For decades it was Nauru’s main resource and sole export, dominating the island’s economy, and its quality was the highest in the world. Phosphate has been mined on Nauru since 1907. Few comprehensive statistics on the Nauru economy exist; estimates of Nauru's GDP vary widely. Overview: In 2018 Nauru was the number 195 economy in the world in terms of GDP (current US$), the number 207 in total exports, and the number 206 in total imports.In 2018, Nauru exported $19.7M and imported $113M, resulting in a negative trade balance of -$93.7M. To cut costs the government has called for a freeze on wages, a reduction of over-staffed public service departments, privatization of numerous government agencies, and closure of some of Nauru's overseas consulates. It is hoped that this economic activity might lift Nauru from the bottom rung of global GDP per capita. Revenues of this tiny island have traditionally come from exports of phosphates, but reserves are now depleted. The economy of Nauru is tiny, based on a population in 2014 of only 11,000 people. In 1960, future president One apparently successful development project was in 1988, whereby the Royalty Trust purchased 600 acres (2.4 km The secondary phosphate deposits may last another 30 years. Nauru still exports small amount of phosphate but the revenue earned through it is not enough to sustain a population of 10,000. In 1970, the newly formed government purchased the full rights to the phosphate business from Australia for A$21 million. The phosphate industry and government services together provided almost all of the island’s salaried employment. In anticipation of the exhaustion of its phosphate deposits, substantial amounts of the income from phosphates were invested in trust funds aimed to help cushion the transition and provide for Nauru's economic future. Nauruan Foreign and Finance Minister Dr. Poor investments and corruption have left the trust fund nearly empty and therefore Nauru with little money. Foreign aid, chiefly from Australia, Taiwan and New Zealand, is the only thing keeping the Nauruans alive.
Few comprehensive statistics on the Nauru economy exist; estimates of Nauru's GDP vary widely. Nauru receives about US$20 million foreign aid a year from Australia.The nations economy has grown significantly since 2012, with help from the reopening of the The most recent 2017/2018 Nauru Budget indicates modest economic growth, with $128.7 million in revenues and $128.6 million in expenditures estimated.Phosphate is Nauru's only export product, although the government also receives relatively significant foreign exchange income from licensing its rich skipjack tuna fishing grounds to foreign fishing vessels, which land an annual average of 50,000 tonnes of Nauru zone-caught tuna overseas.Nauru needs to import almost all basic and capital goods, including food, water, fuel, and manufactured goods, with Australia and New Zealand as its major import sources. Nauru's government has been talking with Bendigo & Adelaide Bank Ltd., Australia's fifth-largest lender, to set up a branch on the islandHistorically Nauru was regarded as a tax haven due to the operation of its international financial centre, which offered amongst other things offshore banking services.In July 2017 the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) upgraded its rating of Nauru's standards of tax transparency.
In the year 1948, revenues from phosphate mining were A$745,000. The OECD subsequently put Nauru through a fast-tracked compliance process and the country was given a "largely compliant" rating.Currently, Nauru is heavily dependent on Australia as its major source of financial support.
The rehabilitation of mined land and the replacement of income from phosphates are serious long-term problems. The economy of Nauru and Ocean Island has been almost wholly dependent on phosphate, which has led to environmental catastrophe on these islands, with 80% of the nations’ surface having been strip-mined. Economic uncertainty caused by financial mismanagement and corruption, combined with shortages of basic goods, has resulted in some domestic unrest.