Overview: Agriculture employs more than half of the labor force, contributes 50% to GDP, and furnishes 90% of exports. The bulk of export earnings comes from the sale of coconut oil and copra. The economy depends on emigrant remittances and foreign aid to support a level of imports much greater than export earnings. Tourism has become the most important growth industry, and construction of the first international hotel is under way. The economy continued to falter in 1993, as remittances and tourist earnings fell off. A fungal plant disease severely damaged the taro crop, the primary food and export crop.

National product: GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $400 million (1992 est.)

National product real growth rate: -4.3% (1992 est.)

National product per capita: $2,000 (1992 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 7% (1993 est.)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget:
revenues: $95.3 million
expenditures: $95.4 million, including capital expenditures of $41 million (1992 est.)

Exports: $5.7 million (f.o.b., 1992 est.)
commodities: coconut oil and cream, taro, copra, cocoa
partners: New Zealand 34%, American Samoa 21%, Germany 18%, Australia 11%

Imports: $11.5 million (c.i.f., 1992 est.)
commodities: intermediate goods 58%, food 17%, capital goods 12%
partners: New Zealand 37%, Australia 25%, Japan 11%, Fiji 9%

External debt: $83 million (December 1990 est.)

Industrial production: growth rate -0.3% (1992 est.); accounts for 16% of GDP

Electricity:
capacity: 29,000 kW
production: 45 million kWh
consumption per capita: 240 kWh (1990)

Industries: timber, tourism, food processing, fishing

Agriculture: accounts for about 50% of GDP; coconuts, fruit (including bananas, taro, yams)

Economic aid:
recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $18 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $306 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $4 million

Currency: 1 tala (WS$) = 100 sene
Exchange rates: tala (WS$) per US$1 - 2.5920 (January 1994), 2.5681 (1993), 2.4655 (1992), 2.3975 (1991), 2.3095 (1990), 2.2686 (1989)

Fiscal year: calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Western Samoa on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Western Samoa Economy 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Western Samoa Economy 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.