Economy - overview:
American Samoa has 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 (official exchange rate):
NA

GDP - real growth rate:
NA%

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$8,000 (2000 est.)

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

Labor force:
14,000 (1996)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 34%
industry: 33%
services: 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 (2003)

Electricity - consumption:
120.9 million kWh (2003)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2003)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2003)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2003)

Oil - consumption:
4,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA bbl/day

Oil - imports:
NA bbl/day

Natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2003 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
0 cu m (2003 est.)

Exports:
$10 million (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities:
canned tuna 93% (2004 est.)

Exports - partners:
Samoa 39.8%, Australia 19.9%, Japan 15.1%, NZ 10.5% (2004)

Imports:
$105 million (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities:
materials for canneries 56%, food 8%, petroleum products 7%, machinery and parts 6% (2004 est.)

Imports - partners:
Japan 31.4%, NZ 27.9%, Germany 17.1%, Australia 8.9% (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