GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT 2017

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimation for 2017 has been undertaken by the Vanuatu Statistics Office (VSO) and the results warrant this preliminary release. The compilation of national accounts statistics is a dynamic process, and therefore needs to adapt to reflect a variety of measures and indicators consistent with the development and structural changes in the economy over a period of time. It is therefore expected that revisions and updates are made to previous period as new source data are brought into the model and validated. This release however concentrates on GDP by production as the official estimates and continues to compute and monitor GDP from expenditure as a potential methodology for the estimation of quarterly GDP.

The GDP growth of 4.4 per cent in 2017 was mainly driven by industry, followed by services and agriculture. Though the overall performance in industry has continued from the strong growth in two previous years, its contribution to GDP growth is less than services and agriculture. In terms of contribution by industries, services have the largest share of 65 per cent which contributes to a positive growth of 1.8 per cent in 2017 followed by agriculture fishing and forestry.

Agriculture, Fishing and Forestry has continued to grow following the level of output shown in 2016 by registering a positive growth of 0.4 per cent. The sub-components of agriculture that contribute to this positive growth, were crop production, which grew by 0.4 per cent, followed by fishing at 3.9 per cent and forestry at 1.5 per cent, while animal production decline by 3.1 per cent. Crop production forms a dominant 80 per cent share of the total output in agriculture; therefore a weak growth has driven the industry down contributing to slow growth in overall agriculture industry. Copra production continues to grow following the rise in 2016 average price from VT 51,000 to 59,000 per ton in 2017. Cocoa price were more stable than in previous years; however production has been restricted over long period of time due to low yield from plantation where trees were old and unproductive. The level of production has gone down in 2017 compared to 2016.

Key Findings—Ni-Vanuatu Well-being Survey, 2010-2011

Resource Access

The vast majority—92%—of ni-Vanuatu households in rural areas (where 75% of the population reside) have access to customary lands which both house and feed all but 5%. People with access to customary lands are, on average, happier than those without access. Roughly 10% of those with access to customary lands are admittedly unsure of their boundaries. Less than 10% of those with access to customary lands have parcels under active formal or informal lease agreement, with roughly half of those with lands under lease agreement reporting no future plans with leased lands once the agreement(s) expires. When asked the relative size of accessible customary lands, 88% reported it being enough or more than enough to meet their family's needs. It was discovered that 93% of households report having full or partial access to forest resources, and 80% reported full or partial access to marine resources.

Culture

Indigenous languages remain widely practiced in Vanuatu. They are the first languages learned for 92% of ni-Vanuatu and, of those indigenous first learners, 94% report strong comprehension as well as ability to speak their indigenous language. Traditional knowledge, measured through ones understanding of the traditional planting calendar, family history and place, and local flora and fauna, is quite strong with 97% of respondents having a strong or moderate understanding. Traditional wisdom, however, measured through ones understanding of traditional stories, dances, songs, and games passed down for generations, is relatively weak with 47% deficient in all categories. Traditional production skills are quite prevalent with members of 41% of ni Vanuatu households able to perform 10 common tasks and 61% able to perform 5 basic tasks, including planting and harvesting crops, roasting food, producing medicines and producing materials used for housing—all skills that reduce dependency on cash for decent livelihoods. Traditional wealth items, identified as those objects which have traditional exchange value (for purposes of this study, the common TWIs were identified as pigs, yams, mats, and kava), are highly accessible without needing cash. 66% of ni-Vanuatu have free access to all TWIs while an additional 31% have free access to some. Participation in traditional ceremonial activities, including but not limited to marriage, death, circumcision, status, reconciliation, birth, and harvest ceremonies, is very important or important for 92% of ni-Vanuatu. Individuals who place higher importance on participation in traditional ceremonial activities are, on average, happier than those who place little or no importance on such activities.

Community Vitality

A majority of communities in Vanuatu have meetings either regularly or as needed, with only 22% of respondents reporting their communities do not meet. Of those whose community meets, a majority, or 56% of respondents, occasionally go to meetings, with an additional 34% reporting regular attendance at community meetings. Individuals who attend and participate in community meetings are, on average, happier than those that do
not. When asked to assess their chiefs' ability to communicate, settle disputes, manage community assets, and adhere to customs, 67% of ni-Vanuatu provided a fully positive assessment, with only 2% having a fully negative opinion of their chiefs' abilities. The rate of voluntarism in the 12 month period prior to the survey was 83%. Less than 10% of ni-Vanuatu have a low level of trust in their neighbors. In material terms, 38% of ni-Vanuatu perceive their family as being equal with other families in their community—32% view themselves as worse off, and 11% as better off. In a prioritization of select Melanesian values, the top three considered by 90% or more ni- Vanuatu as very important or important are: 1) Going to church; 2) Respect for family, and; 3) Respect for chiefs.

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Identifying the household factors, and food items, most important to nutrition in Vanuatu is designed to help policy-makers designed targeted interventions to improve the availability of a lower cost, nutritionally superior diet. It uses empirical methods to identify which households are most at risk of poor nutrition outcomes in Vanuatu, using micro-data from the Household Income and Expenditure diary.

It first establishes the average daily intake levels of energy and micronutrients among households in Vanuatu, and compares these with recommended intake levels. Subsequently the analysis provides for those households who consume a diet which provides less than 50% or more than 150% of the recommended daily intake levels of calories, total fat, vitamin A, iron, protein and sodium. Using probit regression analysis, it investigates whether insufficient of excessive consumption of these micro and macronutrients is positively or negatively correlated with indicators of income and food poverty identified in the literature on Pacific populations: location (urban or rural); the composition of income (subsistence or waged); the number and ratio of dependents to working age adults in the household; the gender and education level of the household head; and the types of housing construction materials and furnishings used by the household. The paper also compares changes in average household food baskets across urban and rural areas, and populations satisfying and not satisfying the recommended micro and macronutrient intake levels. Finally, the analysis report  identifies the optimum food basket for assisting households meet the recommended energy and nutrient dietary intake levels at the lowest cost.