Kiribati

Location : Oceania, group of 33 coral atolls in the Pacific Ocean, straddling the equator; roughly about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia.

 Capital : Tarawa

Languages : I-Kiribati, English (official)

 Area : 811 sq km

Land Use: arable land: 2.74%; permanent crops: 50.68%; other: 46.58% (2001)

Natural Resources : timber, fish, gold, copper, offshore oil potential, hydropower

Population : 103,092 (July 2005 est.)

Labour force : 7,870 economically active, not including subsistence farmers (2001 est.) 

Labour force participation rate : 7.63% of population (2001 est.)

International Organisation participation : ACP, ADB, C, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IOC, ITU, OPCW, PIF, SPARTECA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO

GDP per capita : U$800 (2001 est.)

GDP Real Growth Rate : 1.5% (2001 est.)

GDP sectoral composition : agriculture: 30%; industry: 7%; services: 63% (1998 est.)

Industries: fishing, handicrafts 

Agriculture - products : copra, taro, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, vegetables; fish

Exports : U$35 million f.o.b. (2002) 

Exports - commodities : copra 62%, coconuts, seaweed, fish

Exports - partners : France 45.7%, Japan 29.2%, US 9.1%, Thailand 5.4% (2004)

Imports : U $83 million c.i.f. (2002)

Imports - commodities : foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, miscellaneous manufactured goods, fuel 

Imports - partners : Australia 33.6%, Fiji 29.8%, Japan 10.3%, New Zealand 6.9%, France 4.1% (2004)

QUALITATIVE TRADE PROFILE  

Kiribati 's economy, like several others in the Pacific, was traditionally built on phosphate mining. With the windup of the phosphate industry, Kiribati GDP suffered a significant fall and the current priority of the government is to seek new revenue streams to raise the GDP from its current pre-1980s level. In this regard fish licensing and remittances currently provide the most revenue and Kiribati's 3.55 million sq km Exclusive Economic Zone is a promising source of diversification.

 INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK 

Kiribati 's trade policy formulation, negotiation and implementation framework have not yet been determined.

TRADE AGREEMENTS

Bilateral

Kiribati has non-reciprocal trade agreements with Fiji.

Regional

Kiribati is a member of the Pacific Islands Forum. It is also a signatory to the SPARTECA Agreement, granting it duty-free access to the Australian and New Zealand markets and the Pacific Islands Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA), under which member countries agree to liberalize trade in goods. It is currently negotiating an Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU through the Pacific configuration.

Multilateral

Kiribati is neither a member nor observer of the WTO.

Source: Commonwealth Secretariat 2005, UNCTAD, World Fact Book