View original document

The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.

NEWS RELEASE
EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 7:30 PM EDT, SUNDAY, JULY 17, 2011
Aya Hamano:
Wali Osman:

(202) 606-9683 (BEA)
(202) 208-4292 (OIA)

BEA 11-37

THE BUREAU OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS (BEA) RELEASES ESTIMATES OF GROSS
DOMESTIC PRODUCT FOR GUAM

HAGATNA, GUAM (July 18, 2011) -- Today, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) is releasing
estimates of gross domestic product (GDP) for Guam for 2008 and 2009.1 This release also includes
revised estimates for 2002 to 2007. 2 These estimates were developed under the Statistical Improvement
Program funded by the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The estimates for Guam show that real GDP -- GDP adjusted to remove price changes -- increased 1.7
percent in 2009 after increasing 0.5 percent in 2008 (see Table 3). For comparison, real GDP for the
U.S. (excluding the territories) decreased 2.6 percent in 2009 after remaining unchanged in 2008.
The largest contributor to the growth in real GDP during this period was federal government spending. 3
The majority of this spending was by the Department of Defense. Federal spending increased in both
2008 and 2009; the increases in both years largely reflected increases in construction spending and in
compensation.
The tourism industry continued to weaken in 2008 and 2009, negatively impacting economic growth.
Spending by tourists makes up the vast majority of Guam’s exports of services. Real exports of services
declined 9.0 percent in 2009 after falling 12.1 percent in 2008 (see Table 3). These declines reflected
decreases in the number of visitors to Guam.
Real consumer spending fell 1.5 percent in 2009 after remaining unchanged in 2008 (see Table 3).
Consumer prices rose over this period, increasing 1.1 percent in 2009 after increasing 5.5 percent in 2008
(see Table 5).

1

These estimates are based on limited source data and are subject to revision.
On May 5, 2010, BEA released estimates of GDP for the period 2002 to 2007 for Guam, as well as for American Samoa, the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
3
In this news release, “consumer spending” refers to “personal consumption expenditures” and “government spending” refers
to “government consumption expenditures and gross investment.”
2

- more -

- 2Revisions
Estimates for 2002 to 2007 that were released on May 5, 2010 have been revised in order to incorporate
improvements to source data and estimation methodologies; these improvements include the following:
• Improving the methodology for measuring petroleum imports by incorporating information on liquid
fuel tax revenue from Guam’s Territorial Highway Fund.
• Incorporating improved source data for estimating federal government spending, including military
compensation.
• Updating territorial government spending to reflect restated revenues and expenses as reported in
audited annual financial statements.
The overall growth in the revised estimates is similar to that of the previously published estimates. From
2002 to 2007, real GDP increased at an average annual rate of 1.6 percent; in the previously published
estimates, the rate of change was 1.8 percent. Over the 2002 to 2007 period, real GDP growth peaked in
2004 and experienced a significant contraction in 2006. Percent changes in real GDP from the preceding
year -- revised and as published in last year's release -- are shown in Table 7.

Methodology
In constructing the estimates for Guam, BEA used methodologies consistent with the methods used to
estimate U.S. GDP. Information from the Economic Census of Island Areas was used to establish
benchmark levels of GDP for the years 2002 and 2007. For other years, annual series were developed
and used to estimate GDP. Because Guam is not included in most of the major surveys used by BEA to
estimate U.S. GDP, the support of government leaders in Guam and the assistance provided by the Guam
Bureau of Statistics and Plans, the Guam Department of Revenue and Taxation, the Guam Bureau of
Labor Statistics, and the Guam Bureau of Budget and Management Research were critical to the
successful production of the estimates presented in this release.

BEA’s national, international, regional, and industry statistics; the Survey of Current
Business; and BEA news releases are available without charge on BEA’s Web site at
www.bea.gov. By visiting the site, you can also subscribe to receive free e-mail
summaries of BEA releases and announcements.

- more -

Guam
Table 1. Gross Domestic Product
[Millions of dollars]
Line

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

1

3,314

3,435

3,717

4,003

4,004

4,141

4,255

4,491

Personal consumption expenditures

2

2,348

2,182

2,362

2,588

2,662

2,784

2,936

2,924

Private fixed investment

3

137

166

152

145

164

217

252

237

Net exports
Exports
Goods
Services
Imports
Goods
Services

4
5
6
7
8
9
10

-854
635
74
561
1,489
1,357
132

-824
574
73
501
1,398
1,257
141

-812
759
71
688
1,572
1,413
158

-908 -1,081 -1,351 -1,544 -1,486
858
838
829
803
720
70
80
115
133
98
788
759
714
670
622
1,766 1,919 2,180 2,347 2,206
1,579 1,733 1,949 2,091 1,965
187
186
231
256
241

Government consumption
expenditures and gross investment
Federal
Territorial

11
12
13

1,684
1,002
682

1,911
1,199
712

2,016
1,295
721

2,179
1,385
794

Gross domestic product

NOTE. Detail may not add to total because of rounding.

