al estate 13.1%, transport and communications 5.7%,
construction 2.6%, other 27.6% (October 1998)

Unemployment rate: 6% (1999 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $23.1 billion
expenditures: $25.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(FY98/99)

Industries: textiles, clothing, tourism, electronics, plastics, toys,
watches, clocks

Industrial production growth rate: -8.7% (1998 est.)

Electricity - production: 29.529 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1998)

Electricity - consumption: 34.612 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity - exports: 610 million kWh (1998)

Electricity - imports: 7.76 billion kWh (1998)

Agriculture - products: fresh vegetables; poultry

Exports: $169.98 billion (including reexports; f.o.b., 1999 est.)

Exports - commodities: clothing, textiles, footwear, electrical
appliances, watches and clocks, toys

Exports - partners: China 34%, US 23%, Japan 5%, Germany 4%, UK 4%,
Singapore 2% (1998)

Imports: $174.4 billion (c.i.f., 1999)

Imports - commodities: foodstuffs, transport equipment, raw materials,
semimanufactures, petroleum; a large share is reexported

Imports - partners: China 41%, Japan 13%, US 8%, Taiwan 7%, South
Korea 5%, Singapore 4% (1998)

Debt - external: $48.1 billion (1999)

Economic aid - recipient: none

Currency: 1 Hong Kong dollar (HK$) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: Hong Kong dollars (HK$) per US$ - 7.7780 (January
2000), 7.7575 (1999), 7.7453 (1998), 7.7427 (1997), 7.730 (1996),
7.800 (1995); note - Hong Kong became a special administrative region
of China on 1 July 1997; before then, linked to the US dollar at the
rate of about 7.8 HK$ per 1 US$

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

@Hong Kong:Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 3.708 million (1998)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 2.4 million (July 1998)

Telephone system: modern facilities provide excellent domestic and
international services
domestic: microwave radio relay links and extensive fiber-optic
network
international: satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Pacific Ocean
and 2 Indian Ocean); coaxial cable to Guangzhou, China; access to 5
international submarine cables providing connections to ASEAN member
nations, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Middle East, and Western Europe

Radio broadcast stations: AM 7, FM 13, shortwave 0 (1998)

Radios: 4.45 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 4 (plus two repe