ve an embassy
in Kiribati; the ambassador to the Marshall Islands is accredited to
Kiribati; Honolulu is a honorary consul

Flag description: the upper half is red with a yellow frigate bird
flying over a yellow rising sun, and the lower half is blue with three
horizontal wavy white stripes to represent the ocean

Economy

Economy - overview: A remote country of 33 scattered coral atolls,
Kiribati has few national resources. Commercially viable phosphate
deposits were exhausted at the time of independence in 1979. Copra and
fish now represent the bulk of production and exports. The economy has
fluctuated widely in recent years. Real GDP growth has declined from
about 10% in 1988 to about 2.6% in 1995. Economic development is
constrained by a shortage of skilled workers, weak infrastructure, and
remoteness from international markets. The financial sector is at an
early stage 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 recent years. Remittances from overseas I-Kiribati account
for more than $5 million each 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 millio