MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands releases “State of the Economy” and “Living Wage” reports

'A Living Wage for the Falkland Islands’ provides the first estimate of earnings necessary to comfortably cover all of a household’s outgoings in the Falkland Islands. (Pic CNN)

The Falkland Islands has released two new documents, the Islands State of the Economy and on income needed to comfortably cover all of a household's expenses. The Falklands enjoys one of the highest standards of living in the Americas with low inflation and virtually full employment.

 “These documents have been in the making for some time, and as well as providing helpful information for the people of the Falkland Islands, they will be a useful tool in budget preparation for FIG this year,” explained Head of the Policy Unit, Jamie Fotheringham.

The State of the Falkland Islands Economy’ document provides an accurate statement of how the Falkland Islands economy is performing, analysis of key issues and challenges moving forward and an industry-by-industry breakdown of the economy.

Economist Ville Peltovuori was responsible for preparing ‘The State of the Falkland Islands Economy’ and is excited to see the project come to fruition: “It was a big project, pulling together information from each sector of the economy, finding the trends, and examining some of the challenges the Falkland Islands might face in the future. We haven’t made any official recommendations in the report, the goal was to be able to demonstrate the state our economy is currently in.”

'A Living Wage for the Falkland Islands’ provides the first estimate of earnings necessary to comfortably cover all of a household’s outgoings in the Falkland Islands.

Jamie Fotheringham explained the process behind the Living Wage calculation. “This has been a really interesting piece of work for the Policy Unit to undertake, and something we’ve spent a lot of time on. A nutritionist helped us model a balanced diet to help us calculate the cost of food needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle, we looked at the cost of heating and electricity, a whole range of things. What’s important to note is that we looked only at things a household might need, rather than everything a household might spend money on. For this reason, alcohol and tobacco haven’t been included, and nor has a vehicle. But we have looked at the cost of nursery care, for example. In almost every case, the cost of food was the single biggest component of a household’s outgoings.”