| Economy - overview: The economy depends mainly on United
States military spending, tourism, and the export of fish and
handicrafts. Total US grants, wage payments, and procurement outlays
amounted to $1 billion in 1998. 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 has recently suffered setbacks because of the
continuing Japanese slowdown; 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 - $3.2 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $21,000 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
industry: 15% (1993)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 0% (1999 est.)
Labor force: 60,000 (2000 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: federal and territorial government
26%, private 74% (trade 24%, other services 40%, industry 10%) (2000 est.)
Unemployment rate: 15% (2000 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $605.3 million
expenditures: $654.2 million (2000)
Industries: US military, tourism, construction, transshipment services, concrete
products, printing and publishing, food processing, textiles
Electricity - production: 800 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1998)
Agriculture - products: fruits, copra, vegetables; eggs, pork, poultry, beef
Exports: $75.7 million (f.o.b., 1999)
Exports - commodities: mostly transshipments of refined petroleum
products; construction materials, fish, food and beverage products
Exports - partners: US 25%
Imports: $203 million (f.o.b., 1999 est.)
Imports - commodities: petroleum and petroleum products, food, manufactured
goods
Imports - partners: US 23%, Japan 19%
Economic aid - recipient: Guam receives large transfer payments
from the US Federal Treasury ($143 million in 1997) 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: US dollar (USD)
SOURCE: The World Factbook |