American Samoa: Container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units)

Key figures

Over five years it is up 33.63% from 57,025 in 2014 (5.97% a year on average, compounded). Since 2010 it is up 28.79% from 59,167 in 2010 (2.85% a year on average, compounded).

What the numbers say

In 2019, American Samoa's container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units) fell 15.6% on 2018 (from 90,245 to 76,200).

Across the 8 yearly changes before that (2011 to 2018), the average change was +6.6% and a typical year strayed about 17.3% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.3 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 39.9% in 2017 and the biggest yearly fall was 15.6% in 2019. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2010 to 2019 the straight-line trend is upward, about 3,188 a year. A straight line explains 54% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2019, American Samoa had the 15th highest value of the 32 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to American Samoa in the 2019 ranking

• Sierra Leone — 12th of 32: 78,413
• Vanuatu — 13th of 32: 77,436
• Tonga — 14th of 32: 76,854
• Gambia, The — 16th of 32: 71,470
• Comoros — 17th of 32: 54,359
• Timor-Leste — 18th of 32: 53,289

What this measures

Port container traffic measures the flow of containers from land to sea transport modes, and vice versa, in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), a standard-size container. Data refer to coastal shipping as well as international journeys. Transshipment traffic is counted as two lifts at the intermediate port (once to off-load and again as an outbound lift) and includes empty units.

Limitations: Measures of port container traffic, much of it commodities of medium to high value added, give some indication of economic growth in a country. But when traffic is merely transshipment, much of the economic benefit goes to the terminal operator and ancillary services for ships and containers rather than to the country more broadly. In transshipment centers empty containers may account for as much as 40 percent of traffic. Data cover coastal shipping as well as international journeys. Transshipment traffic is counted as two lifts at the intermediate port (once to off-load and again as an outbound lift) and includes empty units.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a sum.

All 10 values

Container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units) in nearby economies

• Australia — 9.58 million (2024)
• Brunei Darussalam — 99,000 (2023)
• Cambodia — 1.03 million (2024)
• China — 299.7 million (2024)
• Fiji — 145,782 (2019)
• French Polynesia — 84,772 (2022)
• Guam — 190,200 (2019)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 13.69 million (2024)
• Indonesia — 14.71 million (2024)

More infrastructure data for American Samoa

• Fixed telephone subscriptions — 9,693 (2022)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 20.05 (2022)
• Liner shipping connectivity index (maximum value in 2004 = 100) — 8.09 (2021)
• Secure Internet servers — 24 (2024)
• Secure Internet servers (per 1 million people) — 513.2 (2024)

Every indicator for American Samoa is on the American Samoa data page.

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is American Samoa's container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units)?

76,200 in 2019, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2010?

It is up 28.79% from 59,167 in 2010 (2.85% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 92,270 in 2017 and the lowest 56,600 in 2013.

How does American Samoa rank?

15th highest of 32 economies with data for 2019.

Is the latest change in container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units) unusual for American Samoa?

In 2019, American Samoa's container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units) fell 15.6% on 2018 (from 90,245 to 76,200). Across the 8 yearly changes before that (2011 to 2018), the average change was +6.6% and a typical year strayed about 17.3% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.3 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator IS.SHP.GOOD.TU, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), uri: http://unctad.org/en/Pages/statistics.aspx Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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