year=2024&name=Samoa - Gheos Worldguide

Statistics Samoa

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Samoa in the World

Samoa - Introduction 2024

The first Austronesian settlers arrived in Samoa around 1000 B.C., and early Samoans traded and intermarried with Fijian and Tongan nobility. The fa’amatai system of titles and nobility developed, which dominates Samoan politics to this day; all but two seats in the legislature are reserved for matai, or heads of families. A Dutch explorer was the first European to spot the islands in 1722. Christian missionaries arrived in the 1830s and were followed by an influx of American and European settlers and influence. By the 1880s, Germany, the UK, and the US had trading posts and claimed parts of the kingdom. In 1886, an eight-year civil war broke out, with rival matai factions fighting over royal succession and the three foreign powers providing support to the factions. Germany, the UK, and the US all sent warships to Apia in 1889 and came close to conflict, but a cyclone damaged or destroyed the ships of all three navies.
At the end of the civil war in 1894, Malietoa LAUPEPA was installed as king, but upon his death in 1898, a second civil war over succession broke out. When the war ended in 1899, the Western powers abolished the monarchy, giving the western Samoan islands to Germany and the eastern Samoan islands to the US. The UK abandoned claims in Samoa and received former German territory in the Solomon Islands.
New Zealand occupied Samoa during World War I but was accused of negligence and opposed by many Samoans, particularly an organized political movement called the Mau (“Strongly Held View”) that advocated for independence. During the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic, about 20% of the population died. In 1929, New Zealand police shot into a crowd of peaceful Mau protestors, killing 11, in an event known as Black Sunday. In 1962, Samoa became the first Polynesian nation to reestablish its independence as Western Samoa but dropped the “Western” from its name in 1997. The Human Rights Protection Party dominated politics from 1982 until Prime Minister FIAME Naomi Mata'afa's Fa'atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party gained a majority in elections in 2021.

Geographic coordinates: 13 35 S, 172 20 W

Map reference: Oceania

Area
Total: 2,831 km²
Land: 2,821 km²
Water: 10 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Rhode Island
Country comparison total: 0 km

Land boundaries
Total: 0 km

Coastline: 403 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate: tropical; rainy season (November to April), dry season (May to October)

Terrain: two main islands (Savaii, Upolu) and several smaller islands and uninhabited islets; narrow coastal plain with volcanic, rugged mountains in interior

Elevation
Highest point: Mount Silisili 1,857 m
Lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m

Natural resources: hardwood forests, fish, hydropower

Land use
Agricultural land: 12.4% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land arable land: 2.8% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land permanent crops: 7.8% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land permanent pasture: 1.8% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land forest: 60.4% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land other: 27.2% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land: 0 km² (2022)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources: 0 m³ (2017 est.)

Natural hazards: occasional cyclones; active volcanism
Volcanism: Savai'I Island (1,858 m), which last erupted in 1911, is historically active

Geography
Note: occupies an almost central position within Polynesia

Samoa - People 2024

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Population
Distribution: about three-quarters of the population lives on the island of Upolu
Total: 208,853
Male: 105,920
Female: 102,933 (2024 est.)
Growth rate: 0.65% (2024 est.)
Below poverty line: 21.9% (2018 est.)
Below poverty line note: % of population with income below national poverty line

Nationality
Noun: Samoan(s)
Adjective: Samoan

Ethnic groups: Samoan 96%, Samoan/New Zealander 2%, other 1.9% (2011 est.)
Note: data represent the population by country of citizenship

Languages: Samoan (Polynesian) (official) 91.1%, Samoan/English 6.7%, English (official) 0.5%, other 0.2%, unspecified 1.6% (2006 est.)

Religions: Protestant 54.9% (Congregationalist 29%, Methodist 12.4%, Assembly of God 6.8%, Seventh Day Adventist 4.4%, other Protestant 2.3%), Roman Catholic 18.8%, Church of Jesus Christ 16.9%, Worship Centre 2.8%, other Christian 3.6%, other 2.9% (includes Baha'i, Muslim), none 0.2% (2016 est.)

