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Guam real GDP up .6 pct.
»Tourist spending goes down 4.6 percent
HAGATNA, Guam—The Bureau of Economic Analysis released yesterday estimates of gross domestic product for Guam for 2013, in addition to estimates of GDP by industry and compensation by industry for 2012. These estimates were developed under the Statistical Improvement Program funded by the Office of Insular Affairs of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The latest estimates of GDP for 2007 to 2012 are also presented, as well as GDP by industry and compensation by industry for 2007 to 2011.
The estimates of GDP for Guam show that real GDP—GDP adjusted to remove price changes—increased 0.6 percent in 2013. For comparison, real GDP for the U.S. (excluding the territories) increased 2.2 percent in 2013. In the neighboring Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, its real GDP increased 4.4 percent in 2013, according to BEA estimates.
The growth in Guam’s economy reflected an increase in private fixed investment that was partly offset by a decrease in exports of services.
Private fixed investment, which includes spending by businesses on construction and equipment, increased 34.3 percent. Construction spending accounted for the majority of this growth; major projects occurring over this period included the construction of Guam’s first private hospital and a new luxury hotel in Tumon Bay.
Exports of services, which consist primarily of spending by tourists, decreased 4.6 percent. This was the first decrease since 2009. Although total arrivals increased in 2013, expenditures by Japanese visitors, who make up the majority of Guam’s tourist market, declined.
The estimates of GDP by industry for Guam show that the private sector was the source of the increase in real GDP in 2012; growth was widespread across all major industry groups. The government sector declined in 2012, reflecting decreases in federal and territorial government compensation.
The compensation by industry estimates, which are measured in current dollars, show trends in compensation for major industries. Total compensation increased in 2012 due to growth in the private sector. All major industry groups in the private sector grew, except for construction. (BEA)
