Flag description:
light blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side
quadrant; the outer half of the flag represents a map of the country
with nine yellow five-pointed stars symbolizing the nine islands

Economy Tuvalu

Economy - overview:
Tuvalu consists of a densely populated, scattered group of nine
coral atolls with poor soil. The country has no known mineral
resources and few exports. Subsistence farming and fishing are the
primary economic activities. Fewer than 1,000 tourists, on average,
visit Tuvalu annually. Government revenues largely come from the
sale of stamps and coins and remittances from seamen on merchant
ships abroad. About 1,000 Tuvaluans are being repatriated from
Nauru, with the decline of phosphate resources there. Substantial
income is received annually from an international trust fund
established in 1987 by Australia, NZ, and the UK and supported also
by Japan and South Korea. Thanks to wise investments and
conservative withdrawals, this fund has grown from an initial $17
million to over $35 million in 1999. The US Government is also a
major revenue source for Tuvalu because of payments from a 1988
treaty on fisheries. In an effort to reduce its dependence on
foreign aid, the government is pursuing public sector reforms,
including privatization of some government functions and personnel
cuts of up to 7%. Tuvalu derives around $1.5 million per year from
the lease of its ".tv" Internet domain name. With merchandise
exports only a fraction of merchandise imports, continued reliance
must be placed on fishing and telecommunications license fees,
remittances from overseas workers, official transfers, and income
from overseas investments.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$14.94 million (2002 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
$14.94 million (2002)

GDP - real growth rate:
1.2% (2002 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$1,600 (2002 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 16.6%
industry: 27.2%
services: 56.2%

Labor force:
3,615 (2004 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
note: people make a living mainly through exploitation of the sea,
reefs, and atolls and from wages sent home by those abroad (mostly
workers in the phosphate industry and sailors)

Unemployment rate:
NA%

Population below poverty line:
NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
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