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 26.9% (male 28,952/female 27,173)
15-64 years: 65.9% (male 70,225/female 67,427)
65 years and over: 7.2% (2024 est.) (male 6,743/female 8,333)

Dependency ratios
Total dependency ratio: 74.9
Youth dependency ratio: 66
Elderly dependency ratio: 8.9
Potential support ratio: 11.2 (2020 est.)

Median age
Total: 27.4 years (2024 est.)
Male: 27 years
Female: 27.8 years

Population growth rate: 0.65% (2024 est.)

Birth rate: 18.8 births/1,000 population (2024 est.)

Death rate: 5.4 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.)

Net migration rate: -6.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.)

Population distribution: about three-quarters of the population lives on the island of Upolu

Urbanization
Urban population: 17.5% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization: -0.03% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Major urban areas
Population: 36,000 APIA (capital) (2018)

Environment
Current issues: soil erosion, deforestation, invasive species, overfishing
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants
Particulate matter emissions: 7.78 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)
Carbon dioxide emissions: 0.25 megatons (2016 est.)
Methane emissions: 0.27 megatons (2020 est.)

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female
Total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2024 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio: 59 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 17.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.)
Male: 20.9 deaths/1,000 live births
Female: 13.6 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 75.7 years (2024 est.)
Male: 72.8 years
Female: 78.7 years

Total fertility rate: 2.33 children born/woman (2024 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate: 16.6% (2019/20)

Drinking water source
Improved urban: 100% of population
Unimproved rural: 2% of population
Unimproved total: 1.6% of population (2020 est.)
Unimproved urban: 0% of population

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access
Improved urban: 99.5% of population
Improved rural: 99.5% of population
Improved total: 99.5% of population
Unimproved urban: 0.5% of population
Unimproved rural: 0.5% of population
Unimproved total: 0.5% of population (2020 est.)

Hivaids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate: 47.3% (2016)

Alcohol consumption
Per capita total: 2.18 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita beer: 2.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita wine: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita spirits: 0.17 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita other alcohols: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

Tobacco use
Total: 25.3% (2020 est.)
Male: 36.1% (2020 est.)
Female: 14.5% (2020 est.)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: 3.4% (2019/20)

Education expenditures: 4.8% of GDP (2020 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 99.1%
Male: 99%
Female: 99.3% (2021)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment
Rate ages 15 24 total: 19.8% (2023 est.)
Rate ages 15 24 male: 13.4% (2023 est.)
Rate ages 15 24 female: 29.9% (2023 est.)
Rate ages 15 24 note: % of labor force ages 15-24 seeking employment

Samoa - Government 2024

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Country name
Conventional long form: Independent State of Samoa
Conventional short form: Samoa
Local long form: Malo Sa'oloto Tuto'atasi o Samoa
Local short form: Samoa
Former: Western Samoa
Etymology: the meaning of Samoa is disputed; some modern explanations are that the 'sa' connotes 'sacred' and 'moa' indicates 'center,' so the name can mean 'Holy Center'; alternatively, some assertions state that it can mean 'place of the sacred moa bird' of Polynesian mythology; the name, however, may go back to Proto-Polynesian (PPn) times (before 1000 B.C.); a plausible PPn reconstruction has the first syllable as 'sa'a' meaning 'tribe or people' and 'moa' meaning 'deep sea or ocean' to convey the meaning 'people of the deep sea'

Government type: parliamentary republic

Capital
Name: Apia
Geographic coordinates: 13 49 S, 171 46 W
Time difference: UTC+13 (18 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Etymology: name derives from the native village around which the capital was constructed in the 1850s; the village still exists within the larger modern capital

Administrative divisions: 11 districts; A'ana, Aiga-i-le-Tai, Atua, Fa'asaleleaga, Gaga'emauga, Gagaifomauga, Palauli, Satupa'itea, Tuamasaga, Va'a-o-Fonoti, Vaisigano

Dependent areas

Independence: 1 January 1962 (from New Zealand-administered UN trusteeship)

National holiday: Independence Day Celebration, 1 June (1962)
Note: 1 January 1962 is the date of independence from the New Zealand-administered UN trusteeship, but it is observed in June

