ECONOMY
Tonga's economy is characterized by a large non-monetary sector and a heavy dependence on remittances from the more than half of the country's population that lives abroad, chiefly in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Much of the monetary sector of the economy is dominated, if not owned, by the royal family and nobles. This is particularly true of telecommunications and electricity generation and supply. Many small businesses, particularly in the retail sector on Tongatapu, are owned by recent Chinese immigrants who arrived under a cash-for-passports scheme ended in 1998. Royal-owned and Chinese businesses were among those targeted in the November 2006 rioting.
The manufacturing sector consists of handicrafts and a few other very small-scale industries, which together contribute only about 3% of GDP. Commercial business activities are to a large extent dominated by large trading companies found throughout the South Pacific. In September 1974, the country's first commercial trading bank, the Bank of Tonga, opened. Following the destruction of the capital's commercial center in the November 2006 riots, government, business, and international donors have combined forces to support the reconstruction of Nuku'alofa.
Rural Tongans rely on plantation and subsistence agriculture. Squash pumpkins, vanilla beans, and root crops such as cassava and yams, coffee, and noni are the major cash crops. Pigs and poultry are the major types of livestock. Horses are kept for draft purposes, primarily by farmers working their api. More cattle are being raised, and beef imports are declining. Fisheries are also a growing export sector, with tuna, beche de mer, and seaweed being the major marine export products.
Tonga's development plans emphasize a growing private sector, upgrading agricultural productivity, revitalizing the squash and vanilla bean industries, developing tourism, and improving the island's communications and transportation systems. Substantial progress has been made, but much work remains to be done. A small but growing construction sector is developing in response to the inflow of aid monies and remittances from Tongans abroad. Government, international development agencies, and major donor nations have together identified a number of promising means to diversity the Tongan economy. One hope is seen in fisheries; tests have shown that sufficient skipjack tuna pass through Tongan waters to support a fishing industry. Another potential development activity is exploitation of forests, which cover 35% of the kingdom's land area. Plantation coconut trees past their prime bearing years also provide a potential source of lumber.
Economy (all figures in U.S. dollars)
GDP (2003/2004): $148.9 million.
Per capita GDP (2004 est.): $1,287.
GDP real growth rate (2006/2007 est.): -3.5%.
Natural resources: Fish.
Agriculture (25% of GDP): Products--squash, vanilla beans, root crops, fish, other marine products.
Industry: 17% of GDP.
Services (2006/2007 est.): 57% of GDP.
Trade (2006/2007): Exports--$10.37 million; squash, fish, vanilla beans, root crops. Major export markets--Japan, U.S., New Zealand, Australia, Fiji. Imports--$121.6 million; food, machinery and transport equipment, fuels, chemicals. Major import sources--New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, U.S., Indonesia.
Fiscal year: July 1 to June 30.
