Asia Regional Integration Center

Growth accelerated from 3.2% in 2017 to 4.3% in 2018, driven by higher government spending on large infrastructure projects—new housing for the June 2018 Polynesian Leaders Group Summit and the upcoming September 2019 Pacific Islands Forum. The increased spending was supported by a recovery in fishing license revenue, which jumped 84.8% in 2018, with the receipt of a one-off 2018 payment from a subregional pooling scheme. Growth is projected to accelerate to 4.1% in 2019 and 4.4% in 2020 on the implementation of infrastructure projects supported by development partners. However, weaker fishing revenue over the next 2 years and sustained import growth will push the current account into deficit in 2019 and further in 2020.