Arctic Yearbook 2014 | Page 31

Arctic Yearbook 2014 31 Combined  export  &  important  goods  from  1982  to2010   in  constant  1979  prices   1,600   Millions  of  DKK   1,400   1,200   1,000   800   600   Combined  export   Fish  and  shellFish  and   products  hereof   Ore  and  metal  residue   400   200   Other  exports   0   Figure 2: Key export product groups from 1982-2010 at constant 1979 prices. The only significant exports for the period, in addition to seafood, are lead and zinc ore from the Maarmorilik mine, which closed in 1990. The geographic and economic centralization has not reduced Greenland’s almost mono-product economic dependence on exports of fish and seafood (Figure 2), and the value of exports has been gradually decreasing while imports have been increasing. The overall development has meant that many of the cities and villages are now left without any real business or livelihood besides maintaining the settlement’s operation (Hendriksen 2013). The large imbalance between exports and imports has prohibited the creation of a self-sustaining economy in Greenland, and left Denmark funding half of the public spending through transfer payments (Figure 3). Hendriksen & Christensen