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, a developing sector, has been held back by the recurring financial difficulties in East Asia.
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%
Population below poverty line:
NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
NA%
Labor force:
14,000 (1996)
Labor force - by occupation:
government 33%, tuna canneries 34%, other 33% (1990)
Unemployment rate:
6% (2000)
Budget:
revenues: $121 million (37% in local revenue and 63% in US grants)
expenditures: $127 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY96/97)
Industries:
tuna canneries (largely supplied by foreign fishing vessels), handicrafts
Industrial production growth rate:
NA%
Electricity - production:
130 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption:
120.9 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
3,800 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA (2001)
Oil - imports:
NA (2001)
Agriculture - products:
bananas, coconuts, vegetables, taro, breadfruit, yams, copra, pineapples, papayas; dairy products, livestock
Exports:
$345 million (1999)
Exports - commodities:
canned tuna 93%
Exports - partners:
US 99.6% (2000)
Imports:
$452 million (1999)
Imports - commodities:
materials for canneries 56%, food 8%, petroleum products 7%, machinery and parts 6%
Imports - partners:
US 62%, Australia 11%, Japan 9%, NZ 7%, Fiji 4%, other 7% (2000)
Debt - external:
$NA
Economic aid - recipient:
important financial support from the US, more than $40 million in 1994
Currency:
US dollar (USD)
Currency code:
USD
Exchange rates:
the US dollar is used
Fiscal year:
1 October - 30 September
NOTE: The information regarding American Samoa on this page is re-published from the 2003 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Guinea Geography 2003 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about American Samoa Economy 2003 should be addressed to the CIA.
