Tonga

Location : Oceania, archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand

Capital : Nuku'alofa

Languages : Tongan, English 

Area : 748 sq km

Land Use: arable land: 10.95%; p ermanent crops: 4.65%; o ther: 84.4% (2001)

Natural Resources : fish, fertile soil

Population : 112,422 (July 2005 est.)

Labour force : 33,910 (1996) 

Labour force participation rate : 30.16% of population (1996)

International Organisation participation : ACP, ADB, C, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, OPCW, PIF, SPARTECA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)

GDP per capita : U$2,300 (2002 est.)

GDP Real Growth Rate : 1.5% (2002 est.)

GDP sectoral composition : agriculture: 23%; industry: 13%; services: 64% (2002 est.)

Industries: tourism, fishing

Industrial production growth rate: 8.6% (FY98/99) 

Agriculture - products : squash, coconuts, copra, bananas, vanilla beans, cocoa, coffee, ginger, black pepper; fish

Exports : U$609 million f.o.b. (2002)

Exports - commodities : sugar, garments, gold, timber, fish, molasses, coconut oil

Exports - partners : Japan 37.1%, China 18.7%, US 17.7%, Taiwan 8.7%, New Zealand 7.4% (2004)

Imports : U $86 million f.o.b. (2002 est.)

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

Imports - partners : New Zealand 37.1%, Fiji 24.3%, Australia 9.1%, China 8.9%, US 6.3% (2004)

QUALITATIVE TRADE PROFILE

Tonga 's economy is characterized by a large non-monetary sector and a heavy dependence on remittances from the half of the country's population that lives abroad. The manufacturing sector consists of handicrafts and a few other very small-scale industries, all of which contribute only about 3% of GDP Agriculture, forestry and fishing accounts for 37% of GDP  

TRADE AGREEMENTS

Bilateral

Tonga has signed a limited bilateral accord with Fiji.

Regional

Tonga is a member of the Pacific Islands Forum. It has also signed the Pacific Islands Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA), under which member countries agree to liberalize trade in goods. It also has duty-free access to the Australian and New Zealand markets under the South Pacific Agreement on Regional Trade and Economic Co-operation (SPARTECA). It is currently negotiating an Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU through the Pacific configuration.

Multilateral

Tonga became the 150 th member of the WTO at the Sixth Ministerial in Hong Kong.

NEED PRIORITIES

Priority areas for Tonga are implementing WTO commitments and strengthening their statistical database.

Source: Commonwealth Yearbook 2005, World Fact Book .