American Samoa’s economy grew 1.6 percent in 2014, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported today.
The estimate is for real GDP, which is adjusted to remove price changes. For comparison, real GDP for the United States (excluding U.S. territories) increased 2.4 percent in 2014.
The growth in the American Samoa economy reflected widespread increases among the components of GDP. These increases were partly offset by an increase in imports of goods, which is a subtraction item in the calculation of GDP.
Growth in private fixed investment and in exports of goods reflected increased activity of the tuna canning industry. Private fixed investment, which is spending by businesses on construction and equipment, increased for a second consecutive year. This growth reflected continued investments by the tuna canning industry, including the construction of a multimillion dollar tuna processing plant. The increase in exports of goods was due to growth in exports of canned tuna.
Government spending also increased, primarily reflecting growth in spending by the territorial government. Federal grant revenues supported major territorial government projects in 2014, including the telecommunication authority’s work to improve broadband capacity and coverage in American Samoa.
For more information, read the full report.