Economy of Samoa
Encyclopedia
The economy of Samoa
is dependent on agricultural exports, development aid
and private family remittances from overseas. 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
. Outside of a large automotive wire harness factory, the manufacturing sector
mainly processes agricultural products. Tourism
is an expanding sector; more than 70,000 tourists visited the islands in 1996. The Samoan Government has called for deregulation of the financial sector, encouragement of investment, and continued fiscal discipline. Observers point to the flexibility of the labor market
as a basic strength for future economic advances.
is Samoa's principal trading partner, typically providing between 35% and 40% of imports and purchasing 45%-50% of exports. Australia
, American Samoa
, the United States
, and Fiji also are important trading partners. Its main imports are food and beverages, industrial supplies, and fuels. The primary sector (agriculture, forestry, and fishing) employs nearly two-thirds of the labor force and produces 17% of GDP. Samoa's principal exports are coconut products and fish.
Fishing has had some success in Samoan waters, but the biggest fisheries industry
(headed by Van Camp and StarKist) has been based in American Samoa. StarKist Management announced that it was going ahead with setting up at Asau a blast-freezer project to be operational by 2002. This announcement dispelled a growing suspicion about the genuine motives of StarKist to move to Samoa. The proposed blast-freezer operations in Asau
were expected to bring this village back to life.
from sources led by Japan
, Australia, and New Zealand. These three sources of revenue--tourism, private transfers, and official transfers--allow Samoa to cover its persistently large trade deficit.
In the late 1960s, Potlatch Forests, Inc. (a U.S. company), upgraded the harbour and airport at Asau on the northern coast of Savai'i and established a timber operation, Samoa Forest Products, for harvesting tropical hardwoods. Potlatch invested about US$2,500,000 in a state-of-the-art sawmill and another US$6,000,000 over several years to develop power, water, and haul roads for their facility. Asau, with the Potlatch sawmillers and Samoa Forest Products, was one of the busiest parts of Savai'i in the 1960s and 1970s; however, the departure of Potlatch and the scaling down of the sawmill has left Asau a ghost town
in recent years.
s in the early 1990s
were overcome by the middle of the decade, but economic growth
cooled again with the regional economic downturn
. Long-run
development depends upon upgrading the tourist infrastructure
, attracting foreign investment
, and further diversification of the economy.
Two major cyclone
s hit Samoa at the beginning of the 1990s. Cyclone Ofa left an estimated 10,000 islanders homeless in February 1990; Cyclone Val
caused 13 deaths and hundreds of millions of dollars in damage in December 1991. As a result, gross domestic product
declined by nearly 50% from 1989 to 1991. These experiences and Samoa's position as a low-lying island state
punctuate its concern about global climate change
.
Further economic problems occurred in 1994 with an outbreak of taro leaf blight and the near collapse of the national airline
Polynesian Airlines
. Taro
, a root crop
, traditionally was Samoa's largest export, generating more than half of all export revenue in 1993. But a fungal blight decimated the plants, and in each year since 1994 taro exports have accounted for less than 1% of export revenue. Polynesian Airlines reached a financial crisis
in 1994, which disrupted the tourist industry and eventually required a government bailout.
The government responded to these shocks with a major program of road building
and post-cyclone infrastructure repair. Economic reforms were stepped up, including the liberalization of exchange controls
. GDP growth rebounded to over 6% in both 1995 and 1996 before slowing again at the end of the decade.
exports in 1994 has had the unintended effect of modestly diversifying Samoa's export products and markets. Prior to the taro leaf blight, Samoa's exports consisted of taro ($1.1 million), coconut cream
($540,000), and "other" ($350,000). Ninety percent of exports went to the Pacific region, and only 1% went to Europe. Forced to look for alternatives to taro, Samoa's exporters have dramatically increased the production of copra, coconut oil, and fish. These three products, which combined to produce export revenue of less than $100,000 in 1993, now account
for over $3.8 million. There also has been a relative shift from Pacific markets to European ones, which now receive nearly 15% of Samoa's exports. Samoa's exports are still concentrated in coconut products ($2.36 million worth of copra, copra meal, coconut oil, and coconut cream) and fish ($1.51 million) but are at least somewhat more diverse than before.
