A per capita

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is often ...

of $3,200 ranks

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

as a lesser developed nation. Over 75% of its labour force is engaged in

subsistence A subsistence economy is an economy directed to basic subsistence (the provision of food, clothing, shelter) rather than to the market. Henceforth, "subsistence" is understood as supporting oneself at a minimum level. Often, the subsistence econo ...

farming and fishing.

Economic history

Until 1998, when world prices for

tropical timber Tropical timber may refer to any type of timber or wood that grows in tropical rainforests and tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests and is harvested there. Typical examples of worldwide industrial significance include, among others, t ...

fell steeply, timber was Solomon Islands main export product. In recent years, Solomon Islands forests were dangerously

overexploited Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term ap ...

. Solomon Islands was particularly hard hit by the

Asian financial crisis The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998–1 ...

even before the ethnic violence of June 2000. The

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in the city of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The bank also maintains 31 field office ...

estimates that the crash of the market for tropical timber reduced Solomon Island's GDP by between 15%-25%. About one-half of all jobs in the timber industry were lost. The government has said it will reform timber harvesting policies with the aim of resuming logging on a more sustainable basis. In the wake of the ethnic violence in June 2000, exports of

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...

and gold ceased while exports of timber fell.

Economic sectors

Cash crops

Important cash crops and exports include

copra Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from copr ...

and

Gold

In 1998 gold production began at Gold Ridge on Guadalcanal.

Fishing

Exploitation of Solomon Islands' rich fisheries offers the best prospect for further export and domestic economic expansion. A

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese joint venture, Solomon Taiyo Ltd., which operated the only fish cannery in the

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

, closed in mid-2000 as a result of the ethnic disturbances. Though the plant has reopened under local management, the export of tuna has not resumed.

Tourism

In 2017, Solomon Islands was one of the least frequently visited countries in the world, with only 26,000 tourists. Tourism income in 2016 and 2017 was about Int'l$ 1.6 million (international dollars). Tourism is a potentially significant service industry but growth is hampered by the lack of

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...

, transportation limitations and security concerns. Scuba diving and World War II history are two major tourist attraction

https://pacificwrecks.com/provinces/solomons.html].

Foreign aid

Since 2000 the Politics of Solomon Islands, Solomon Islands government has become increasingly insolvent. It has exhausted its borrowing capacity; in 2001 the deficit reached 8% of GDP. It is unable to meet bi-weekly payrolls and has become extraordinarily dependent on funds from foreign aid accounts, which provided an estimated 50% of government expenditure in 2001. Principal aid donors are

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

br>$247 Million per year (2006)

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

br>$14 Million per year (2004)
the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

br>$40 Million per year (2005)
and the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

(Taiwan
At least $20 Million per year
. Solomon Islands is a member of the

WTO The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...

Energy

Electricity - production: 78 GWh (2008 est.) Electricity - consumption: 72.54 GWh (2008 est.) Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2009) Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2009) A team of renewable energy developers working for the

Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission The Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) was an inter-governmental regional organisation dedicated to providing services to promote sustainable development in the countries it serves. In 2010, its functions had been transferred to ...

(SOPAC) and funded by the

Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) is a Vienna-baseinternational organisation (link in German)that advances markets for renewable energy and energy efficiency with a particular emphasis on the emerging markets and de ...

(REEEP), have hatched a scheme that enables these communities to access renewable energy, such as solar, without raising substantial sums of ready cash. If the islanders were not able to pay for solar lanterns with cash, reasoned the project developers, they can pay with crops

Statistics

The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2017. Foreign Government Aid as a % of GDP: 40.125% (2006 est.) GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $3,200 (2011 est.) GDP - composition by sector:
''

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

:'' 37.7%
''

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

:'' 6.4%
''

services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a pu ...

:'' 55.9% (2011 est.) Population below

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

: NA% Household income or consumption by percentage share:
''lowest 10%:'' NA%
''highest 10%:'' NA%

Inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

rate (consumer prices): 10% (1999 est.) Labor force: 202,500 (2007) Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 75%, industry 5%, services 20% (2000 est.)

Unemployment rate Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the referen ...

: NA%

Budget A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environmenta ...

:
''revenues:'' $313.1 million
''expenditures:'' $261.7 million, including capital expenditures of $0 (2011 est.) Solomon Islands Exports Treemap (2009)

Industries: fish (

tuna A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length: ...

), mining, timber Industrial production growth rate: NA% Agriculture - products:

cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

s, palm kernels,

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

es, vegetables, fruit; cattle, pigs; fish; timber Exports: $216.5 million (2010 est.) Exports - commodities: timber, fish,

Exports - partners:

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

54%,

12.5%,

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

4.6% (2011) Imports: $360.3 million (2010 est.) Imports - commodities: food, plant and equipment, manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals Imports - partners:

27.3%,

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

26.4%,

6.5%,

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

5.1%,

5.1% (2011) Debt - external: $166 million (2004)

Currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general def ...

: 1 Solomon Islands dollar (SI$) = 100 cents Exchange rates: Solomon Islands dollars (SI$) per US$1 – 7.833 (January 2017) Fiscal year: calendar year

References

{{World Trade Organization