2,259
1,410
849

2,490
1,580
911

2,612
1,698
914

2,816
1,856
960

Guam
Table 2. Real Gross Domestic Product, Chained Dollars
[Millions of chained (2005) dollars]
Line

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

1

3,589

3,615

3,879

4,003

3,850

3,879

3,899

3,966

Personal consumption expenditures

2

2,490

2,286

2,450

2,588

2,557

2,603

2,602

2,563

Private fixed investment

3

156

185

161

145

155

200

228

219

Net exports
Exports
Goods
Services
Imports
Goods
Services

4
5
6
7
8
9
10

-1,041
763
86
677
1,804
1,648
157

-970
662
82
580
1,632
1,472
160

-874
822
77
745
1,696
1,526
170

-908 -1,016 -1,194 -1,237 -1,285
858
785
755
680
606
70
75
101
104
82
788
710
654
575
523
1,766 1,800 1,949 1,918 1,891
1,579 1,627 1,740 1,699 1,690
187
173
209
219
202

Government consumption
expenditures and gross investment
Federal
Territorial

11
12
13

1,959
1,175
782

2,110
1,332
777

2,143
1,379
764

2,179
1,385
794

Addenda:
Population (thousands)1
Per capita real GDP (chained dollars)

14
15

Gross domestic product

2,154
1,341
813

2,275
1,442
833

2,310
1,503
808

2,474
1,643
831

161.1 163.6 166.1 168.6 171.0 173.5 175.9 177.9
22,278 22,097 23,353 23,743 22,515 22,357 22,166 22,293

1. Source: 2008 Guam Statistical Yearbook; U.S. Census Bureau, International Database

Guam
Table 3. Percent Change From Preceding Year in Real Gross Domestic Product
[Percent]
Line
Gross domestic product

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

1

0.7

7.3

3.2

-3.8

0.8

0.5

1.7

Personal consumption expenditures

2

-8.2

7.2

5.6

-1.2

1.8

0.0

-1.5

Private fixed investment

3

19.0

-13.1

-10.2

7.2

29.0

14.1

-4.1

Net exports
Exports
Goods
Services
Imports
Goods
Services

4
5
6
7
8
9
10

……..
-13.2
-3.7
-14.4
-9.5
-10.6
2.0

……..
24.1
-6.4
28.5
3.9
3.6
6.1

……..
4.4
-9.0
5.8
4.1
3.5
9.9

……..
-8.5
6.7
-9.9
1.9
3.0
-7.3

……..
-3.8
34.8
-7.9
8.3
6.9
20.9

……..
-9.9
3.2
-12.1
-1.6
-2.3
4.6

……..
-10.9
-21.0
-9.0
-1.4
-0.6
-7.9

Government consumption
expenditures and gross investment
Federal
Territorial

11
12
13

7.7
13.3
-0.6

1.6
3.5
-1.7

1.7
0.4
3.9

-1.1
-3.2
2.5

5.6
7.5
2.5

1.6
4.3
-3.1

7.1
9.3
3.0

Guam
Table 4. Contributions to Percent Change in Real Gross Domestic Product
Line

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Percent change:
Gross domestic product
Percentage points:
Personal consumption expenditures

1

0.7

7.3

3.2

-3.8

0.8

0.5

1.7

2

-5.77

4.57

3.57

-0.77

1.19

-0.02

-1.01

Private fixed investment

3

0.78

-0.64

-0.42

0.26

1.19

0.74

-0.23

Net exports
Exports
Goods
Services
Imports
Goods
Services

4
5
6
7
8
9
10

1.75
-2.54
-0.08
-2.46
4.29
4.37
-0.08

2.49
4.13
-0.14
4.27
-1.64
-1.38
-0.26

-0.86
0.91
-0.18
1.09
-1.78
-1.35
-0.43

-2.72
-1.85
0.12
-1.97
-0.86
-1.21
0.35

-4.80
-0.79
0.71
-1.50
-4.01
-3.04
-0.97

-1.15
-2.03
0.09
-2.13
0.88
1.14
-0.26

-1.29
-2.03
-0.62
-1.41
0.74
0.27
0.47

Government consumption
expenditures and gross investment
Federal
Territorial

11
12
13

3.95
4.08
-0.13

0.89
1.25
-0.36

0.91
0.15
0.76

-0.61
-1.10
0.49

3.19
2.66
0.53

0.94
1.63
-0.69

4.27
3.64
0.63

Guam
Table 5. Percent Change From Preceding Year in Prices for Gross Domestic Product
and Price Indexes for Gross Domestic Product
Line
Gross domestic product
Personal consumption expenditures
Gross domestic product
Personal consumption expenditures

2002

2003

1

……..

2.9

2

……..

1.2

3

92.3

95.0

4

94.3

95.4

2004
0.8

2005

2006

2007

[Percent]
4.4
4.0

2008

2009

2.6

2.2

3.7

1.0
3.7
4.1
2.8
[Index numbers, 2005=100]
95.8 100.0 104.0 106.8

5.5

1.1

109.1

113.2

107.0

112.8

114.1

96.4

100.0

104.1

Table 6. Gross Domestic Income
[Millions of dollars]
Line

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Gross domestic income

1

3,314

3,435

3,717

4,003

4,004

4,141

4,255

4,491

Compensation of employees

2

2,181

2,410

2,470

2,583

2,675

2,844

3,029

3,178

Taxes on production and imports less subsidies

3

98

127

154

163

165

194

183

175

Gross operating surplus

4

1,035

898

1,093

1,257

1,164

1,103

1,043

1,138

2005

2006

2007

NOTE. Detail may not add to total because of rounding.

Table 7. Revisions to Percent Change in Real GDP
Line

2003

2004

Percent change:
Revised
Previously published

1
2

0.7
-0.2

7.3
8.1

3.2
4.2

-3.8
-3.4

0.8
0.7

Percentage points:
Revision

3

0.9

-0.8

-1.0

-0.4

0.1