Guam’s economy spans government activity, construction, tourism, transportation, and trade. Real GDP rose 5.1% in 2022 after 2.1% growth in 2021, while employment, visitor counts, federal awards, airport traffic, and port freight show how the island’s economic base has changed across different measurement periods.
Contents
- GDP and major spending components
- Employment and unemployment
- Earnings and construction
- Federal activity and tourism
- Airport activity and finances
- Port freight and containers
GDP and major spending components
The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that Guam real GDP increased 2.1% in 2021 and 5.1% in 2022. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Summary Economic Indicators lists current-dollar GDP at $6.051 billion in 2018, $6.355 billion in 2019, $5.916 billion in 2020, $6.234 billion in 2021, and $6.910 billion in 2022.
Those current-dollar figures describe the value of production in the dollars of each year. The same BLS summary reports real GDP in chained 2012 dollars at $5.508 billion in 2018, $5.647 billion in 2019, $5.053 billion in 2020, $5.157 billion in 2021, and $5.420 billion in 2022. The real series is useful for viewing output across years without treating price changes as changes in production.
| Year | Current-dollar GDP | Real GDP, chained 2012 dollars |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | $6.051 billion | $5.508 billion |
| 2019 | $6.355 billion | $5.647 billion |
| 2020 | $5.916 billion | $5.053 billion |
| 2021 | $6.234 billion | $5.157 billion |
| 2022 | $6.910 billion | $5.420 billion |
Private consumption in real GDP was $3.418 billion in 2018, $3.421 billion in 2019, $3.305 billion in 2020, $3.408 billion in 2021, and $3.450 billion in 2022, according to the BLS Summary Economic Indicators. Government consumption expenditures and gross investment were $3.003 billion, $3.115 billion, $3.406 billion, $3.547 billion, and $3.595 billion in those same years.
The two series describe different parts of measured demand. Private consumption was close to $3.4 billion in 2018 and 2019, fell to $3.305 billion in 2020, and reached $3.450 billion in 2022. Government consumption expenditures and gross investment increased each year in this five-year series, from $3.003 billion in 2018 to $3.595 billion in 2022.
Employment and unemployment
BLS employment statistics show total employment on Guam at 60,680 in March 2021, 62,280 in March 2022, 66,340 in March 2023, 67,860 in March 2024, and 67,800 in March 2025. Private-sector employment was 45,010, 46,350, 50,020, 51,800, and 51,900 in those March observations.
The public-sector categories moved differently. Federal government employment was 3,920 in March 2021 and March 2022, 4,080 in March 2023, 3,930 in March 2024, and 4,010 in March 2025. Government of Guam employment was 11,750, 12,010, 12,240, 12,130, and 11,890 in the same sequence.
The Guam unemployment rate was 16.5% in March 2021, 5.1% in March 2022, 4.3% in March 2023, and 4.0% in both March 2024 and March 2025. These are March measurements, so they should not be read as annual averages.
| March measurement | Total employment | Private sector | Unemployment rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 60,680 | 45,010 | 16.5% |
| 2022 | 62,280 | 46,350 | 5.1% |
| 2023 | 66,340 | 50,020 | 4.3% |
| 2024 | 67,860 | 51,800 | 4.0% |
| 2025 | 67,800 | 51,900 | 4.0% |
Earnings and construction
Private nonsupervisory weekly earnings rose from $554.28 in March 2021 to $617.28 in March 2022, $656.61 in March 2023, and $710.56 in March 2024, before registering $707.16 in March 2025. These BLS figures apply to private nonsupervisory workers and are not a measure of every worker’s pay.
Average weekly earnings for the Government of Guam were $1,119.47 in March 2021, $1,130.63 in March 2022, $1,130.04 in March 2023, $1,233.08 in March 2024, and $1,319.48 in March 2025. The public and private measures cover different worker groups, so they are best read as separate series.
Construction employment expanded from 8,590 in March 2021 to 9,700 in March 2022, 11,250 in March 2023, and 13,000 in March 2024. It was 12,320 in March 2025. Construction therefore remained a large measured employment category even after the March 2024 level.
Building permits totaled $307.928 million in fiscal 2021, $580.040 million in fiscal 2022, $253.860 million in fiscal 2023, $378.313 million in fiscal 2024, and $373.292 million in fiscal 2025. The BLS Summary Economic Indicators also reports Department of Defense construction contracts of $473.159 million, $799.917 million, $754.577 million, $626.521 million, and $956.309 million across fiscal 2021 through fiscal 2025.
