Economy - overview: The economy depends mainly on US military spending and on tourist revenue. Over the past 20 years, the tourist industry has grown rapidly, creating a construction boom for new hotels and the expansion of older ones. More than 1 million tourists visit Guam each year. The industry suffered a setback in 1998 because of the continuing Japanese recession; the Japanese normally make up almost 90% of the tourists. Most food and industrial goods are imported. Guam faces the problem of building up the civilian economic sector to offset the impact of military downsizing. The Government of Guam (GovGuam) is the biggest employer on the island (exceeding the tourism industry and the federal military), with a payroll and retirment burden that has led in recent years to an ongoing and growing budget deficit.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $3 billion (1996 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: NA%

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $19,000 (1996 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): 4% (1992 est.)

Labor force: 65,660 (1995)

Labor force - by occupation: federal and territorial government 31%, private 69% (trade 21%, services 33%, construction 12%, other 3%) (1995)

Unemployment rate: 2% (1992 est.)

Budget:

revenues: $524.3 million

expenditures: $361.4 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1995)

Industries: US military, tourism, construction, transshipment services, concrete products, printing and publishing, food processing, textiles

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - production: 800 GWh (1998)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel: 100%

hydro: 0%

nuclear: 0%

other: 0% (1998)

Electricity - consumption: 744 GWh (1998)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1998)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (1998)

Agriculture - products: fruits, copra, vegetables; eggs, pork, poultry, beef

Exports: $86.1 million (f.o.b., 1992)

Exports - commodities: mostly transshipments of refined petroleum products, construction materials, fish, food and beverage products

Exports - partners: United States 25%

Imports: $202.4 million (c.i.f., 1992)

Imports - commodities: petroleum and petroleum products, food, manufactured goods

Imports - partners: United States 23%, Japan 19%, other 58%

Debt - external: $NA

Economic aid - recipient: $NA; note - although Guam receives no foreign aid, it does receive large transfer payments from the general revenues of the US Federal Treasury into which Guamanians pay no income or excise taxes; under the provisions of a special law of Congress, the Guam Treasury, rather than the US Treasury, receives federal income taxes paid by military and civilian Federal employees stationed in Guam.

Currency: 1 United States dollar (USD) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: US currency is used

Fiscal year: 1 October - 30 September

See also : Guam