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Alaska Economy

Natural Gas in Alaska

Economy at a Glance of Alaska

Economy of Alaska

The economy of a country basically includes the money it brings in by providing something which rest of the countries of the world wants to buy.  In 1959 when Alaska was declared as a state, its economy was almost dependent on the government of United States and rest of the balance was made up by commercial fishing, lumbering and limited gold & gravel mining. In 1970s with the development of petroleum industry this situation got improved. And in 1977 with the construction of Trans- Alaska pipeline, there was a gradual increase in the income and also the number of people in the Alaska. The Alaska had only very little agriculture.  Green house and dairy products were the most valuable farm products of Alaska.

 Some of the most important practices which contributed a lot towards Alaska’s economy are:

Alaska Fishing

Among the 50 states of United States, Alaska’s fishing is the most valuable one. And according to the recent study report submitted to the state Legislature, fishing or the commercial fisheries are the main drivers of Alaska’s economy. The fisheries industry accounts for about 25,000 full time jobs which included fish harvesting and processing, and about 11,000 employers in the peripheral sector of commercial fishery. Among the total employers 11,000 are Alaskan natives. Alaska’s most important commercial fishing ports are located at Kodiak and Unalaska or Dutch Harbor. During the 1980s, commercial fishing produced about one billion pounds of products and thus the Fishing industry ranked second just behind the petroleum sector. The fishes mostly caught are cod, flounder, Pollock, salmon, rockfish and sable fish. Apart from fish other sea foods included are king crab, Dungeness crab, snow crab, shrimp, scallops, sea urchins and herring eggs.

Alaska Agriculture

Agriculture of Alaska was clustered an area of 880,000 acre situated in the northeast of Alaska at Matanuska Valley. The agricultural production mainly aimed at consumption for people within the state. Agriculture includes three main practices. They are raising of live stock, cultivating the soil & crop production. But this altogether constituted only a fraction towards the Alaska’s economy. Raising live stock helped in producing the most valuable products like eggs, milk, beef cattle. Alaskans also raised chicken, lamp and sheep. Raising of live stock also included reindeer hunting and fur farming. Even though there were many tillable lands available for crop production in Alaska only very few among them were used for production. The crop production firm was so under developed so most of the food products were imported to the country. The most important crops grown in Alaska are potatoes, hay and barley.

Alaska Mining

The Alaska’s mineral wealth mainly included its oil deposits. About 95% of the mining income comes from oil deposits and thus have attracted the world’s attention. Vast reserves of oil and natural gases were discovered in 1968 near Prudhoe Bay located in the northern slope of Alaska. The petroleum reserve of this place had twice the size of any other reservoirs of Northern America. A 1977, Trans-Alaska pipe line which measured about 1,287 km was held between the Northern slope and the ice-free port of Valdez. In 1977, a fund namely The Alaska Permanent Fund was created to provide the Alaska with the income after the oil reserves has depleted and the dividends are paid to all the residents. This fund receives 25 % oil royalty income Alaska. In 1980s the collapse of oil price affected the Alaska’s economy a lot and there was severe problem of unemployment. 1n 1990s the state started recovering and the problem of unemployment was also reduced to a great extend. Other products mined in Alaska are gold, copper, tin, mercury, coal, platinum, zinc and molybdenum. In 1990s, the gold mining was led to a settlement and thus no longer mined in quality.

Alaska Tourism

In 2003 tourism brought about $ 1.5 billion to the state and this constituted 5% of Alaska’s gross state product. It was estimated that in 2003 about 1.4 billion tourists visited Alaska. Over 25,000 jobs were generated through tourism but most of them were of low payment. The most important tourist destination is the Denali National Park. It was after the improvement in transport facilities that the tourism developed so well.

Alaska Services

Government services which include general, federal and local forms were one of the major sources of employment in Alaska. Other services include hospitals, educational institutions and military.

The Alaska’s gross product in 2007 was $ 44.9 billion and was ranked 45th position in the United States. In this year the per capita personal income was $ 40,042, and was ranked 15th in the nation. Thus to conclude, oil and gas industry contributed the most towards Alaska’s economy. About 80 % of Alaska’s revenues were derived from extraction of petroleum. Apart from oil and gas, Alaska’s main export products were sea foods especially salmon, cod and pollock. The contribution of agriculture towards the Alaska’s economy was very less and mainly aimed at consumption within the state. Manufacturing process were not so successful in Alaska and most of the goods were exported from outside.

Alaska Economics Statistics

Alaska Empoyment Status

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