, 21% from American Samoa
and 7% from the United States. Samoans living overseas accounted for more than half of all tourist numbers.
The service sector
accounts for more than half of GDP and employs approximately 30% of the labor force.
In 1972, more than 85,000 visitors arrived in Samoa, contributing over $12 million to the local economy. One-third came from American Samoa, 28% from New Zealand
, and 11% from the United States. Arrivals also increased in 2000, as visitors to the South Pacific avoided the political strife in Fiji
by traveling to Samoa instead.
purchasing power
parity - $1000 million (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%
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:
agriculture 65%, services 30%, industry 5% (1995 est.)
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Ease of Doing Business Rank: 61st
Budget:
revenues:
$105 million
expenditures:
$119 million (2001-02)
Industries:
tourism, food processing, auto part
s, building material
s
Industrial production growth rate:
2,8% (2000 est.)
Electricity - production:
116 GWh (2003)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel:
61.54%
hydro:
38.46%
nuclear:
0%
other:
0% (1998)
Electricity - consumption:
107,9 GWh (2003)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2003)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2003)
Agriculture - products:
coconut
s, banana
s, taro
, yams
, coffee
, cocoa
Exports:
$94 million (f.o.b., 2004)
Exports - commodities:
coconut
oil and cream, copra
, fish, beer
Exports - partners:
American Samoa
, Australia
, New Zealand
, United States
, Germany
Imports:
$285 million (f.o.b., 2004)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, foodstuffs
Imports - partners:
Australia
, New Zealand
, Japan
, Fiji
, United States
Debt - external:
$197 million (2000 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$42.9 million (1995)
Currency:
1 tala (WS$) = 100 sene
Exchange rates:
tala (WS$) per US$1 - 3.0460 (January 2000), 3.0120 (1999), 2.9429 (1998), 2.5562 (1997), 2.4618 (1996), 2.4722 (1995)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
is dependent on agricultural exports, development aid
Development aid
Development aid or development cooperation is aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social and political development of developing countries.It is distinguished...
and private family remittances from overseas. The country is vulnerable to devastating storms. Agriculture employs two-thirds of the labor force
Labor force
In economics, a labor force or labour force is a region's combined civilian workforce, including both the employed and unemployed.Normally, the labor force of a country consists of everyone of working age In economics, a labor force or labour force is a region's combined civilian workforce,...
, and furnishes 90% of exports, featuring coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
cream, coconut oil
Coconut oil
Coconut oil is an edible oil extracted from the kernel or meat of matured coconuts harvested from the coconut palm . Throughout the tropical world, it has provided the primary source of fat in the diets of millions of people for generations. It has various applications in food, medicine, and industry...
and copra
Copra
Copra is the dried meat, or kernel, of the coconut. Coconut oil extracted from it has made copra an important agricultural commodity for many coconut-producing countries. It also yields coconut cake which is mainly used as feed for livestock.-Production:...
. Outside of a large automotive wire harness factory, the manufacturing sector
Secondary sector of industry
The secondary sector of the economy or industrial sector includes those economic sectors that create a finished, tangible product: production and construction.-Function:...
mainly processes agricultural products. Tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
is an expanding sector; more than 70,000 tourists visited the islands in 1996. The Samoan Government has called for deregulation of the financial sector, encouragement of investment, and continued fiscal discipline. Observers point to the flexibility of the labor market
Labour economics
Labor economics seeks to understand the functioning and dynamics of the market for labor. Labor markets function through the interaction of workers and employers...
as a basic strength for future economic advances.