Constitution
History: several previous (preindependence); latest 1 January 1962
Amendments: proposed as an act by the Legislative Assembly; passage requires at least two-thirds majority vote by the Assembly membership in the third reading - provided at least 90 days have elapsed since the second reading, and assent of the chief of state; passage of amendments affecting constitutional articles on customary land or constitutional amendment procedures also requires at least two-thirds majority approval in a referendum; amended several times, last in 2020

Legal system: mixed legal system of English common law and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts with respect to fundamental rights of the citizen

International law organization participation: has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Citizenship
Citizenship by birth: no
Citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Samoa
Dual citizenship recognized: no
Residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years

Suffrage: 21 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: TUIMALEALI'IFANO Va’aletoa Sualauvi II (since 21 July 2017)
Head of government: Prime Minister FIAME Naomi Mata’afa (since 24 May 2021)
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the chief of state on the advice of the prime minister
Elections/appointments: chief of state indirectly elected by the Legislative Assembly to serve a 5-year term (2-term limit); election last held on 23 August 2022 (next to be held in 2026); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party is usually appointed prime minister by the chief of state, approved by the Legislative Assembly
Election results: TUIMALEALI'IFANO Va’aletoa Sualauvi II (independent) unanimously reelected by the Legislative Assembly

Legislative branch
Description: unicameral Legislative Assembly or Fono (54 seats); members from single-seat constituencies directly elected by simple majority vote, with a minimum 10% representation of women in the Assembly required; members serve 5-year terms)
Elections: election last held on 9 April 2021 (next election to be held in 2026)
Elections results: percent of vote by party - HRPP 55%, FAST 37%, TSP 3%, independent 5%; seats by party – 35 FAST, HRPP 18, independent 1; composition - men 47, women 7, percentage women 13%

Judicial branch
Highest courts: Court of Appeal (consists of the chief justice and 2 Supreme Court judges and meets once or twice a year); Supreme Court (consists of the chief justice and several judges)
Judge selection and term of office: chief justice appointed by the chief of state upon the advice of the prime minister; other Supreme Court judges appointed by the Judicial Service Commission, a 3-member body chaired by the chief justice and includes the attorney general and an appointee of the Minister of Justice; judges normally serve until retirement at age 68
Subordinate courts: District Court; Magistrates' Courts; Land and Titles Courts; village fono or village chief councils

Political parties and leaders: Fa'atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi or FAST , Human Rights Protection Party or HRPP , Tautua Samoa Party or TSP

International organization participation: ACP, ADB, AOSIS, C, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IPU, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us: chief of mission: Ambassador Pa’olelei LUTERU (since 7 July 2021)
In the us note: also Permanent Representative to the UN
In the us chancery: 685 Third Avenue, 44th Street, 11th Floor, Suite 1102, New York, NY 10,017
In the us telephone: [1] (212) 599-6,196
In the us fax: [1] (212) 599-0797
In the us email address and website:

samoa@samoanymission.ws, About
Samoa Permanent Mission to the United Nations

In the us consulates general: Pago Pago (American Samoa)
From the us chief of mission: the US Ambassador to New Zealand is accredited to Samoa
From the us embassy: 5th Floor, Accident Corporation Building, Matafele Apia
From the us mailing address: 4,400 Apia Place, Washington DC 20,521-4,400
From the us telephone: [685] 21-436
From the us fax: [685] 22-030
From the us email address and website: ApiaConsular@state.gov; [link]

Flag description

: red with a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side quadrant bearing five white, five-pointed stars representing the Southern Cross constellation; red stands for courage, blue represents freedom, and white signifies purity
Note: similar to the flag of Taiwan

National symbols: Southern Cross constellation (five, five-pointed stars); national colors: red, white, blue

National anthem
Name: 'O le Fu'a o le Sa'olotoga o Samoa' (The Banner of Freedom)
Lyrics/music: Sauni Liga KURESA
Note: adopted 1962; also known as 'Samoa Tula'i' (Samoa Arise)

