e flag; the shield depicts a yellow lion above a white field
quartered by the cross of Saint George featuring stalks of
sugarcane, a palm tree, bananas, and a white dove

Economy

Economy--overview: Fiji, endowed with forest, mineral, and fish
resources, is one of the most developed of the Pacific island
economies, though still with a large subsistence sector. Sugar
exports and a growing tourist industry are the major sources of
foreign exchange. Sugar processing makes up one-third of industrial
activity. Roughly 250,000 tourists visit each year. Political
uncertainty and drought, however, contribute to substantial
fluctuations in earnings from tourism and sugar and to the
emigration of skilled workers. Fiji's growth slowed in 1997 because
the sugar industry suffered from low world prices and rent disputes
between farmers and landowners. Drought in 1998 further damaged the
sugar industry. Overall growth in 1991-98 has averaged less than 2%
per year, with long-term problems of low investment and uncertain
property rights. The central bank predicts growth of 2% to 3% in
1999.

GDP: purchasing power parity--$5.4 billion (1998 est.)

GDP--real growth rate: 2.4% (1998 est.)

GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$6,700 (1998 est.)

GDP--composition by sector:
agriculture: 19%
industry: 22%
services: 59% (1996 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3% (1997 est.)

Labor force: 235,000

Labor force--by occupation: subsistence agriculture 67%, wage
earners 18%, salary earners 15% (1987)

Unemployment rate: 6% (1997 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $540.65 million
expenditures: $742.65 million, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1997 est.)

Industries: sugar, tourism, copra, gold, silver, clothing,
lumber, small cottage industries

Industrial production growth rate: 2.9% (1995)

Electricity--production: 545 million kWh (1996)

Electricity--production by source:
fossil fuel: 21.1%
hydro: 78.9%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1996)

Electricity--consumption: 545 million kWh (1996)

Electricity--exports: 0 kWh (1996)

Electricity--imports: 0 kWh (1996)

Agriculture--products: sugarcane, coconuts, cassava (tapioca),
rice, sweet potatoes, bananas; cattle, pigs, horses, goats; fish

Exports: $655 million (f.o.b., 19