Overview: Agriculture and tourism are the mainstays of the economy. Agricultural production is concentrated on small farms, and the most important commercial crops are coconuts, tomatoes, melons, and breadfruit. A few cattle ranches supply the domestic meat market. Small-scale industry is limited to handicrafts, fish processing, and copra. The tourist industry is the primary source of foreign exchange and employs about 10% of the labor force. The islands have few natural resources, and imports far exceed exports. In 1987 the US Government provided grants of $40 million out of the Marshallese budget of $55 million.

GDP: $63 million, per capita $1,500; real growth rate NA% (1989 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.6% (1981)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget: revenues $55 million; expenditures NA, including capital expenditures of NA (1987 est.)

Exports: $2.5 million (f.o.b., 1985); commodities--copra, copra oil, agricultural products, handicrafts; partners--NA

Imports: $29.2 million (c.i.f., 1985); commodities--foodstuffs, beverages, building materials; partners--NA

External debt: $NA

Industrial production: growth rate NA%

Electricity: 12,000 kW capacity; 10 million kWh produced, 240 kWh per capita (1989)

Industries: copra, fish, tourism; craft items from shell, wood, and pearl; offshore banking (embryonic)

Agriculture: coconuts, cacao, taro, breadfruit, fruits, copra; pigs, chickens

Aid: under the terms of the Compact of Free Association, the US is to provide approximately $40 million in aid annually

Currency: US currency is used

Exchange rates: US currency is used

Fiscal year: 1 October-30 September

NOTE: The information regarding Marshall Islands on this page is re-published from the 1990 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Marshall Islands Economy 1990 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Marshall Islands Economy 1990 should be addressed to the CIA.