Economy Of Tuvalu

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 NA (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
Investment gross fixed
Population below poverty line	NA
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: NA highest 10%: NA
Distribution of family income - Gini index
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.)
Public debt
Agriculture products	coconuts; fish
Industries	fishing, tourism, copra
Industrial production growth rate	NA
Electricity production
Electricity production by source	fossil fuel: NA hydro: NA nuclear: NA other: NA
Electricity consumption
Electricity exports
Electricity imports
Oil production
Oil consumption
Oil exports
Oil imports
Oil proved reserves
Natural gas production
Natural gas consumption
Natural gas exports
Natural gas imports
Natural gas proved reserves
Current account balance
Exports	$1 million f.o.b. (2002)
Exports commodities	copra, fish
Exports partners	UK 37.5%, Poland 19.1%, Philippines 9.2%, Australia 9.1%, Fiji 6.2% (2003)
Imports	$79 million c.i.f. (2002)
Imports commodities	food, animals, mineral fuels, machinery, manufactured goods
Imports partners	Fiji 47.3%, Australia 13.9%, Poland 10.8%, Germany 10.2%, Japan 8%, New Zealand 6.2% (2003)
Reserves of foreign exchange gold
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 - 1.5419, (2003), 1.8406 (2002), 1.9320 (2001), 1.7173 (2000), 1.5497 (1999)
Fiscal year	calendar year

Applied Language Solutions offer English to Tuvaluan Translation , English Translation , English to Samoan Translation .

This information was reproduced in part from the CIA World Fact book.

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Economy Of Tuvalu