Christmas Island - Economy

Geography - People - Economy - Government - Communications - Transportation - Military - Transnational Issues

Christmas Island is located Southeastern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of Indonesia. The climate is tropical with a wet season (December to April) and dry season; heat and humidity moderated by trade winds. The terrain is steep cliffs along coast rise abruptly to central plateau.

Economy - overview

This entry briefly describes the type of economy, including the degree of market orientation, the level of economic development, the most important natural resources, and the unique areas of specialization. It also characterizes major economic events and policy changes in the most recent 12 months and may include a statement about one or two key future macroeconomic trends.
Economy - overview : Phosphate mining had been the only significant economic activity, but in December 1987 the Australian Government closed the mine. In 1991, the mine was reopened. With the support of the government, a $34 million casino opened in 1993, but closed in 1998. The Australian Government in 2001 agreed to support the creation of a commercial space-launching site on the island, expected to begin operations in the near future.

GDP (purchasing power parity)

This entry gives the gross domestic product (GDP) or value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year. A nation's GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rates is the sum value of all goods and services produced in the country valued at prices prevailing in the United States. This is the measure most economists prefer when looking at per- capita welfare and when comparing living conditions or use of resources across countries. The measure is difficult to compute, as a US dollar value has to be assigned to all goods and services in the country regardless of whether these goods and services have a direct equivalent in the United States (for example, the value of an ox-cart or non-US military equipment); as a result, PPP estimates for some countries are based on a small and sometimes different set of goods and services. In addition, many countries do not formally participate in the World Bank's PPP project that calculates these measures, so the resulting GDP estimates for these countries may lack precision. For many developing countries, PPP-based GDP measures are multiples of the official exchange rate (OER) measure. The difference between the OER- and PPP- denominated GDP values for most of the wealthy industrialized countries are generally much smaller.
GDP (purchasing power parity) : $NA

Labor force

This entry contains the total labor force figure.
Labor force : NA

Budget

This entry includes revenues, expenditures, and capital expenditures. These figures are calculated on an exchange rate basis, i.e., not in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms.
Budget - revenues : $NA
Budget - expenditures : $NA

Fiscal year

Fiscal year : 1 July - 30 June

Agriculture - products

This entry is an ordered listing of major crops and products starting with the most important.
Agriculture - products : NA

Industries

This entry provides a rank ordering of industries starting with the largest by value of annual output.
Industries : tourism, phosphate extraction (near depletion)

Electricity

Electricity - production by source - fossil fuel : NA
Electricity - production by source - hydro : NA
Electricity - production by source - nuclear : NA
Electricity - production by source - other : NA

Exports

This entry provides the total US dollar amount of merchandise exports on an f.o.b. (free on board) basis. These figures are calculated on an exchange rate basis, i.e., not in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms.
Exports : $NA

Exports - commodities

This entry provides a listing of the highest- valued exported products; it sometimes includes the percent of total dollar value.
Exports - commodities : phosphate

Exports - partners

This entry provides a rank ordering of trading partners starting with the most important; it sometimes includes the percent of total dollar value.
Exports - partners : Australia, NZ (2006)

Imports

This entry provides the total US dollar amount of merchandise imports on a c.i.f. (cost, insurance, and freight) or f.o.b. (free on board) basis. These figures are calculated on an exchange rate basis, i.e., not in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms.
Imports : $NA

Imports - commodities

This entry provides a listing of the highest- valued imported products; it sometimes includes the percent of total dollar value.
Imports - commodities : consumer goods

Imports - partners

This entry provides a rank ordering of trading partners starting with the most important; it sometimes includes the percent of total dollar value.
Imports - partners : principally Australia (2006)

Economic aid

Economic aid - recipient : $NA

Currency (code)

Currency (code) : Australian dollar (AUD)

Currency code

Currency code : AUD

Exchange rates

This entry provides the official value of a country's monetary unit at a given date or over a given period of time, as expressed in units of local currency per US dollar and as determined by international market forces or official fiat. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 4217 alphabetic currency code for the national medium of exchange is presented in parenthesis.
Exchange rates : Australian dollars (AUD) per US dollar - 1.2137 (2007), 1.3285 (2006), 1.3095 (2005), 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003)

More Information about the country

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