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Economy - overview: |
The economy consists primarily of subsistence agriculture and fishing. The government is the major employer of the work force, relying heavily on financial assistance from the US. The population enjoys a per capita income of twice that of the Philippines and much of Micronesia. Long-run prospects for the tourist sector have been greatly bolstered by the expansion of air travel in the Pacific and the rising prosperity of leading East Asian countries.
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GDP: |
purchasing power parity - $129 million (1998 est.)
note:
GDP numbers reflect US spending
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GDP - real growth rate: |
-1.4% (1998 est.)
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GDP - per capita: |
purchasing power parity - $7,100 (1998 est.)
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GDP - composition by sector: |
agriculture:
NA%
industry:
NA%
services:
NA%
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Population below poverty line: |
NA%
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Household income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%:
NA%
highest 10%:
NA%
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Inflation rate (consumer prices): |
NA%
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Labor force: |
8,300 (1999)
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Labor force - by occupation: |
agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA%
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Unemployment rate: |
2.3% (2000 est.)
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Budget: |
revenues:
$57.7 million
expenditures:
$80.8 million, including capital expenditures of $17.1 million (FY98/99 est.)
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Industries: |
tourism, craft items (from shell, wood, pearls), construction, garment making
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Industrial production growth rate: |
NA%
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Agriculture - products: |
coconuts, copra, cassava (tapioca), sweet potatoes
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Exports: |
$14.3 million (f.o.b., 1996)
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Exports - commodities: |
trochus (type of shellfish), tuna, copra, handicrafts
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Exports - partners: |
US, Japan
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Imports: |
$126 million (f.o.b., FY99/00)
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Imports - commodities: |
machinery and equipment, fuels, metals; foodstuffs
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Debt - external: |
$0 (FY99/00)
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Economic aid - recipient: |
$155.8 million (1995); note - the Compact of Free Association with the US, entered into after the end of the UN trusteeship on 1 October 1994, will provide Palau with up to $700 million in US aid over 15 years in return for furnishing military facilities
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Currency: |
US dollar (USD)
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Exchange rates: |
the US dollar is used
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Fiscal year: |
1 October - 30 September
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