Trade
New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
is Samoa's principal trading partner, typically providing between 35% and 40% of imports and purchasing 45%-50% of exports. Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, American Samoa
American Samoa
American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and Fiji also are important trading partners. Its main imports are food and beverages, industrial supplies, and fuels. The primary sector (agriculture, forestry, and fishing) employs nearly two-thirds of the labor force and produces 17% of GDP. Samoa's principal exports are coconut products and fish.
Fishing has had some success in Samoan waters, but the biggest fisheries industry
Fishing industry
The fishing industry includes any industry or activity concerned with taking, culturing, processing, preserving, storing, transporting, marketing or selling fish or fish products....
(headed by Van Camp and StarKist) has been based in American Samoa. StarKist Management announced that it was going ahead with setting up at Asau a blast-freezer project to be operational by 2002. This announcement dispelled a growing suspicion about the genuine motives of StarKist to move to Samoa. The proposed blast-freezer operations in Asau
Asau, Samoa
Asau is situated on the north west coast of Savai'i island in Samoa. It is the capital village of the Vaisigano political district and serves as the main business centre at the west end of the island....
were expected to bring this village back to life.
Non-conventional sources of revenue
Samoa annually receives important financial assistance from abroad. The more than 100,000 Samoans who live overseas provide two sources of revenue. Their direct remittances have amounted to $12.1 million per year recently, and they account for more than half of all tourist visits. In addition to the expatriate community, Samoa also receives roughly $97.57 million annually in official development assistanceOfficial development assistance
Official development assistance is a term compiled by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to measure aid. The DAC first compiled the term in 1969. It is widely used by academics and journalists as a convenient indicator of...
from sources led by Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Australia, and New Zealand. These three sources of revenue--tourism, private transfers, and official transfers--allow Samoa to cover its persistently large trade deficit.
In the late 1960s, Potlatch Forests, Inc. (a U.S. company), upgraded the harbour and airport at Asau on the northern coast of Savai'i and established a timber operation, Samoa Forest Products, for harvesting tropical hardwoods. Potlatch invested about US$2,500,000 in a state-of-the-art sawmill and another US$6,000,000 over several years to develop power, water, and haul roads for their facility. Asau, with the Potlatch sawmillers and Samoa Forest Products, was one of the busiest parts of Savai'i in the 1960s and 1970s; however, the departure of Potlatch and the scaling down of the sawmill has left Asau a ghost town
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
in recent years.
Manufacturing
Industry accounts for over one-quarter of GDP while employing less than 6% of the work force. The largest industrial venture is Yazaki Samoa, a Japanese-owned company processing automotive wire harnesses for export to Australia under a concessional market-access arrangement. The Yazaki plant employs more than 2,000 workers and makes up over 20% of the manufacturing sector's total output. Net receipts amount to between $1.5 million and $3.03 million annually, although shipments from Yazaki are counted as services (export processing) and therefore do not officially appear as merchandise exports.Natural Disasters
The effects of three natural disasterNatural disaster
A natural disaster is the effect of a natural hazard . It leads to financial, environmental or human losses...
s in the early 1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
were overcome by the middle of the decade, but economic growth
Economic growth
In economics, economic growth is defined as the increasing capacity of the economy to satisfy the wants of goods and services of the members of society. Economic growth is enabled by increases in productivity, which lowers the inputs for a given amount of output. Lowered costs increase demand...
cooled again with the regional economic downturn
Recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...
. Long-run
Long-run
In macroeconomics, the long run is the conceptual time period in which there are no fixed factors of production as to changing the output level by changing the capital stock or by entering or leaving an industry. The long run contrasts with the short run, in which some factors are variable and...
development depends upon upgrading the tourist infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
, attracting foreign investment
Foreign direct investment
Foreign direct investment or foreign investment refers to the net inflows of investment to acquire a lasting management interest in an enterprise operating in an economy other than that of the investor.. It is the sum of equity capital,other long-term capital, and short-term capital as shown in...
, and further diversification of the economy.
