Samoa Economy - 2004

Economy - overview:
The economy of Samoa has traditionally been dependent on development aid, family remittances from overseas, and agriculture and fishing. The country is vulnerable to devastating storms. Agriculture employs two-thirds of the labor force, and furnishes 90% of exports, featuring coconut cream, coconut oil, and copra. The manufacturing sector mainly processes agricultural products. The decline of fish stocks in the area is a continuing problem. Tourism is an expanding sector, accounting for 25% of GDP; about 88,000 tourists visited the islands in 2001. The Samoan Government has called for deregulation of the financial sector, encouragement of investment, and continued fiscal discipline, meantime protecting the environment. Observers point to the flexibility of the labor market as a basic strength for future economic advances. Foreign reserves are in a relatively healthy state, the external debt is stable, and inflation is low.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $1 billion (2002 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
5% (2002 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $5,600 (2002 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 14%
industry: 23%
services: 63% (2001 est.)

Population below poverty line:
NA% (1998 est.)

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
4% (2001 est.)

Labor force:
90,000 (2000 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
NA

Unemployment rate:
NA%; note - substantial underemployment

Budget:
revenues: $105 million
expenditures: $119 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001/2002)

Industries:
food processing, building materials, auto parts

Industrial production growth rate:
2.8% (2000)

Electricity - production:
105.1 million kWh (2001)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 58%
hydro: 42%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption:
97.74 million kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)

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

Oil - consumption:
1,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

Agriculture - products:
coconuts, bananas, taro, yams, coffee, cocoa

Exports:
$14 million f.o.b. (2002)

Exports - commodities:
fish, coconut oil and cream, copra, taro, automotive parts, garments, beer

Exports - partners:
Australia 61%, Hong Kong 10.4%, US 9.1% (2002)

Imports:
$113 million f.o.b. (2002)

Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, industrial supplies, foodstuffs

Imports - partners:
New Zealand 23.7%, Fiji 20.9%, Australia 16.4%, Japan 13.6%, US 4.5% (2002)

Debt - external:
$197 million (2000)

Economic aid - recipient:
$42.9 million (1995)

Currency:
tala (SAT)

Currency code:
SAT (former WST code is still in wide use)

Exchange rates:
tala per US dollar - 2.97 (2003), 3.38 (2002), 3.48 (2001), 3.29 (2000), 3.01 (1999)