Industrial production growth rate:
NA%
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: NA%
hydro: NA%
nuclear: NA%
other: NA%
Agriculture - products:
coconuts; fish
Exports:
$276,000 f.o.b. (1997)
Exports - commodities:
copra, fish
Exports - partners:
UK 58.3%, Italy 16.7%, Denmark 8.3%, Fiji 8.3% (2002)
Imports:
$7.2 million c.i.f. (1998)
Imports - commodities:
food, animals, mineral fuels, machinery, manufactured goods
Imports - partners:
Hungary 68.2%, Japan 12.9%, Fiji 11.9% (2002)
Debt - external:
$NA
Economic aid - recipient:
$13 million ; note - major donors are Australia, Japan, and the US
(1999 est.)
Currency:
Australian dollar (AUD); note - there is also a Tuvaluan dollar
Currency code:
AUD
Exchange rates:
Tuvaluan dollars or Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.8406
(2002), 1.9320 (2001), 1.7173 (2000), 1.5497 (1999), 1.5888 (1998)
Fiscal year:
calendar year