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Palau Economy 1999
Economy—overview: The economy consists primarily of subsistence agriculture and fishing. The government is the major employer of the work force, relying heavily on financial assistance from the US. The population enjoys a per capita income of more than twice that of the Philippines and much of Micronesia. Long-run prospects for the tourist sector have been greatly bolstered by the expansion of air travel in the Pacific and the rising prosperity of leading East Asian countries.
GDP:
purchasing power parity—$160 million (1997 est.)
GDP—real growth rate: 10% (1997 est.) GDP—per capita: purchasing power parity—$8,800 (1997 est.)
GDP—composition by sector:
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA% Labor force: NA Labor force—by occupation: NA Unemployment rate: 7%
Budget:
Industries: tourism, craft items (from shell, wood, pearls), some commercial fishing and agriculture Industrial production growth rate: NA% Electricity—production: 200 million kWh (1996)
Electricity—production by source:
Electricity—consumption: 200 million kWh (1996) Electricity—exports: 0 kWh (1996) Electricity—imports: 0 kWh (1996) Agriculture—products: coconuts, copra, cassava (tapioca), sweet potatoes Exports: $14.3 million (f.o.b., 1996) Exports—commodities: trochus (type of shellfish), tuna, copra, handicrafts Exports—partners: US, Japan Imports: $72.4 million (f.o.b., 1996) Imports—commodities: NA Imports—partners: US Debt—external: about $100 million (1989) Economic aid—recipient: $155.8 million (1995); note—the Compact of Free Association with the US, entered into after the end of the UN trusteeship on 1 October 1994, will provide Palau with up to $700 million in US aid over 15 years in return for furnishing military facilities Currency: 1 United States dollar (US$) = 100 cents Exchange rates: US currency is used Fiscal year: 1 October—30 September
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