Economy of Guam
Encyclopedia
Economy - overview:
The economy depends mainly on US
military
spending and on tourist
revenue. Over the past 20 years, the tourist industry grew rapidly, creating a construction boom for new hotels, golf courses and other tourist amenities. More than 1.1 million tourists visit Guam each year including about 1,000,000 from Japan and 150,000 from Korea. Setbacks in the 1990s including numerous super-typhoons, an 8.1 earthquake, and a Korean airline crash. More recently, SARS, the Iraq war and most importantly the Japan economy and acommpanying yen to dollar adjustments have significantly impacted tourism with spending per person in retail and attraction sectors now nearly 50% compared to their peak in the mid-1990s. Nevertheless, as of 2005 tourism is finally starting to stabilize and recover.
Most food and industrial goods are imported. As Guam's tourist economy continues to slowly recover, over $ 1 billion in military spending on the island is projected in the coming several years. The Government of Guam (GovGuam) is the biggest employer on the island (exceeding the tourism industry and the federal military), with a payroll and retirement 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:
Population below poverty line:
NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
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:
Industries:
US military, tourism, construction
, transshipment
services, concrete
products, printing
and publishing
, food processing, textile
s
Industrial production growth rate:
NA%
Electricity
- production:
800 GWh (1998)
Electricity - production by source:
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
The economy depends mainly on US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
spending and on tourist
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
revenue. Over the past 20 years, the tourist industry grew rapidly, creating a construction boom for new hotels, golf courses and other tourist amenities. More than 1.1 million tourists visit Guam each year including about 1,000,000 from Japan and 150,000 from Korea. Setbacks in the 1990s including numerous super-typhoons, an 8.1 earthquake, and a Korean airline crash. More recently, SARS, the Iraq war and most importantly the Japan economy and acommpanying yen to dollar adjustments have significantly impacted tourism with spending per person in retail and attraction sectors now nearly 50% compared to their peak in the mid-1990s. Nevertheless, as of 2005 tourism is finally starting to stabilize and recover.
Most food and industrial goods are imported. As Guam's tourist economy continues to slowly recover, over $ 1 billion in military spending on the island is projected in the coming several years. The Government of Guam (GovGuam) is the biggest employer on the island (exceeding the tourism industry and the federal military), with a payroll and retirement burden that has led in recent years to an ongoing and growing budget deficit.
GDP
Gross domestic product
Gross domestic product refers to the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period. GDP per capita is often considered an indicator of a country's standard of living....
:
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
Inflation rate
In economics, the inflation rate is a measure of inflation, the rate of increase of a price index . It is the percentage rate of change in price level over time. The rate of decrease in the purchasing power of money is approximately equal.The inflation rate is used to calculate the real interest...
(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
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
, transshipment
Transshipment
Transshipment or Transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, and then from there to yet another destination....
services, concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
products, printing
Printing
Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....
and publishing
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
, food processing, textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
s
Industrial production growth rate:
NA%
Electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
- production:
800 GWh (1998)
Electricity - production by source:
- fossil fuelFossil fuelFossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years...
: 100% - hydro: 0%
- nuclearNuclear powerNuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
: 0% - other: 0% (1998)
Electricity - consumption:
744 GWh (1998)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (1998)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (1998)
Agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
- products:
fruits, copra
Copra
Copra is the dried meat, or kernel, of the coconut. Coconut oil extracted from it has made copra an important agricultural commodity for many coconut-producing countries. It also yields coconut cake which is mainly used as feed for livestock.-Production:...
, vegetables; eggs, pork
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
, poultry
Poultry
Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of producing eggs, meat, and/or feathers. These most typically are members of the superorder Galloanserae , especially the order Galliformes and the family Anatidae , commonly known as "waterfowl"...
, beef
Beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...
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
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
25%
Imports:
$202.4 million (c.i.f., 1992)
Imports - commodities:
petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
and petroleum products, food, manufactured goods
Imports - partners:
United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
23%, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
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
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
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
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
(USD) = 100 cents
Exchange rates:
US currency is used
Fiscal year:
1 October - 30 September
- See also : GuamGuamGuam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...