Samoa's current account balance (% of GDP) was 6.93% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 8.47 percentage points from -1.54% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 6.93% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | -8.72% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | -1.54% | 2015 |
| Highest | 12.11% | 1989 |
| Lowest | -39.68% | 1992 |
| Average since 2016 | -1.32% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | -9.9% | 1977 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Samoa's current account balance (% of GDP) rose 1.35 percentage points on 2024 (from 5.58% to 6.93%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1990 to 2024), the average change was −0.25 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 10.49 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 30.91 percentage points in 1994 and the biggest yearly fall was 27.2 percentage points in 1991. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2016 to 2025 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 9% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2025, Samoa had the 15th highest value of the 135 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 2025 ranking
- Nepal — 11th of 135: 10.67%
- Ghana — 12th of 135: 8.22%
- Netherlands — 13th of 135: 7.58%
- Sweden — 15th of 135: 6.8%
- Korea, Rep. — 16th of 135: 6.57%
- Viet Nam — 17th of 135: 6.44%
What this measures
Balance of current transactions (transactions in goods and services, earned income and transfer income) between residents and non-residents. The term current account balance is used in the external accounts and is expressed from the perspective of resident units. The term current external balance is used in the national accounts and is expressed from the perspective of the non-resident units, and therefore with the opposite sign. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.
All 45 values
| Year | Current account balance (% of GDP) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 6.93 |
| 2024 | 5.58 |
| 2023 | 3.84 |
| 2022 | -8.32 |
| 2021 | -13.31 |
| 2020 | -8.72 |
| 2019 | 3.73 |
| 2018 | 2.69 |
| 2017 | -1.07 |
| 2016 | -4.55 |
| 2015 |
Current account balance (% of GDP) in nearby economies
- Australia — -2.77% (2025)
- