Kiribati Economy Profile 2002

Economy - overview

A remote country of 33 scattered coral atolls, Kiribati has few national resources. Commercially viable phosphate deposits were exhausted at the time of independence from the UK in 1979. Copra and fish now represent the bulk of production and exports. The economy has fluctuated widely in recent years. Economic development is constrained by a shortage of skilled workers, weak infrastructure, and remoteness from international markets. Tourism provides more than one-fifth of GDP. The financial sector is at an early stage of development as is the expansion of private sector initiatives. Foreign financial aid, from UK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and China, is a critical supplement to GDP, equal to 25%-50% of GDP in recent years. Remittances from workers abroad account for more than $5 million each year.

GDP (purchasing power parity)

purchasing power parity - $79 million (2001 est.), supplemented by a nearly equal amount from external sources (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate

1.5% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP)

purchasing power parity - $840 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector

agriculture: 30%
industry: 7%
services: 63% (1998 est.)

Population below poverty line

NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

2.5% (2001 est.)

Labor force

7,870 economically active, not including subsistence farmers (1985 est.)

Unemployment rate

2%; underemployment 70% (1992 est.)

Budget

revenues: $28.4 million
expenditures: $37.2 million, including capital expenditures of $NA million (2000 est.) (2000 est.)

Industries

fishing, handicrafts

Industrial production growth rate

0.7% (1991 est.)

Electricity - production

7 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source

fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2000)

Electricity - consumption

6.51 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports

0 kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports

0 kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products

copra, taro, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, vegetables; fish

Exports

$6 million f.o.b. (1998)

Exports - commodities

copra 62%, coconuts, seaweed, fish

Exports - partners

Japan, Bangladesh, US, Australia, Brazil, Poland (2000)

Imports

$44 million c.i.f. (1999)

Imports - commodities

foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, miscellaneous manufactured goods, fuel

Imports - partners

Australia, Japan, Fiji, Poland, US (2000)

Debt - external

$10 million (1999 est.)

Economic aid - recipient

$15.5 million (1995), largely from UK and Japan

Currency

Australian dollar (AUD)

Currency (code)

AUD

Exchange rates

Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.9354 (January 2002), 1.9320 (2001), 1.7173 (2000), 1.5497 (1999), 1.5888 (1998), 1.3439 (1997)

Fiscal year

NA