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, with 1999 payments from a 1988 treaty on fisheries at about $9 million, a total which is expected to rise annually. 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 raise GDP 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 Sweden, Fiji, Iceland, Germany, Greece (2000)

Imports $7.2 million (c.i.f., 1998)

Imports - commodities food, animals, mineral fuels, machinery, manufactured goods

Imports - partners Fiji, Australia, Portugal, NZ (2000)

Debt - external $NA

Economic aid - recipient $13 million (1999 est.); note - major donors are Japan, Australia, and the US

Currency Australian dollar (AUD); note - there is also a Tuvaluan dollar

Currency code AUD

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

Fiscal year calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Tuvalu on this page is re-published from the 2002 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Tuvalu Economy 2002 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Tuvalu Economy 2002 should be addressed to the CIA.