uctuated widely in recent years. Real GDP declined
about 8% in 1987, as the fish catch fell sharply to only one-fourth the
level of 1986 and copra production was hampered by repeated rains. Output
rebounded strongly in 1988, with real GDP growing by 17%. The upturn in
economic growth came from an increase in copra production and a good fish
catch. Following the strong surge in output in 1988, GNP increased 1%
in 1989 and again in 1990.

_#_GDP: $36.8 million, per capita $525; real growth rate 1.0% (1990
est.)

_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.0% (1990 est.)

_#_Unemployment rate: 2% (1985); considerable underemployment

_#_Budget: revenues $29.9 million; expenditures $16.3 million,
including capital expenditures of $14.0 million (1990 est.)

_#_Exports: $5.8 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.);

commodities--fish 55%, copra 42%;

partners--EC 20%, Marshall Islands 12%, US 8%, American
Samoa 4% (1985)

_#_Imports: $26.7 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.);

commodities--foodstuffs, fuel, transportation equipment;

partners--Australia 39%, Japan 21%, NZ 6%, UK 6%, US 3% (1985)

_#_External debt: $2.0 million (December 1989 est.)

_#_Industrial production: growth rate 0.0% (1988 est.); accounts
for less than 4% of GDP

_#_Electricity: 5,000 kW capacity; 13 million kWh produced,
190 kWh per capita (1990)

_#_Industries: fishing, handicrafts

_#_Agriculture: accounts for 30% of GDP (including fishing); copra
and fish contribute about 95% to exports; subsistence farming
predominates; food crops--taro, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, vegetables;
not self-sufficient in food

_#_Economic aid: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral
commitments (1970-88), $258 million

_#_Currency: Australian dollar (plural--dollars);
1 Australian dollar ($A) = 100 cents

_#_Exchange rates: Australian dollars ($A) per US$1--1.2834 (January
1991), 1.2799 (1990), 1.2618 (1989), 1.2752 (1988), 1.4267 (1987), 1.4905
(1986), 1.4269 (1985)

_#_Fiscal year: NA

_*_Communications
_#_Highways: 640 km of motorable roads

_#_Inland waterways: small network of canals, totaling 5 km, in Line
Islands

_#_Ports: Banaba and Betio (Tarawa)

_#_Civil air: 2 Trislanders; no major transport aircraft

_#_Airports: 22 total; 21 usable; 4 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 2,439 m; 5 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

_#_Telecommunications: 1,400 telephones; stations--1 AM, no FM, no T