New Caledonia Economy - 2004

Economy - overview:
New Caledonia has about 25% of the world's known nickel resources. Only a small amount of the land is suitable for cultivation, and food accounts for about 20% of imports. In addition to nickel, substantial financial support from France - equal to more than one-fourth of GDP - and tourism are keys to the health of the economy. Substantial new investment in the nickel industry, combined with the recovery of global nickel prices, brightens the economic outlook for the next several years.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $3.158 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
NA

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $15,000 (2002 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 5%
industry: 30%
services: 65% (1997 est.)

Population below poverty line:
NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
-0.6% (2000 est.)

Labor force:
79,395 (including 15,018 unemployed, 1996)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 7%, industry 23%, services 70% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate:
19% (1996)

Budget:
revenues: $861.3 million
expenditures: $735.3 million, including capital expenditures of $52 million (1996 est.)

Industries:
nickel mining and smelting

Industrial production growth rate:
-0.6% (1996)

Electricity - production:
1.613 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 76.3%
hydro: 23.7%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption:
1.5 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
8,750 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

Agriculture - products:
vegetables; beef, deer, other livestock products

Exports:
$448 million f.o.b. (2002)

Exports - commodities:
ferronickels, nickel ore, fish

Exports - partners:
France 22.8%, Japan 21.2%, Spain 8.7%, Australia 7.6%, South Korea 6.3%, Italy 5.6% (2002)

Imports:
$1.007 billion f.o.b. (2002)

Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, fuels, chemicals, foodstuffs

Imports - partners:
France 39.6%, Australia 12.8%, Singapore 9.9%, New Zealand 5.1%, US 4.4% (2002)

Debt - external:
$79 million (1998 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
$880 million annual subsidy from France (1998)

Currency:
Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique franc (XPF); note - may adopt the euro in 2003

Currency code:
XPF

Exchange rates:
Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique francs (XPF) per US dollar - 105.73 (2003), 126.72 (2002), 133.26 (2001), 129.44 (2000), 111.93 (1999)