Samoa
Everything Palanor holds about Samoa, in one place: 37 public signals, what its economy runs on, how often America’s largest companies name it, the news that names it, and Country Posture. Every figure is computed from stored readings and carries its source and date.
OceaniaAsia-Pacific
The latest read
- GDP in current U.S. dollars: $1.29 billion (2025); record high since 1990; 1y +9.3%.
- Household consumption, share of GDP: 72.8% of GDP (2025); 38th percentile since 2009; lowest since 2020; 1y −3.06 pts.
- Net exports, share of GDP: -15.4% of GDP (2025); 77th percentile since 2002; highest since 2019; 1y +2.82 pts.
Country Posture
What Samoa’s economy is doing
Momentum
2025Inputs only. Did not pass the pre-registered back-test: 1996–2009: AUC 0.590 below 0.60; AUC 0.590 below the single-input baseline (0.624); 2010–2022: AUC 0.595 below 0.60; AUC 0.595 below the single-input baseline (0.641).
Inputs
| Real GDP growth | 4.2 |
| Growth against its three-year average | -3.2 |
| Change in unemployment | 0.1 |
| Change in the employment rate | -0.6 |
| Export volume growth | — |
| OECD leading indicator | — |
Resilience
202484Deep buffers
0 = thin buffers · 100 = deep buffers
Moved most by external debt (up) and governance (wgi mean) (down) since the year before.
Inputs
| Interest as a share of revenue (2023) | 1.2 | 85 |
| Budget balance (2023) | 4.4 | 82 |
| Reserves, months of imports | 9.8 | 95 |
| Current account | 5.6 | 88 |
| Governance (WGI mean) | 0.69 | 77 |
| External debt | 37.6 | 75 |
Pressure
2025Inputs only. Did not pass the pre-registered back-test: 1996–2009: AUC 0.657 below the single-input baseline (0.672).
Inputs
| Inflation | 2.2 |
| Change in inflation | 0.0 |
| Currency move against the dollar | 1.4% |
| Conflict deaths per million | 0.0 |
| Political stability | 1.34 |
| Private credit, three-year change | -23.5 |
| Bond spread over U.S. Treasuries | — |
Posture describes what an economy is doing; it is not a rating and never ranks countries. Each input is read against the country’s own history and against every other economy that year. An axis shows a score only after passing a back-test fixed before any result was computed. Method and back-test.
Passport reach
Where a Samoa passport opens doors
The share of world GDP, outside Samoa itself, in the economies whose published rules let a holder of this passport in, as of October 2026. Palanor records the rules of destinations holding 88% of world GDP, from each government’s own list, and weights them by World Bank GDP for 2025. Rank is among 199 passports.
Work
0.0%rank 114 of 199
the right to work (free movement in full; treaty and working-holiday routes at half); 0 destinations in full.
Recorded changes
Samoa grants citizenship for a set investment
- Citizenship Investment Act 2015 (investor permanent residence leading to citizenship) citizenship · OpenGovernment minimum — for one person (agent fees excluded).
Reach is shown here and not weighted into Country Strength: it rewards membership of a free-movement area or a treaty more than the strength of an economy. Entry is always at the border officer’s discretion, and conditions (length of stay, fees, age limits) vary. Method, sources and the full ranking: Passports and citizenship.
Palanor calculation from each destination government's published rules; GDP weights from the World Bank (CC BY 4.0), one year for the whole line, so it moves only when a list changes.
GDP by expenditure
What Samoa’s economy runs on
In 2025, household spending was 72.8% of GDP, government consumption 18.6%, investment 30.0% and net exports -15.4% (exports 27.6%, imports 43.0%). In 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025 the parts miss 100 by more than three points (the statistical discrepancy in Samoa’s national accounts).
World Bank national accounts. The parts can miss 100 by a few points (the statistical discrepancy).
Same World Bank definition for every country, so the shares compare directly: What each economy runs on.
IMF World Economic Outlook
The IMF’s outlook for Samoa
The latest year before the October 2026 edition (often still an IMF estimate) and the IMF’s own projections. These are the IMF’s published forecasts, shown as published; Palanor does not project them further. Since the previous edition the IMF cut its growth forecast for this year by 2.8 percentage points (Palanor calculation).
| Measure | 2025 | 2026 IMF f’cast | 2027 IMF f’cast | 2031 IMF f’cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real GDP growth% | 4.2 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 2.5 |
| Inflation, average consumer prices% | 1.8 | 1.4 | 5.7 | 3.0 |
| GDP, current US dollarsUS$ bn | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.7 |
| GDP at purchasing-power parityintl $ bn | 1.8 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 2.3 |
| GDP per person, US dollarsUS$ | 6,063 | 6,303 | 6,644 | 7,935 |
| Current account balance% of GDP | 5.7 | 5.6 | -4.6 | -2.2 |
| Government gross debt% of GDP | 21.2 | 18.6 | 19.3 | 24.2 |
| Government overall balance% of GDP | 4.7 | 4.0 | -1.8 | -1.8 |
Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database (edition on the projection). Dashed: the IMF's published projection.
Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database (edition on the projection). Dashed: the IMF's published projection.
Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database, October 2026. Provided by the IMF “as is” and free of charge from the IMF; the IMF does not endorse Palanor.
News
In the news
- La mayor goleada de la historia de las Copas del Mundo: Estados Unidos vence 17-0 a Samoa en el Mundial Sub 17 femenino
La Tercera2026-10-19neutral
- Samoa’s Prime Minister Laʻauli Leuatea Schmidt has apologized for a video from 2007 in which he said “Heil Hitler” and made a Nazi gesture during what he described as a family gathering.
The Associated Press · Bluesky2026-10-05neutral
- Samoa’s Prime Minister Laʻauli Leuatea Schmidt has apologized for a video from 2007 in which he said “Heil Hitler” and made a Nazi gesture during what he described as a family gathering.
The Associated Press · Bluesky2026-10-05neutral
Headlines that name Samoa, matched by name with fixed rules (a wrong match is worse than a missing one). Tone is read from each headline’s own words; no model reads or summarizes an article, and other publishers’ stories link out.
Signals
Every series about Samoa
Grouped by theme, the most-read first. All 37 in the Library.
Growth and output1
- Samoa · GDP · USD bn (current)record high since 1990; 1y +9.3%$1.29bn2025
Trade and capital flows1
- Samoa · Net International Investment Position, % of GDP (IMF)record high since 2013; 1y +7.02 pts30.3% of GDP2025
Migration1 of 3
- U.S.-Born People Living in Samoa (UN)19th percentile since 1990; lowest since 1990284 people2024
More about this country2
- Samoa · IMF Credit Outstanding · USD bn (IMF)86th percentile since Nov 1975; 1y −20.3%$0.02bn2026-09-01
- Samoa · IMF Credit Outstanding, % of GDP62nd percentile since 1980; lowest since 2019; 1y −0.247 pts1.55% of GDP2025
Peers
Elsewhere in Oceania
Alphabetical. Palanor does not rank countries.
American SamoaAustraliaCook IslandsFijiFrench PolynesiaGuamKiribatiMarshall IslandsMicronesiaNauruNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNiueNorthern Mariana IslandsPalauPapua New GuineaSolomon IslandsTongaTuvaluVanuatu