Economy (Fiji)
==============


     Overview:
         Fiji's economy is primarily agricultural, with a large subsistence sector.
         Sugar exports are a major source of foreign exchange, and sugar processing
         accounts for one-third of industrial output. Industry, including sugar
         milling, contributes 13% to GDP. Fiji traditionally had earned considerable
         sums of hard currency from the 250,000 tourists who visited each year. In
         1987, however, after two military coups, the economy went into decline. GDP
         dropped by 7.8% in 1987 and by another 2.5% in 1988; political uncertainty
         created a drop in tourism, and the worst drought of the century caused sugar
         production to fall sharply. In contrast, sugar and tourism turned in strong
         performances in 1989, and the economy rebounded vigorously. In 1990 the
         economy received a setback from cyclone Sina, which cut sugar output by an
         estimated 21%.
     GDP:
         exchange rate conversion - $1.3 billion, per capita $1,700; real growth rate
         3.5% (1991 est.)
     Inflation rate (consumer prices):
         7.0% (1991)
     Unemployment rate:
         5.9% (1991 est.)
     Budget:
         revenues $413 million; expenditures $464 million, including capital
         expenditures of NA (1992 est.)
     Exports:
         $646 million (f.o.b., 1991 est.)
       commodities:
         sugar 40%, gold, clothing, copra, processed fish, lumber
       partners:
         EC 31%, Australia 21%, Japan 8%, US 6%
     Imports:
         $840 million (c.i.f., 1991 est.)
       commodities:
         machinery and transport equipment 32%, food 15%, petroleum products,
         consumer goods, chemicals
       partners:
         Australia 30%, NZ 17%, Japan 13%, EC 6%, US 6%
     External debt:
         $428 million (December 1990 est.)
     Industrial production:
         growth rate 8.4% (1991 est.); accounts for 13% of GDP
     Electricity:
         215,000 kW capacity; 330 million kWh produced, 430 kWh per capita (1990)
     Industries:
         sugar, tourism, copra, gold, silver, fishing, clothing, lumber, small
         cottage industries
     Agriculture:
         accounts for 23% of GDP; principal cash crop is sugarcane; coconuts,
         cassava, rice, sweet potatoes, and bananas; small livestock sector includes
         cattle, pigs, horses, and goats
     Economic aid:
         Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1980-89),
         $815 million
     Currency:
         Fijian dollar (plural - dollars); 1 Fijian dollar (F$) = 100 cents
     Exchange rates:
         Fijian dollars (F$) per US$1 - 1.4855 (January 1992), 1.4756 (1991), 1.4809
         (1990), 1.4833 (1989), 1.4303 (1988), 1.2439 (1987)
     Fiscal year:
         calendar year