Niue Economy - 2004

Economy - overview:
The economy suffers from the typical Pacific island problems of geographic isolation, few resources, and a small population. Government expenditures regularly exceed revenues, and the shortfall is made up by critically needed grants from New Zealand that are used to pay wages to public employees. Niue has cut government expenditures by reducing the public service by almost half. The agricultural sector consists mainly of subsistence gardening, although some cash crops are grown for export. Industry consists primarily of small factories to process passion fruit, lime oil, honey, and coconut cream. The sale of postage stamps to foreign collectors is an important source of revenue. The island in recent years has suffered a serious loss of population because of migration of Niueans to New Zealand. Efforts to increase GDP include the promotion of tourism and a financial services industry, although Premier LAKATANI announced in February 2002 that Niue will shut down the offshore banking industry. Economic aid from New Zealand in 2002 was about $2.6 million.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $7.6 million (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
-0.3% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $3,600 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: 55%

Population below poverty line:
NA%

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
1% (1995)

Labor force:
NA (1998 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
most work on family plantations; paid work exists only in government service, small industry, and the Niue Development Board

Unemployment rate:
NA% (March 1999)

Budget:
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Industries:
tourism, handicrafts, food processing

Industrial production growth rate:
NA%

Electricity - production:
3 million kWh (2001)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption:
2.79 million kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)

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

Oil - consumption:
20 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

Agriculture - products:
coconuts, passion fruit, honey, limes, taro, yams, cassava (tapioca), sweet potatoes; pigs, poultry, beef cattle

Exports:
$137,200 (1999)

Exports - commodities:
canned coconut cream, copra, honey, vanilla, passion fruit products, pawpaws, root crops, limes, footballs, stamps, handicrafts

Exports - partners:
NZ mainly, Fiji, Cook Islands, Australia (2000)

Imports:
$2.38 million (1999)

Imports - commodities:
food, live animals, manufactured goods, machinery, fuels, lubricants, chemicals, drugs

Imports - partners:
NZ mainly, Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Australia, US (2000)

Debt - external:
$418,000 (2002 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
$2.6 million from New Zealand (2002)

Currency:
New Zealand dollar (NZD)

Currency code:
NZD

Exchange rates:
New Zealand dollars per US dollar - 1.7229 (2003), 2.1620 (2002), 2.3776 (2001), 2.1863 (2000), 1.8886 (1999)