Newly published estimates of gross domestic product for Guam show that real GDP – GDP adjusted to remove price changes – increased 0.6 percent in 2013.
For comparison, real GDP for the U.S. (excluding the territories) increased 2.2 percent in 2013. The growth in Guam’s economy reflected an increase in private fixed investment that was partly offset by a decrease in exports of services. Private fixed investment, which includes spending by businesses on construction and equipment, increased 34.3 percent. Construction spending accounted for the majority of this growth; major projects occurring over this period included the construction of Guam’s first private hospital and a new luxury hotel in Tumon Bay.
Exports of services, which consists primarily of spending by tourists, decreased 4.6 percent. This was the first decrease since 2009. Although total arrivals increased in 2013, expenditures by Japanese visitors, who make up the majority of Guam’s tourist market, declined.