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 the
great bulk 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, may be held back by the current
financial difficulties in East Asia.

purchasing power parity - $150 million (1995 est.)

NA%

purchasing power parity - $2,600 (1995 est.)

agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: NA%

NA%

lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

NA%

13,949 (1996)

government 33%, tuna canneries 34%, other
33% (1990)

12% (1991)

revenues: $121 million (37% in local revenue and 63% in US grants)
expenditures: $127 million, including capital expenditures of $NA
(FY96/97)

tuna canneries (largely dependent on foreign fishing
vessels), handicrafts

NA%

125 million kWh (1998)

fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1998)

116 million kWh (1998)

0 kWh (1998)

0 kWh (1998)

bananas, coconuts, vegetables, taro,
breadfruit, yams, copra, pineapples, papayas; dairy products,
livestock

$313 million (1996)

canned tuna 93%

US 99.6%

$471 million (1996)

materials for canneries 56%, food 8%, petroleum
products 7%, machinery and parts 6%

US 62%, Japan 9%, NZ 7%, Australia 11%, Fiji 4%,
other 7%

$NA

$NA; note - important financial support from
the US

1 US dollar (US$) = 100 cents

US currency is used

1 October - 30 September