Real gross domestic product (GDP) for American Samoa increased 1.8 percent in 2022 after decreasing 0.8 percent in 2021 (table 1.3), according to statistics released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). These statistics were developed under the Statistical Improvement Program funded by the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
GDP for 2022
The increase in real GDP reflected increases in government spending and exports (table 1.2). Personal consumption expenditures, private fixed investment, and private inventory investment subtracted from growth. Imports, a subtraction item in the calculation of GDP, also decreased.
Government spending increased 5.0 percent (table 1.3), reflecting growth in territorial government spending. Territorial government spending was supported by federal grant revenues, including Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund payments and Education Stabilization Fund payments authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020; the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act of 2021; and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
Exports of goods and services increased 3.0 percent, primarily reflecting an increase in exports of canned tuna and related products. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau U.S. Trade with Puerto Rico and U.S. Possessions reports show that the quantities of prepared or preserved fish shipped from American Samoa to the 50 states and the District of Columbia were 3.3 percent higher in 2022 than in 2021. Exports of services also increased, primarily reflecting growth in visitor spending.
Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) decreased 7.8 percent, reflecting decreased spending on goods, such as motor vehicles and food. Economic impact payments distributed to households through the CRRSA Act and the American Rescue Plan Act tapered off by 2022. These payments had supported consumer spending in 2021.
Private fixed investment (PFI) decreased 38.4 percent, reflecting declines in residential and nonresidential structures and purchases of equipment.
Private inventory investment decreased (table 1.2), reflecting a decline in inventory investment in the tuna canning industry.
Imports decreased 12.5 percent, primarily reflecting decreases in goods imported for domestic consumption, including goods within PCE, PFI, and private inventory investment.
GDP by industry and compensation by industry for 2021
In 2021, real GDP decreased 0.8 percent. The newly available GDP by industry data, which are released on a 1-year lag, reveal that the private sector was the primary source of the decline in real GDP in 2021 (table 2.5).
The private sector decreased 5.2 percent (table 2.4), primarily reflecting a decline in manufacturing. The decline in manufacturing reflected decreased tuna cannery output.
The government sector increased 8.1 percent, reflecting growth in compensation of territorial government employees.
Total compensation increased from $345 million in 2020 to $364 million in 2021 (table 2.6). The $19 million increase reflected growth in territorial government compensation.
Updates to American Samoa GDP and Its Components
Estimates for 2018–2021 that were released on September 1, 2022, have been revised to incorporate updates to source data including the following:
- Value of imported goods by type from the American Samoa Department of Commerce.
- Audited financial statements for the American Samoa government and its independent agencies.
- Residential electricity revenue and sales for American Samoa from the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Annual Electric Power Industry Report.
- Wage and employment information from the U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns.
The revised estimates exhibit a pattern of inflation-adjusted GDP growth similar to the previously published estimates (table 1.7).
Due to lags in the availability of data for various components of GDP, the statistics presented today for 2022 are preliminary estimates. For example, data covering government spending and imports of goods for the fourth quarter of 2022 were not available in time for incorporation into this year’s estimates of GDP. As additional source data become available, BEA will incorporate the information and will release updated estimates once a year.
For more information on the data sources underlying these estimates, see Summary of Methodologies: Gross Domestic Product for American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Next release: Fall 2024
Gross Domestic Product for American Samoa, 2023
Gross Domestic Product by Industry and Compensation by Industry, 2022
