overseas, and agricultural exports. The country is vulnerable to
devastating storms. Agriculture employs two-thirds of the labor
force, and furnishes 90% of exports, featuring coconut cream,
coconut oil, and copra. Outside of a large automotive wire harness
factory, the manufacturing sector mainly processes agricultural
products. Tourism is an expanding sector; more than 70,0000 tourists
visited the islands in 1996. The Samoan Government has called for
deregulation of the financial sector, encouragement of investment,
and continued fiscal discipline. Observers point to the flexibility
of the labor market as a basic strength for future economic advances.
GDP: purchasing power parity--$470 million (1997 est.)
GDP--real growth rate: 3.4% (1997 est.)
GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$2,100 (1997 est.)
GDP--composition by sector:
agriculture: 40%
industry: 25%
services: 35% (1996 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.2% (1998 est.)
Labor force: 82,500 (1991 est.)
Labor force--by occupation: agriculture 65%, services 30%,
industry 5% (1995 est.)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget:
revenues: $52 million
expenditures: $99 million, including capital expenditures of $37
million (FY96/97 est.)
Industries: timber, tourism, food processing, fishing
Industrial production growth rate: 14% (1996 est.)
Electricity--production: 65 million kWh (1996)
Electricity--production by source:
fossil fuel: 61.54%
hydro: 38.46%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1996)
Electricity--consumption: 65 million kWh (1996)
Electricity--exports: 0 kWh (1996)
Electricity--imports: 0 kWh (1996)
Agriculture--products: coconuts, bananas, taro, yams
Exports: $14.6 million (f.o.b., 1997)
Exports--commodities: coconut oil and cream, copra, fish, beer
Exports--partners: Australia 82%, New Zealand 6%, Slovakia,
Germany, American Samoa (1996)
Imports: $99.7 million (f.o.b., 1997)
Imports--commodities: intermediate goods, food, capital goods
Imports--partners: Australia 33%, New Zealand 25%, Japan 15%, Fiji
8%, US 8% (1996)
Debt--external: $167 million (1996 est.)
Economic aid--recipient: $42.9 million (1995)
Currency: 1 tala (WS$) = 100 sene
Exchange rates: tala (WS$) per US$1--2.9011 (January 1999), 2.9429
(1998), 2.5562 (1997
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