Total construction activity was $781.087 million in fiscal 2021, $1.379957 billion in fiscal 2022, $1.008437 billion in fiscal 2023, $1.004613 billion in fiscal 2024, and $1.329601 billion in fiscal 2025. These fiscal-year measures distinguish the construction pipeline from March employment observations.
Federal activity and tourism
Department of Defense expenditures and obligations were $2.0996 billion in fiscal 2021, $1.7765 billion in fiscal 2022, $2.3561 billion in fiscal 2023, $2.5036 billion in fiscal 2024, and $2.6381 billion in fiscal 2025. Non-defense and other federal expenditures and obligations were $3.1223 billion, $1.2561 billion, $1.2772 billion, $1.4065 billion, and $1.4806 billion across the same fiscal years.
Total federal amount awarded was $5.2219 billion in fiscal 2021, $3.0326 billion in fiscal 2022, $3.6333 billion in fiscal 2023, $3.9101 billion in fiscal 2024, and $4.1187 billion in fiscal 2025. These categories measure federal awards, expenditures, or obligations rather than GDP, and their fiscal-year timing differs from the GDP series.
Total visitors to Guam were 61,607 in fiscal 2021, 216,915 in fiscal 2022, 602,263 in fiscal 2023, 752,572 in fiscal 2024, and 729,124 in fiscal 2025. Occupancy tax collected was $13,002,438, $16,778,559, $26,142,339, $33,346,720, and $30,235,927 in those fiscal years.
The FY 2024 Citizen-Centric Report gives a related airport visitor-market figure of 752,479 travelers, equal to 46.2% of the pre-COVID FY 2019 total of 1,628,565 visitors. It also says the FY 2024 visitor market remained heavily dependent on Japanese and South Korean tourism. The two FY 2024 visitor figures come from different reported measures and should not be combined.
Airport activity and finances
According to the FY 2024 Citizen-Centric Report, Guam airport passenger movements reached 1,972,461 in FY 2024, up 21% from 1,629,183 in FY 2023. Enplanements were 1,050,574, equal to 53.2% of total passenger traffic, while arriving passengers were 921,887, equal to 46.7%.
Aircraft movements reached 31,022 in FY 2024, up 12% from 27,692 in FY 2023. Airline partners moved 10,659 metric tons of cargo and 14,869 metric tons of mail. Gross take-off weight reached 2,485,619 thousand pounds.
Airport total revenues were $79.055800 million in FY 2024, up 29.6% from $60.997819 million in FY 2023. Operating revenues were $62.488858 million, or 79.0% of total revenues, compared with $46,973,792 in FY 2023. Non-operating revenues were $16,566,942 in FY 2024, compared with $14,024,027 in FY 2023.
Facilities and systems usage charges produced $32,556,975, or 41.2% of total revenues. Concession fees were $12,862,403, rental income was $11,411,484, and miscellaneous income was $5,657,996. Total airport expenses were $98.934904 million. Operating expenses were $51,715,159, depreciation and amortization was $33,380,989, and non-operating expenses were $13,838,756. The report states that EY issued an unmodified clean opinion on the FY 2024 financial statements.
Port freight and containers
The Port Authority of Guam’s FY 2024 tonnage report lists 1,160,404 total revenue tons: 806,244 import tons, 115,415 export tons, and 238,745 transshipment tons. Domestic revenue tons totaled 786,829, including 97,765 breakbulk tons and 689,064 containerized tons. Foreign revenue tons totaled 373,575, including 113,295 breakbulk tons and 260,280 containerized tons.
The port handled 85,258 containers in FY 2024, including 43,184 import containers and 42,074 export containers. Monthly total revenue tons ranged from 76,065 in February 2024 to 121,288 in November 2023.
| Port month | Imports | Exports | Transshipment | Total revenue tons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2023 | 67,533 | 8,354 | 18,326 | 94,213 |
| November 2023 | 83,277 | 9,755 | 28,256 | 121,288 |
| February 2024 | 51,625 | 7,642 | 16,798 | 76,065 |
| May 2024 | 72,812 | 11,276 | 23,474 | 107,562 |
| July 2024 | 77,743 | 11,508 | 21,113 | 110,364 |
| September 2024 | 61,113 | 11,129 | 23,570 | 95,812 |
Other monthly totals in the report were 90,088 tons in December 2023, 90,191 in January 2024, 93,727 in March, 101,586 in April, 88,147 in June, and 91,361 in August. The corresponding monthly import, export, and transshipment figures provide a detailed view of freight flow rather than a measure of GDP or household consumption.