National heritage

Samoa - Economy 2024

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Economy overview: ower middle-income Pacific island economy; enormous fishing and agriculture industries; significant remittances; growing offshore financial hub; recently hosted Pacific Games to drive tourism and infrastructure growth

Real gdp purchasing power parity: $1.359 billion (2023 est.); $1.258 billion (2022 est.); $1.329 billion (2021 est.)
Note: data in 2021 dollars

Real gdp growth rate: 7.99% (2023 est.); -5.31% (2022 est.); -7.08% (2021 est.)
Note: annual GDP % growth based on constant local currency

Real gdp per capita: $6,000 (2023 est.); $5,700 (2022 est.); $6,100 (2021 est.)
Note: data in 2021 dollars

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use
Household consumption: 86.2% (2023 est.)
Government consumption: 18.2% (2023 est.)
Investment in fixed capital: 34.7% (2023 est.)
Investment in inventories: 2.6% (2023 est.)
Exports of goods and services: 28.9% (2023 est.)
Imports of goods and services: -62.2% (2023 est.)
Note: figures may not total 100% due to rounding or gaps in data collection

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 11% (2023 est.)
Industry: 11% (2023 est.)
Services: 67.6% (2023 est.)
Note: figures may not total 100% due to non-allocated consumption not captured in sector-reported data

Agriculture products: coconuts, taro, bananas, tropical fruits, pineapples, mangoes/guavas, papayas, root vegetables, milk, pork (2022)
Note: top ten agricultural products based on tonnage

Industries: food processing, building materials, auto parts

Industrial production growth rate: -1.9% (2023 est.)
Note: annual % change in industrial value added based on constant local currency

Labor force: 77,000 (2023 est.)
Note: number of people ages 15 or older who are employed or seeking work

Unemployment rate: 9.75% (2023 est.); 9.92% (2022 est.); 10.37% (2021 est.)
Note: % of labor force seeking employment

Population below poverty line: 21.9% (2018 est.)
Note: % of population with income below national poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $342.18 million (2021 est.)
Expenditures: $297.736 million (2021 est.)
Note: central government revenues (excluding grants) and expenses converted to US dollars at average official exchange rate for year indicated

Taxes and other revenues: 25.02% (of GDP) (2021 est.)
Note: central government tax revenue as a % of GDP

Public debt: 49.1% of GDP (2017 est.)

Revenue
From forest resources: 0.27% of GDP (2018 est.)
From coal: 0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Fiscal year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 8.12% (2023 est.); 10.96% (2022 est.); 3.13% (2021 est.)
Note: annual % change based on consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance: $46.511 million (2023 est.); -$86.678 million (2022 est.); -$114.383 million (2021 est.)
Note: balance of payments - net trade and primary/secondary income in current dollars

Exports: $347.19 million (2023 est.); $162.803 million (2022 est.); $97.774 million (2021 est.)
Note: balance of payments - exports of goods and services in current dollars
Partners: India 23%, US 19%, NZ 12%, Hungary 8%, Poland 6% (2022)
Partners note: top five export partners based on percentage share of exports
Commodities: coconut oil, integrated circuits, insulated wire, citrus, power equipment (2022)
Commodities note: top five export commodities based on value in dollars

Imports: $560.488 million (2023 est.); $512.002 million (2022 est.); $430.011 million (2021 est.)
Note: balance of payments - imports of goods and services in current dollars
Partners: China 25%, Singapore 16%, NZ 14%, South Korea 7%, US 7% (2022)
Partners note: top five import partners based on percentage share of imports
Commodities: refined petroleum, coated flat-rolled iron, fish, poultry, ships (2022)
Commodities note: top five import commodities based on value in dollars

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $447.09 million (2023 est.); $321.163 million (2022 est.); $294.682 million (2021 est.)
Note: holdings of gold (year-end prices)/foreign exchange/special drawing rights in current dollars

Debt external: $279.335 million (2022 est.)
Note: present value of external debt in current US dollars

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates:

tala (SAT) per US dollar - 2.738 (2023 est.)
2.689 (2022 est.)
2.556 (2021 est.)
2.665 (2020 est.)
2.649 (2019 est.)

Samoa - Energy 2024

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