Economy of Samoa
Statistics | |
---|---|
GDP | |
GDP growth |
|
GDP per capita | |
3.672% (2018)[1] | |
External | |
Main export partners |
|
Main import partners |
|
The economy of
Trade
New Zealand is Samoa's principal trading partner, typically providing between 35% and 40% of imports and purchasing 45%–50% of exports. Australia, American Samoa, the United States, and Fiji are also important trading partners. Its main imports are food and beverages, industrial supplies, and fuels. The primary sector (agriculture, forestry, and fishing) employs nearly two-thirds of the labor force and produces 17% of GDP. Samoa's principal exports are refined petroleum, fish, and coconut products.[5]
Fishing has had some success in Samoan waters, but the biggest fisheries industry (headed by Van Camp and StarKist) has been based in American Samoa. StarKist Management announced that it was going ahead with setting up at Asau a blast-freezer project to be operational by 2002. This announcement dispelled a growing suspicion about the genuine motives of StarKist to move to Samoa. The proposed blast-freezer operations in Asau were expected to bring this village back to life.[citation needed]
Non-conventional sources of revenue
Samoa annually receives important financial assistance from abroad. More than 100,000 Samoans who live overseas provide two sources of revenue. Their direct remittances have amounted to $12.1 million per year recently, and they account for more than half of all tourist visits. In addition to the expatriate community, Samoa also receives roughly $28 million annually in
In the late 1960s,
Agriculture
Samoa produced in 2018:
- 180 thousand tons of coconut;
- 25 thousand tons of taro;
- 22 thousand tons of banana;
- 6.6 thousand tons of yam;
- 4.6 thousand tons of pineapple;
- 4.1 thousand tons of mango (including mangosteen and guava);
- 3.4 thousand tons of papaya;
In addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products.[7]
Manufacturing
Until 2017 industry accounted for over one-quarter of GDP while employing less than 6% of the work force. The largest industrial venture was Yazaki Samoa, a Japanese-owned company processing automotive wire harnesses for export to Australia under a concessional market-access arrangement. The Yazaki plant employed more than 2,000 workers and made up over 20% of the manufacturing sector's total output. Net receipts amounted to between $1.5 million and $3.03 million annually, although shipments from Yazaki was counted as services (export processing) and therefore did not officially appear as merchandise exports. Yazaki Samoa closed down in 2017,[8] but in the same year Fero, a New Zealand manufacturer producing wiring units, set up in Samoa in the same plant used by Yazaki.[9]
Natural disasters
This section needs to be updated.(March 2021) |
The effects of three natural disasters in the early 1990s were overcome by the middle of the decade, but economic growth cooled again with the regional economic downturn. Long-run development depends upon upgrading the tourist infrastructure, attracting foreign investment, and further diversification of the economy.[citation needed]
Two major
Further economic problems occurred in 1994 with an outbreak of taro leaf blight and the near collapse of the
The government responded to these shocks with a major program of road building and post-cyclone infrastructure repair. Economic reforms were stepped up, including the liberalization of exchange controls.[citation needed] GDP growth rebounded to over 6% in both 1995 and 1996 before slowing again at the end of the decade.[10]
Future prospects
This section needs to be updated.(March 2021) |
The collapse of
Tourism
In 1972 more than 85,000 visitors arrived in Samoa, contributing over $12 million to the local economy. One-third came from American Samoa, 28% from New Zealand, and 11% from the United States. Arrivals increased in 2000, as visitors to the South Pacific avoided the political strife in Fiji by traveling to Samoa instead.[citation needed]
Tourism numbers and revenue more than doubled in the decade 2007–2016. Samoa received 122,000 visitors in 2007 and 145,176 visitors in 2016. About 46% came from New Zealand, 20% from Australia and 7% from the United States. Samoans living overseas accounted for about 33% of all tourist numbers.[11] [page needed]
Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Samoa banned all international flights, inbound and outbound.[12]
The
Statistics
Gdp: purchasing power parity – US$1.137 billion (2017 est.)[14]
GDP – real growth rate: 2.5% (2017 est.)[14]
GDP – per capita: purchasing power parity – $5,700 (2017 est.)[14]
GDP – composition by sector:
(2017 est.)[14]
agriculture:
10.4%
industry:
23.6%
services:
66%
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%:
NA%
highest 10%:
NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.3% (2017 est.)[14]
Labor force: 50,700 (2016 est.)[14]
Labor force – by occupation::
(2015 est.)[14]
agriculture:
65%
industry:
6%
services:
29%
Unemployment rate: 5.2% (2017 est.)[14]
Ease of Doing Business Rank: 98th[15]
Budget:
revenues:
$110 million
expenditures:
$122 million (2011–12)
Industries: tourism, food processing,
Industrial production growth rate: 5,3% (2010 est.)
Electricity – production: 200 GWh (2010)
Electricity – production by source:
fossil fuel:
60%
hydro:
40%
nuclear:
0%
other:
0% (2008)
Electricity – consumption: 150 GWh (2008)
Electricity – exports: 1 kWh (2008)
Electricity – imports: 0 kWh (2008)
Agriculture – products: coconuts, bananas, taro, yams, coffee, cocoa
Exports: $152 million (f.o.b., 2012)
Exports – commodities: coconut oil and cream, copra, fish, beer
Exports – partners: American Samoa, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Germany
Imports: $258 million (f.o.b., 2012)
Imports – commodities: machinery and equipment, foodstuffs
Imports – partners: Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Fiji, United States
Debt – external: $145 million (2010 est.)
Economic aid – recipient: $24.3 million (2010)
Currency: 1 tala (WS$) = 100 sene
Exchange rates: tala (WS$) per US$1 – 3.0460 (January 2000), 3.0120 (1999), 2.9429 (1998), 2.5562 (1997), 2.4618 (1996), 2.4722 (1995)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f "World Economic Outlook Database, October 2019". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
- ^ "Export Partners of Samoa". The Observatory of Economic Complexity. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
- ^ "Import Partners of Samoa". The Observatory of Economic Complexity. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
- ^ "Samoa - International tourism". www.indexmundi.com. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ "Samoa". OEC. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
- ^ "W. Samoa's valuable timber deal is signed at last". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 39, no. 4. 1 April 1968. p. 22. Retrieved 23 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Samoa production in 2018, by FAO".
- ^ "Samoa bids farewell to Yazaki". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ "Fero Samoa - assembly and sub-assembly expertise". Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ "GDP growth (annual %) - Samoa". World Bank Open Data. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
- ^ South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO), 2017)
- ^ AMENDED STATE OF EMERGENCY ORDERS FOR CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) 10th JUNE 2020.
- ^ "Samoa. Background Notes on Countries of the World 2003, 10495517, Feb2001 Samoa". Academic Search Complete – via EBSCO.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "The World Factbook: Samoa. (2018, February 01)". Central Intelligence Agency. 14 November 2023.Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/samoa/
- ^ "Doing Business in Samoa 2013". World Bank. Retrieved 23 October 2012.