Western Samoa Economy 1997

Economy - overview The economy of Western Samoa has traditionally been dependent on developmentaid, private family remittances from overseas, and agricultural exports. Increasingly,tourism is becoming a significant source of revenue, earning approximately$34 million in 1995. While registering an overall economic improvement in1995, however, the country continues to struggle with a series of naturaldisasters from the early 1990s which wiped out the nation's infrastructureas well as its then-major export crop, taro root. Agriculture continues tobe a key source of wealth for Apia, employing more than one-half of the laborforce, and furnishing 90% of exports. The bulk of these export earnings comesfrom the sale of coconut cream, coconut oil, and copra. Family remittancesalso play a key role in economic viability for the island nation - in 1995,remittances totaled $34.9 million, four times export earnings. The economydid well in 1996, supported by a steady flow of foreign aid and remittances.

GDP purchasing power parity - $415 million (1995 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 6.7% (1995 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $1,900 (1995 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 50%
industry: NA%
services: NA%

Inflation rate - consumer price index 1% (1995)

Labor force
total: 45,635 (1986 est.)
by occupation : agriculture 65%, services 30%, industry 5% (1995 est.)

Unemployment rate NA%

Budget
revenues: $118 million
expenditures : $128 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY96/97)

Industries timber, tourism, food processing, fishing

Industrial production growth rate NA%

Electricity - capacity 29,000 kW (1990)

Electricity - production 60 million kWh (1994)

Electricity - consumption per capita 287 kWh (1995 est.)

Agriculture - products coconuts, bananas, taro, yams

Exports
total value: $8.7 million (f.o.b., 1995)
commodities : coconut oil and cream, taro, copra, cocoa
partners: New Zealand 44%, Australia 22%, American Samoa, Germany

Imports
total value: $91 million (c.i.f., 1995)
commodities: intermediate goods 58%, food 17%, capital goods 12%
partners : New Zealand 37%, Australia 21%, US/American Samoa 13%

Debt - external $178.3 million (1995 est.)

Economic aid
recipient: ODA; $8.7 million bilateral aid from Australia (FY96/97 est.); $5 millionbilateral aid from NZ (FY95/96)

Currency 1 tala (WS$) = 100 sene

Exchange rates tala (WS$) per US$1 - 2.4570 (January 1997), 2.4618 (1996), 2.4722 (1995),2.5349 (1994), 2.5681 (1993), 2.4655 (1992)

Fiscal year calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Western Samoa on this page is re-published from the 1997 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Western Samoa Economy 1997 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Western Samoa Economy 1997 should be addressed to the CIA.