nership of some large banks and industrial firms. Real
growth in GNP has averaged about 9% a year during the past three
decades. Export growth has been even faster and has provided the
impetus for industrialization. Inflation and unemployment are
remarkably low. Agriculture contributes about 4% to GDP, down from 35%
in 1952. Taiwan currently ranks as number 13 among major trading
countries. Traditional labor-intensive industries are steadily being
replaced with more capital- and technology-intensive industries.
Taiwan has become a major investor in China, Thailand, Indonesia, the
Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam. The tightening of labor markets
has led to an influx of foreign workers, both legal and illegal.

National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $257 billion (1994
est.)

National product real growth rate: 6% (1994 est.)

National product per capita: $12,070 (1994 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.2% (1994 est.)

Unemployment rate: 1.6% (1994)

Budget:
revenues: $30.3 billion
expenditures: $30.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1991 est.)

Exports: $93 billion (f.o.b., 1994)
commodities: electrical machinery 19.7%, electronic products 19.6%,
textiles 10.9%, footwear 3.3%, foodstuffs 1.0%, plywood and wood
products 0.9% (1993 est.)
partners: US 27.6%, Hong Kong 21.7%, EC countries 15.2%, Japan 10.5%
(1994 est.)

Imports: $85.1 billion (c.i.f., 1994)
commodities: machinery and equipment 15.7%, electronic products 15.6%,
chemicals 9.8%, iron and steel 8.5%, crude oil 3.9%, foodstuffs 2.1%
(1993 est.)
partners: Japan 30.1%, US 21.7%, EC countries 17.6% (1993 est.)

External debt: $620 million (1992 est.)

Industrial production: growth rate 4.5% (1994 est.); accounts for more
than 40% of GDP

Electricity:
capacity: 21,460,000 kW
production: 108 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 4,789 kWh (1993)

Industries: electronics, textiles, chemicals, clothing, food
processing, plywood, sugar milling, cement, shipbuilding, petroleum
refining

Agriculture: accounts for 4% of GDP and 16% of labor force (includes
part-time farmers); heavily subsidized sector; major crops -
vegetables, rice, fruit, tea; livestock - hogs, poultry, beef, milk;
not self-sufficient in wheat, soybeans, corn; fish catch increasing,
reached 1.4 million metric tons in 1988

Illicit drugs: an important heroin transit point; also a major drug
money launde