Editing Economy of French Polynesia (section)

=== 21st century ===
{{unreferenced section|date=May 2020}}
Tourism accounts nowadays for about 13% of the GDP, and is a primary source of foreign [[currency]] earnings. The tourist industry was heavily impacted after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the 2008 economic crises, and never really recovered since. There are around 160,000 tourists per year. The local government mostly focuses its action at developing a high-end market with luxurious hotels built with foreign investment and French tax cut incentives, but many of these investments close after a few years. The subsidized air company Air Tahiti Nui brings tourists from France, Los Angeles, Japan and China. Other companies also operate, like Air France and Air New Zealand.

The small [[manufacturing]] sector primarily processes [[agriculture|agricultural]] products. Vanilla and pearls are its main exports.

The public administration is an important part of the GDP and a provider of stable employment. The French republic finances the functionaries working in education, justice, hospitals, gendarmerie (military police), and military. The local government controls its own administration, like the ministry of agriculture, and oversees the administration and buildings of some sectors like schools. The local government also influence a large part of the economy through subsidies and development programs.

Some parts of the economy involve quasi-monopolistic groups due to the small economy size, the challenges of a country of small islands spread in a huge oceanic space, and the action of the government through subsidies and public companies. Some sectors show an important horizontal and vertical integration trend. Recently, the local government tries to maintain a healthy competition and regulate the growth of the biggest groups, but face many challenges. For example, it was unable to prevent a major supermarket group to develop its own vegetable production, ending its supplying contracts with local farmers. But it blocked the merger of two local shipping companies to avoid a monopoly on some trade routes. The price of shipping goods between islands is fixed by the government, and subsidies are provided for transporting some items like farming products or construction materials.

Some products' price margins are controlled by the local government to reduce the disparity of prices between the different archipelagos. Import taxes and VAT are fixed and collected by the local government that also control what imports are allowed to protect its agriculture and nature from diseases and invasive species.

The majority of the population is of mixed Polynesian and European origin. Around 5% of the population is of Asian origin, descending from farm workers imported in the 19th century to work in the cotton fields. They are present in the administration and trading sector of the economy. The recent metropolitan population is mostly involved in the state administration and in small and medium-sized enterprises.