Economy
Economic overview:
Agriculture employs more than one-half of the labor force, contributes 50% to GDP, and furnishes 90% of exports. The bulk of export earnings comes from the sale of coconut oil and copra. The economy depends on emigrant remittances and foreign aid to supplement GDP and to support a level of imports much greater than export earnings. Tourism has become the most important growth industry. The economy continued to falter in 1994, as remittances and tourist earnings remained low. Production of taro, the primary food export crop, dropped 97% in 1993/94 when a fungal disease threatened the country's basic food crops. Nevertheless, the government is relying on recovery and further expansion in agricultural production to sustain economic growth of around 5% over the next several years.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $415 million (1995 est.)
GDP real growth rate:
5% (1995 est.)
GDP per capita:
$1,900 (1995 est.)
GDP composition by sector:
agriculture:
50%
industry:
NA%
services:
NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
18% (1994)
Labor force:
45,635 (1986 est.)
by occupation:
agriculture 65%, services 30%, industry 5% (1995 est.)
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Budget:
revenues:
$78.6 million
expenditures:
$81.9 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1995 est.)
Industries:
timber, tourism, food processing, fishing
Industrial production growth rate:
NA%
Electricity:
capacity:
29,000 kW
production:
50 million kWh
consumption per capita:
200 kWh (1993)
Agriculture:
coconuts, bananas, taro, yams
Exports:
$6.4 million (f.o.b., 1993)
commodities:
coconut oil and cream, taro, copra, cocoa
partners:
New Zealand 34%, American Samoa 21%, Germany 18%, Australia 11%
Imports:
$11.5 million (c.i.f., 1992 est.)
commodities:
intermediate goods 58%, food 17%, capital goods 12%
partners:
New Zealand 37%, Australia 25%, Japan 11%, Fiji 9%
External debt:
$141 million (June 1993)
Economic aid:
recipient:
ODA, $NA
Currency:
1 tala (WS$) = 100 sene
Exchange rates:
tala (WS$) per US$1 - 2.5195 (January 1996), 2.4722 (1995), 2.5349 (1994), 2.5681 (1993), 2.4655 (1992), 2.3975 (1991)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
