1. THE SAMOAN ECONOMY
2. Gross Domestic Product (GDP)¹

Nominal GDP² 

Quarter (Sept 2022 quarter) 

$493.5 million, 6.6 percent higher than $463.1 million in the September 2021 quarter.

Annual (12 months to end Sept 2022) 

$1,855.4 million or 1.6 percent higher than $1,826.7 million for the year up to September 2021.

GDP per capita (12 months to Sept 2022) 

$10,821 per capita, 1.2 percent higher than $10,690 for the same period up to September 2021.

Real GDP³ 

Quarter (Sept 2022 quarter) 

$501.2 million, 4.7 percent higher than $478.7 million in the September 2021 quarter.

Annual (12 months to end Sept 2022) 

$1,876.0 million, 4.2 percent lower than $1,958.5 million for the year up to September 2021.

2. Inflation (January 2023)

The annual average headline inflation rate remained at 11.0 percent from the previous  month but was still higher than 4.5 percent in January 2022. This monthly outcome reflected a drop in imported inflation to 15.1 percent from 15.3 percent in December 2022 while local inflation edged up to 6.7 percent from 6.4 percent in the previous month.

3. Agricultural produce

According to the Samoa Bureau of Statistics (SBS) monthly survey, the average volume of agricultural produce supplied to the local markets in the first seven months to January  2023 was 20.7 percent higher compared to the same period last year. This reflected  increases in the supply of stable food crops such as taro, coconut and yams as well as all  vegetables items like cabbages, tomatoes, cucumber and pumpkin. Despite the higher

supplies, the average price index at the local markets also rose by 23.3 percent as a result  of higher demand for local produce.

4. Banking system (at end December 2022 quarter)

The banking system at end December 2022 remained well-capitalized with the capital  adequacy ratio rising to 30.8 percent from 29.1 percent in December 2021, and this was  well above the 15.0 percent minimum prudential requirement.

Its liquidity was also more than adequate at 27.4 percent of total domestic deposits and  well above its minimum prudential requirement of 10.0 percent.

Non-performing loans (NPLs) as of December 2022 stood at 5.0 percent to total loans,  which was higher than 3.6 percent in December 2021. However, the provisioning for  doubtful loans to total NPLs decreased to 156.9 percent in December 2022, from 198.3  percent in December last year. This high level of provisioning just about covers (90.1  percent) of total NPLs plus special mention loans, which dropped from 110.0 percent at  end December 2021.

5. Balance of Payment (First 7 months to January 2023)

External Trade: 

1. Total Exports of Goods

$70.67 million; 74.4 percent higher than $40.52 million, in the first seven months to  January 2022.

Export Composition  

The shares of the main exports were as follow:

Re-exports – 49.2 percent ($34.74 million)

Domestically produced exports – 50.8 percent ($35.93 million)

Of which;

Fresh Fish – 25.6 percent ($18.09 million

Crude coconut oil – 11.2 percent ($7.91 million)

Beer – 2.4 percent ($1.71 million)

Taro – 2.3 percent ($1.61 million)

Nonu Juices – 2.0 percent ($1.43 million)

1. Total Imports of Goods

$745.73 million, 49.3 percent higher than $499.33 million in same period up to  January 2022.

∙ Non-petroleum private sector imports up by 24.0 percent to $485.08 million; ∙ Petroleum imports more than doubled to $182.12 million;

∙ Government imports more than tripled to $78.53 million.

iii. Net Trade of Goods Deficit 

$675.06 million, 47.1 percent higher than $458.81 million in the first seven months of FY 2021/22.

1. Visitor Arrivals and Receipts

Total Arrivals 

59,380 visitors in the seven months to January 2023.

∙ Of which 26,453 were those visiting friends and relatives

Total Receipts 

$194.17 million in the seven months to January 2023.

∙ Of which $104.2 million were spent by those visiting friends and relatives

1. Private Remittances

$511.33 million, 20.5 percent higher than $424.41 million in the first seven months  to January 2022

∙ Family and Households expanded by 15.1 percent to $447.46 million.

∙ Non-profit Institutions Serving Households (NPISH) rose by 9.0 percent to  $16.86 million.

1. Gross Official Foreign Reserves⁴,⁵

$894.55 million at end January 2023, 16.4 percent higher than the same month last  year. At this level, this was sufficient to cover 9.4 months of imports, which was  lower than 10.9 months at end January 2022.

6. External Debt Outstanding (at end December 2022 quarter)
7. Debt Stock

$902.40 million (around 40.6 percent of nominal GDP⁶), 9.6 percent lower than  $998.66 million in the December 2021 quarter (45.6 percent of nominal GDP).

1. Annual Debt Servicing (at end December 2022 quarter)

$108.95 million, which was 206.2 percent higher than $35.57 million in the year up to  December 2021. This large hike reflects the end of the Debt Service Suspension  Initiative (DSSI), which Samoa is a part of, and the resumption of normal debt  servicing repayments. This was equivalent to 

∙ 16.10 percent of recurrent revenue⁷;

∙ 12.55 percent of foreign reserves⁸; or

∙ 23.23 percent of total exports of goods and services