The Bureau of Economic Analysis released estimates of gross domestic product for American Samoa for 2016 as well as estimates of GDP by industry and compensation by industry for 2015. These estimates were developed under the Statistical Improvement Program funded by the Office of Insular Affairs of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Revised estimates of GDP for 2013 to 2015 and revised estimates of GDP by industry and compensation by industry for 2013 and 2014 are presented in this release.
The estimates of GDP for American Samoa show that real GDP – GDP adjusted to remove price changes – decreased 2.5 percent in 2016 after increasing 1.2 percent in 2015. For comparison, real GDP for the United States (excluding the territories) increased 1.5 percent in 2016 after increasing 2.9 percent 2015.
The decline in the American Samoa economy reflected decreases in spending on construction and equipment; several investment projects in both the government sector and private sector had ended or entered their final stages during 2015.
Government spending decreased, reflecting a decline in investment spending by the territorial government . Territorial government spending had been elevated in 2015 due to the telecommunication authority’s work to improve broadband capacity and coverage in American Samoa and the power utility’s work to rebuild the Satala Plant.
Business spending on construction and equipment continued to decrease, following major investments made by the tuna canning industry in previous years.
For more information, read the full report.