Samoa's main income comes from a mix of tourism, remittances from overseas workers, agriculture (especially coconut products), fisheries, and foreign aid, with the services sector, driven by tourism, contributing the largest share to its GDP, alongside significant funds from Samoans working abroad. Agriculture, though employing many, provides fewer exports, while remittances and tourism are vital economic pillars, alongside important development assistance.
The economy of Samoa has traditionally been dependent on development aid, family remittances from overseas, tourism, agriculture, and fishing. It has a nominal GDP of $844 million. Agriculture, including fishing, furnishes 90% of exports, featuring fish, coconut oil, nonu products, and taro.
The Samoan economy is based on agriculture, fisheries, small-scale manufacturing and tourism.
Its main imports are food and beverages, industrial supplies, and fuels. The primary sector (agriculture, forestry, and fishing) employs nearly two-thirds of the labor force and produces 17% of GDP. Samoa's principal exports are refined petroleum, fish, and coconut products.
The country is in the lower-middle-income category and has made impressive progress in social development. Although extreme poverty does not exist in Samoa, many rural communities suffer from poverty of opportunity and unequal distribution of benefits as compared to urban areas.
According to various reports, the average after-tax salary in Samoa is estimated to be close to $830-850 per month. This average monthly salary gives us an idea of the personal wage employees earn after mandatory expenses like taxes have been accounted for.
How Much Does a Coke Cost in Samoa? A can of Coke in Samoa costs approximately ST$2.50-$3, which is equivalent to NZ$1.50-$1.80 or US$0.93-$1.12.
While the Constitution of the Independent State of Samoa provides for the protection of certain fundamental human rights, there continue to be several major issues. Major areas of concern include the under-representation of women, domestic violence and poor prison conditions.
Samoa has no formal defence structure or regular armed forces. It has informal defence ties with New Zealand, which is required to consider any request for assistance from Samoa under the bilateral Treaty of Friendship of 1962.
Samoa has 4 cultural genders – female, male, fa'afafine, fa'afatama, however only two, female and male are promoted and included in all legislation. Fa'afafine and Fa'afatama are indigenous LGBTI citizens of Samoa. Fa'afafine are male at birth and explicitly embody feminine gender traits.
Migration abroad: In the case of migration to New Zealand and Australia, work opportunities, education and family reunion are the main reasons indicated by people for leaving the country.
The median sale price of a home in Samoa was $420K last month, up 16.7% since last year. Themedian sale price per square foot in Samoa is $350, down 19.4% since last year.…
South Sudan is widely considered the poorest country in the world in 2025-2026, consistently ranking first due to extremely low GDP per capita and a high percentage (over 80%) of its population living in extreme poverty, driven by prolonged civil conflict, displacement, and disruption of its agricultural economy. Other nations frequently cited as among the poorest include Burundi, the Central African Republic, and Yemen, also suffering from conflict and instability.
According to legend, Samoa is known as the “Cradle of Polynesia” because Savai'i island is said to be Hawaiki, the Polynesian homeland. Samoan culture is undoubtedly central to Polynesian life, and its styles of music, dance, and visual art have gained renown throughout the Pacific islands and the world.
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Chinese began coming to Samoa in the late 19th century, arriving as workers on European merchant ships and drawn in by German companies to work on the country's extensive plantations. Soon a Chinese population existed in Samoa and began establishing its own businesses and enterprises.
It's a Polynesian belief it supposed to call the evil spirits. Some old timers still follow that belief but mostly forgotten. I dormed with a girl who one night decides to walk up & down the hallway whistling. After awhile of getting irritated, I got up to tell her stop.
While food, housing, and healthcare are below the US average, the cost of labor is much lower than in the rest of the US, meaning your money has to stretch much further. So, for many people, living in American Samoa is likely to be fairly expensive, though it depends on where you'd be moving from, of course.
Samoa grows an abundance of tropical fruits and vegetables on plantations, and these flavours of the Pacific abound in many dishes in cafes and restaurants. Local crops include coconuts, bananas, cocoa, taro, breadfruit, sugarcane, yams, pineapple, cassava, papaya and sweet potatoes, among others.
Switzerland tops the list of countries with the highest monthly salaries in 2025, offering an impressive average of USD 8,247. Luxembourg follows in second place with USD 6,764, driven by its strong financial sector and high standard of living.
Alcohol. The legal drinking age in Samoa is 21. The sale of alcohol is prohibited on Sundays.
What's more, tipping is not customary in Samoa, so there's no requirement to factor that into your budget if you don't want to. Either way, it's always good to be consumer-savvy, so wise up on the taxes that you'll encounter on your trip with this Samoa tipping and tax guide for travellers.
Many beaches, waterfalls and other areas of interest for visitors are owned by nearby villages, who have customary land rights. To enter, they will often ask visitors for a small cash fee, generally about WST$5-$20 per person.