The country relies almost totally on imports, as there is no local manufacturing or production industries and very limited capacity for agriculture, as a result, although the market meets current local requirements it would be reliant on scaling up imports to meet any demand surges. 

Tuvalu’s main export is non-fillet frozen fish, around 60 per cent of imports are primary products (fuel, food) 

Merchandise exports as a percentage of GDP in Tuvalu are very low (less than 1 per cent) while merchandise imports are high (over 50 per cent of GDP) 

The small market of Tuvalu discourages competition. Most basic services and infrastructure are State-Owned Entities (SOEs). 

To encourage competition, the Government of Tuvalu through the Ministry of Finance has engaged the services of the Pacific Private Sector Development Initiative to review the current framework for market operation with an emphasis on competition. This engagement is currently in progress.  

Naficot Fish Market is a segment of the National Fishing corporation of Tuvalu that focuses on meeting local demand for fish products including; fresh, smoked and salted fish. As fish forms part of the staple diet,  it is crucial to sustain the supply of fish products  

Fishermen on Funafuti (FOFA) Fish Market provides storage and market facilities to sell fish supplied by small commercial fishermen and the 81-members of FOFA. With the introduction of the Food Bank Mechanism under the Tuvalu Sustainable Healthy Food Strategy, FOFA aims to diversify its products to include agricultural and fishery products from the outer islands. 

Generic country information can be located from sources which are regularly maintained and reflect current facts and figures. For a general overview of country data related to the service and supply sectors, please consult the following sources: 

The Observatory of Economic Complexity – MIT (OEC): IN https://oec.world/en/profile/country/tuv)  

Tuvalu Trade Portal https://tuvalu.tradeportal.org/media/tuvalu_05.pdf  

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