Economy of Guam

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.

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 million kWh (1998)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1998)

Electricity - consumption: 744 million kWh (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 (US$) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: US currency is used

Fiscal year: 1 October - 30 September

See also : Guam