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 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $14,000 (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%
other: 0% (2001)
hydro: 23.7%
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 (2001)
Oil - imports:
NA (2001)
Agriculture - products:
vegetables; beef, deer, other livestock products
Exports:
$400 million f.o.b. (2000)
Exports - commodities:
ferronickels, nickel ore, fish
Exports - partners:
Japan 30.4%, France 17.0%, Taiwan 12.5%, Spain 9.3%, South Korea 9.1%, Australia, US (2000)
Imports:
$1 billion f.o.b. (2000)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, fuels, chemicals, foodstuffs
Imports - partners:
France 50.6%, Australia 13.7%, Singapore 9.0%, New Zealand 4.1%, Japan 1.8% (2000)
Debt - external:
$79 million (1998 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$880 million annual subsidy from France
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 - 135.04 (January 2002), 133.26 (2001), 129.44 (2000), 111.93 (1999), 107.25 (1998)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
NOTE: The information regarding New Caledonia on this page is re-published from the 2003 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Guinea Geography 2003 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about New Caledonia Economy 2003 should be addressed to the CIA.
