After the establishment of the CEP (Centre d'Experimentation du Pacifique) in 1963, the standard of living in French Polynesia increased considerably and as a result, many Polynesians abandoned traditional activities and many islanders decided to emigrate to the capital of Tahiti: Papeete .
Even though the standard of living in Polynesia is elevated (due mainly to France's monetary input), the economy is extremely reliant on imports.The main trading partners are: France (about 40% of imports and about 25% of exports), the USA, Japan, Australia and New-Zealand.
French Polynesia exports mostly pearls(about 30% of exports), vanilla, fruits, flowers, monoi, fish, coprah oil, noni. But the exports only represent 20% of the imports (mostly equipment and food).
Unemployment affects about 13% of the active population, especially women and unqualified young people. Iin remote islands and some atolls, this is not really a problem but in Tahiti, it has created some social concerns.
At the cessation of CEP activities, France signed the Progress Pact with the Terrirory and decided to compensate the loss of financial resources and assist in many fields such as education, tourism, etc...Transfers to the Territory will be of about US$150 Million per year until December 31, 2005.

The economic sectors sorted by revenues in 1999: Source: DIXIT 2000- Editions Creaprint-

1/Commercial sector:
Increased market share for the large distribution: large supermarkets like Continent ( 13.45 Milliards FCFP), Tropic (3.59 Milliards FCFP), Cash and Carry ( 2.5 Milliards FCFP).
Reduced competitive pressure for the independant stores.
Unlike the ready-to-wear clothes retailers , the specialized retailers such as computer, sports show growth.
Increase of sales in oil companies and automobiles: Total (6.68 Milliards FCFP), Shell (4.8 Milliards FCFP in1998 and 5.4 Milliards FCFP in 1999)and Sopadep (4.8 Milliards FCFP), Renault (3.1 Milliards FCFP) and Tahiti Automobile ( 2,4 Milliards) .

2/Touristic sector:
The airline Air Tahiti (8.07 Milliards FCFP),the Beachcomber hotels(4.38 Milliards FCFP), Club Med (4 Milliards FCFP) and the travel agency Tahiti Nui Travel (2.7 Milliards FCFP in 1998 and 3.2 Milliards FCFP in 1999, mainly "receptive").
There were 210 800 tourists in 1999(11% more than in 1998). Increase mostly due to the american market (about 71000 american tourists in 1999) and the development of cruises . Marked trend in increasing the hotel room capacity.

3/Industrial sector:
Electricité de Tahiti (12.87 Milliards FCFP), the Brasserie de Tahiti ( 7.89 Milliards FCFP in 1998 and 8.55 Milliards FCFP in 1999), the Cegelec(3.36 Milliards in 1998 and 4 Milliards in 1999).
Positive impact of the growth of the household consumption, especially in the Building Industry, with a booming property/real estate market.