Two major cyclone
Cyclone
In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth. This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. Most large-scale...
s hit Samoa at the beginning of the 1990s. Cyclone Ofa left an estimated 10,000 islanders homeless in February 1990; Cyclone Val
Cyclone Val
Severe Tropical Cyclone Val, also known as Cyclone Val, was a cyclone that struck Western Samoa and American Samoa on December 4, 1991. Lasting until December 13, the cyclone moved in a west-to-east trajectory. The cyclone lasted for five days in American Samoa and was designated by the United...
caused 13 deaths and hundreds of millions of dollars in damage in December 1991. As a result, gross domestic product
Gross domestic product
Gross domestic product refers to the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period. GDP per capita is often considered an indicator of a country's standard of living....
declined by nearly 50% from 1989 to 1991. These experiences and Samoa's position as a low-lying island state
Island nation
An island country is a state whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands. As of 2011, 47 of the 193 UN member states are island countries.-Politics:...
punctuate its concern about global climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
.
Further economic problems occurred in 1994 with an outbreak of taro leaf blight and the near collapse of the national airline
Flag carrier
A flag carrier is a transportation company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given country, enjoys preferential rights or privileges, accorded by the government, for international operations. It may be a state-run, state-owned or private but...
Polynesian Airlines
Polynesian Airlines
Polynesian Airlines is the national airline of Samoa and has its headquarters in the Samoa National Provident Fund Building in the capital, Apia. It formerly flew all over the Pacific but with the establishment of Polynesian Blue by the government and Virgin Blue , Polynesian Airlines has...
. Taro
Taro
Taro is a common name for the corms and tubers of several plants in the family Araceae . Of these, Colocasia esculenta is the most widely cultivated, and is the subject of this article. More specifically, this article describes the 'dasheen' form of taro; another variety is called eddoe.Taro is...
, a root crop
Root vegetable
Root vegetables are plant roots used as vegetables. Here "root" means any underground part of a plant.Root vegetables are generally storage organs, enlarged to store energy in the form of carbohydrates. They differ in the concentration and the balance between sugars, starches, and other types of...
, traditionally was Samoa's largest export, generating more than half of all export revenue in 1993. But a fungal blight decimated the plants, and in each year since 1994 taro exports have accounted for less than 1% of export revenue. Polynesian Airlines reached a financial crisis
Financial crisis
The term financial crisis is applied broadly to a variety of situations in which some financial institutions or assets suddenly lose a large part of their value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and many recessions coincided with these...
in 1994, which disrupted the tourist industry and eventually required a government bailout.
The government responded to these shocks with a major program of road building
Road
A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...
and post-cyclone infrastructure repair. Economic reforms were stepped up, including the liberalization of exchange controls
Foreign exchange controls
Foreign exchange controls are various forms of controls imposed by a government on the purchase/sale of foreign currencies by residents or on the purchase/sale of local currency by nonresidents.Common foreign exchange controls include:...
. GDP growth rebounded to over 6% in both 1995 and 1996 before slowing again at the end of the decade.
Future prospects
The collapse of taroTaro
Taro is a common name for the corms and tubers of several plants in the family Araceae . Of these, Colocasia esculenta is the most widely cultivated, and is the subject of this article. More specifically, this article describes the 'dasheen' form of taro; another variety is called eddoe.Taro is...
exports in 1994 has had the unintended effect of modestly diversifying Samoa's export products and markets. Prior to the taro leaf blight, Samoa's exports consisted of taro ($1.1 million), coconut cream
Coconut cream
Coconut cream is very similar to coconut milk but contains less water. The difference is mainly consistency. It has a thicker, more paste-like consistency, while coconut milk is generally a liquid...
