HAGATNA, Guam-The Bureau of Economic Analysis released yesterday estimates of gross domestic product for Guam for 2010 and revised estimates for 2002 to 2009.1 IBEA-for the first time-also includes estimates of GDP by industry, compensation by industry, and detailed consumer spending. 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.
GDP for 2010
The estimates for Guam show that real GDP-GDP adjusted to remove price changes-increased 1.2 percent. For comparison, real GDP for the U.S. (excluding the territories) increased 2.4 percent in 2010.
The growth in the economy in 2010 reflected increases in territorial government and federal government spending. The trade balance also contributed to economic growth as imports of goods and services declined more rapidly than exports. Economic growth was tempered by a decline in consumer spending.
More detailed estimates of consumer spending are being released for the first time and show that, for 2010, spending on both goods and services fell. Within goods, spending on durable and nondurable goods contributed to the decline. Net foreign travel, calculated as spending by Guam residents abroad less spending by nonresidents in Guam, also contributed negatively to growth in consumer spending as spending by visitors to Guam outpaced spending by Guam residents abroad.
GDP by Industry and Compensation by Industry
The new estimates of gross domestic product by industry provide additional information on economic growth and complement the aggregate GDP estimates that have been published since 2010. While the GDP estimates show how much the entire economy has grown (or contracted), the GDP by industry estimates show how major industries have contributed to that growth.
For Guam, the GDP by industry estimates show that the public sector contributed positively to overall GDP growth in 2010. Within the private sector, the construction industry contributed positively to overall growth, as did Guam's accommodations and amusement industry, which grew for the first time since 2004.
The compensation by industry estimates show trends in compensation for major industries. Total compensation grew in 2010, reflecting increases in all major sectors of the economy. An increase in compensation of federal government employees was the largest contributor.
Revisions to GDP
Estimates of GDP for 2002 to 2009 that were released on July 18, 2011, have been revised in order to incorporate improvements to source data and estimation methodologies. Major improvements are:
-Improved methodologies for estimating consumer spending on goods and services;
-The incorporation of newly available data from the U.S. Census Bureau;
-The incorporation of newly available source data for territorial government spending from government financial statements for fiscal year 2010;
-The incorporation of newly available source data on federal government defense spending.
The pattern of growth in the revised estimates is similar to that of the previously published estimates for all years. In both the revised and the published estimates, real GDP increased in all years except 2006.
Future directions
Moving forward, an agreement between OIA and BEA will extend and improve the estimates of GDP for Guam. The information provided by the Guam Government will continue to be critical to the successful production of these estimates.
BEA currently plans to release estimates for 2011 in the spring of 2013. (BEA)
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