Economy (New Caledonia)
=======================


     Overview:
         New Caledonia has more than 25% of the world's known nickel resources. In
         recent years the economy has suffered because of depressed international
         demand for nickel, the principal source of export earnings. Only a
         negligible amount of the land is suitable for cultivation, and food accounts
         for about 25% of imports.
     GNP:
         exchange rate conversion - $1.0 billion, per capita $6,000 (1991 est.); real
         growth rate 2.4% (1988)
     Inflation rate (consumer prices):
         4.1% (1989)
     Unemployment rate:
         16.0% (1989)
     Budget:
         revenues $224.0 million; expenditures $211.0 million, including capital
         expenditures of NA (1985)
     Exports:
         $671 million (f.o.b., 1989)
       commodities:
         nickel metal 87%, nickel ore
       partners:
         France 52.3%, Japan 15.8%, US 6.4%
     Imports:
         $764 million (c.i.f., 1989)
       commodities:
         foods, fuels, minerals, machines, electrical equipment
       partners:
         France 44.0%, US 10%, Australia 9%
     External debt:
         $NA
     Industrial production:
         growth rate NA%
     Electricity:
         400,000 kW capacity; 2,200 million kWh produced, 12,790 kWh per capita
         (1990)
     Industries:
         nickel mining
     Agriculture:
         large areas devoted to cattle grazing; coffee, corn, wheat, vegetables; 60%
         self-sufficient in beef
     Illicit drugs:
         illicit cannabis cultivation is becoming a principal source of income for
         some families
     Economic aid:
         Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89),
         $4,185 million
     Currency:
         Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique franc (plural - francs); 1 CFP franc (CFPF)
         = 100 centimes
     Exchange rates:
         Comptoirs Francais duPacifique francs (CFPF) per US$1 - 97.81 (January
         1992), 102.57 (1991), 99.00 (1990), 115.99 (1989), 108.30 (1988), 109.27
         (1987); note - linked at the rate of 18.18 to the French franc
     Fiscal year:
         calendar year