($540,000), and "other" ($350,000). Ninety percent of exports went to the Pacific region, and only 1% went to Europe. Forced to look for alternatives to taro, Samoa's exporters have dramatically increased the production of copra, coconut oil, and fish. These three products, which combined to produce export revenue of less than $100,000 in 1993, now account
Negotiable Order of Withdrawal account
In the United States, a Negotiable Order of Withdrawal account is a deposit account that pays interest, on which checks may be written....
for over $3.8 million. There also has been a relative shift from Pacific markets to European ones, which now receive nearly 15% of Samoa's exports. Samoa's exports are still concentrated in coconut products ($2.36 million worth of copra, copra meal, coconut oil, and coconut cream) and fish ($1.51 million) but are at least somewhat more diverse than before.
Tourism
Tourism numbers and revenue have doubled in the last decade. Samoa received 122,000 visitors in 2007. About 40% came from New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, 21% from American Samoa
American Samoa
American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...
and 7% from the United States. Samoans living overseas accounted for more than half of all tourist numbers.
The service sector
Tertiary sector of industry
The tertiary sector of the economy is one of the three economic sectors, the others being the secondary sector and the primary sector .The service sector consists of the "soft" parts of the economy, i.e...
accounts for more than half of GDP and employs approximately 30% of the labor force.
In 1972, more than 85,000 visitors arrived in Samoa, contributing over $12 million to the local economy. One-third came from American Samoa, 28% from New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, and 11% from the United States. Arrivals also increased in 2000, as visitors to the South Pacific avoided the political strife in Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
by traveling to Samoa instead.
Statistics
GDP:purchasing power
Purchasing power
Purchasing power is the number of goods/services that can be purchased with a unit of currency. For example, if you had taken one dollar to a store in the 1950s, you would have been able to buy a greater number of items than you would today, indicating that you would have had a greater purchasing...
parity - $1000 million (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%
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:
agriculture 65%, services 30%, industry 5% (1995 est.)
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Ease of Doing Business Rank: 61st
Budget:
revenues:
$105 million
expenditures:
$119 million (2001-02)
Industries:
tourism, food processing, auto part
Auto part
This is a list of auto parts, which are manufactured components of automobiles:-Body and exterior:Body components, including windows and trim:-Engine cooling system:* Air blower* Coolant hose* Cooling fan* Fan blade* Fan clutch* Radiator...
s, building material
Building material
Building material is any material which is used for a construction purpose. Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, sand, wood and rocks, even twigs and leaves have been used to construct buildings. Apart from naturally occurring materials, many man-made products are in use, some more...
s
Industrial production growth rate:
2,8% (2000 est.)
Electricity - production:
116 GWh (2003)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel:
61.54%
hydro:
38.46%
nuclear:
0%
other:
0% (1998)
Electricity - consumption:
107,9 GWh (2003)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2003)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2003)
Agriculture - products:
coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
s, banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
s, taro
Taro
Taro is a common name for the corms and tubers of several plants in the family Araceae . Of these, Colocasia esculenta is the most widely cultivated, and is the subject of this article. More specifically, this article describes the 'dasheen' form of taro; another variety is called eddoe.Taro is...
, yams
Yam (vegetable)
Yam is the common name for some species in the genus Dioscorea . These are perennial herbaceous vines cultivated for the consumption of their starchy tubers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania...
, coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
, cocoa
Exports:
$94 million (f.o.b., 2004)
Exports - commodities:
coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
oil and cream, copra
Copra
Copra is the dried meat, or kernel, of the coconut. Coconut oil extracted from it has made copra an important agricultural commodity for many coconut-producing countries. It also yields coconut cake which is mainly used as feed for livestock.-Production:...
, fish, beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
Exports - partners:
American Samoa
American Samoa
American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Imports:
$285 million (f.o.b., 2004)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, foodstuffs
Imports - partners:
Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Debt - external:
$197 million (2000 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$42.9 million (1995)
Currency:
1 tala (WS$) = 100 sene
Exchange rates:
tala (WS$) per US$1 - 3.0460 (January 2000), 3.0120 (1999), 2.9429 (1998), 2.5562 (1997), 2.4618 (1996), 2.4722 (1995)
Fiscal year:
calendar year