Economy - overview: | The economy depends on US military spending, tourism, and the export of fish and handicrafts. Total US grants, wage payments, and procurement outlays amounted to $1 billion in 1998. Over the past 20 years, the tourist industry has grown rapidly, creating a construction boom for new hotels and the expansion of older ones. More than 1 million tourists visit Guam each year. The industry had recently suffered setbacks because of the continuing Japanese slowdown; the Japanese normally make up almost 90% of the tourists. Most food and industrial goods are imported. Guam faces the problem of building up the civilian economic sector to offset the impact of military downsizing. |
GDP - per capita | $21,000 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate (%) | NA |
Agriculture - products | fruits, copra, vegetables; eggs, pork, poultry, beef |
GDP - composition by sector (%) | agriculture: 7%, industry: 15%, services: 78% (2002 est.) |
Industries | US military, tourism, construction, transshipment services, concrete products, printing and publishing, food processing, textiles |
Economic aid - recipient | Guam receives large transfer payments from the US Federal Treasury ($143 million in 1997) into which Guamanians pay no income or excise taxes; under the provisions of a special law of Congress, the Guam Treasury, rather than the US Treasury, receives federal income taxes paid by military and civilian Federal employees stationed in Guam (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | NA |
Population below poverty line (%) | 23% (2001 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation (%) | private 74% (industry 10%, trade 24%, other services 40%), federal and territorial government 26% (2000 est.) |