American Samoa Economy - 2005

Economy - overview:
This is a traditional Polynesian economy in which more than 90% of the land is communally owned. Economic activity is strongly linked to the US, with which American Samoa conducts most of its foreign trade. Tuna fishing and tuna processing plants are the backbone of the private sector, with canned tuna the primary export. Transfers from the US Government add substantially to American Samoa's economic well-being. Attempts by the government to develop a larger and broader economy are restrained by Samoa's remote location, its limited transportation, and its devastating hurricanes. Tourism is a promising developing sector.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $500 million (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
NA

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $8,000 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: NA%

Labor force:
14,000 (1996)

Labor force - by occupation:
tuna canneries 34%, government 33%, other 33% (1990)

Unemployment rate:
6% (2000)

Population below poverty line:
NA

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
NA%

Budget:
revenues: $121 million (37% in local revenue and 63% in US grants)
expenditures: $127 million, including capital expenditures of NA (FY96/97)

Agriculture - products:
bananas, coconuts, vegetables, taro, breadfruit, yams, copra, pineapples, papayas; dairy products, livestock

Industries:
tuna canneries (largely supplied by foreign fishing vessels), handicrafts

Industrial production growth rate:
NA%

Electricity - production:
130 million kWh (2002)

Electricity - consumption:
120.9 million kWh (2002)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2002)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2002)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
3,800 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

Exports:
$30 million (2002)

Exports - commodities:
canned tuna 93%

Exports - partners:
Samoa 41.6%, Australia 21.8%, Japan 16.6%, New Zealand 7.7%, Canada 4.2% (2004)

Imports:
$123 million (2002)

Imports - commodities:
materials for canneries 56%, food 8%, petroleum products 7%, machinery and parts 6%

Imports - partners:
Japan 32.3%, New Zealand 30.4%, Germany 14.6%, Australia 9.2% (2004)

Debt - external:
$NA

Economic aid - recipient:
important financial support from the US, more than $40 million in 1994

Currency (code):
US dollar (USD)

Exchange rates:
the US dollar is used