Economy - overview A remote country of 33 scattered coral atolls, Kiribati has few nationalresources. Commercially viable phosphate deposits were exhausted at the timeof independence in 1979. Copra and fish now represent the bulk of productionand exports. The economy has fluctuated widely in recent years. Real GDP growthhas declined from about 10% in 1988 to about 2.6% in 1995. Economic developmentis constrained by a shortage of skilled workers, weak infrastructure, andremoteness from international markets. The financial sector is at an earlystage of development. Foreign financial aid, largely from the UK and Japan,is a critical supplement to GDP, equal in amount to 25%-50% of GDP in recentyears. Remittances from overseas I-Kiribati account for more than $5 millioneach year.

GDP purchasing power parity - $62 million (1996 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 2.6% (1995 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $800 (1996 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture : 11%
industry: 4%
services: 85% (1994)

Inflation rate - consumer price index 5.1% (1994 est.)

Labor force
total: 7,870 economically active, not including subsistence farmers (1985 est.)

Unemployment rate 2%; underemployment 70% (1992 est.)

Budget
revenues: $32.5 million
expenditures: $54.3 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1995 est.)

Industries fishing, handicrafts

Industrial production growth rate 0.7% (1992 est.)

Electricity - capacity 5,000 kW (1994)

Electricity - production 10 million kWh (1994)

Electricity - consumption per capita NA kWh

Agriculture - products copra, taro, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, vegetables; fish

Exports
total value: $6.3 million (f.o.b., 1995 est.)
commodities: copra 50%, seaweed 16%, fish 15%
partners: Denmark, Fiji, US

Imports
total value : $38.6 million (c.i.f., 1995 est.)
commodities: foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, miscellaneous manufactured goods,fuel
partners: Australia 40%, Japan 13%, Fiji 10%, NZ 6%, US 4% (1994)

Debt - external $2 million (December 1989 est.)

Economic aid
recipient: ODA, $4.725 million from Australia (FY96/97 est.); $2.175 million fromNZ (FY95/96)

Currency 1 Australian dollar ($A) = 100 cents

Exchange rates Australian dollars ($A) per US$1 - 1.2835 (January 1997), 1.2773 (1996),1.3486 (1995), 1.3667 (1994), 1.4704 (1993), 1.3600 (1992)

Fiscal year NA

NOTE: The information regarding Kiribati on this page is re-published from the 1997 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Kiribati Economy 1997 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Kiribati Economy 1997 should be addressed to the CIA.