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

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Samoa's container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units) rose 18.7% on 2023 (from 44,676 to 53,017).

Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2011 to 2023), the average change was +5.6% and a typical year strayed about 6.9% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.9 standard deviations above 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 19.1% in 2014 and the biggest yearly fall was 4.7% in 2011. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2015 to 2024 the straight-line trend is upward, about 1,997 a year. A straight line explains 92% 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.

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about 57,166 for 2027. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2022 to 2024 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 2,485, against 3,858 for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

How it compares

In 2024, Samoa had the 99th highest value of the 103 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 Samoa in the 2024 ranking

• Curaçao — 96th of 103: 98,100
• Cabo Verde — 97th of 103: 89,382
• Aruba — 98th of 103: 64,800
• Cayman Islands — 100th of 103: 46,658
• Antigua and Barbuda — 101st of 103: 28,000
• St. Vincent and the Grenadines — 102nd of 103: 24,416

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 15 values

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

• American Samoa — 76,200 (2019)
• 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)

More infrastructure data for Samoa

• Mobile cellular subscriptions — 134,320 (2022)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 62.4 (2022)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions — 4,567 (2022)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 2.12 (2022)
• Scientific and technical journal articles — 21.85 (2023)
• Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 3,540 (2023)
• Air transport, passengers carried — 42,120 (2023)
• Air transport, freight (million ton-km) — 0.00595 (2023)
• ICT goods imports (% total goods imports) — 3.27% (2024)
• ICT goods exports (% of total goods exports)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

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

53,017 in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2010?

It is up 136% from 22,465 in 2010 (6.33% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 53,017 in 2024 and the lowest 21,420 in 2011.

How does Samoa rank?

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.

Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.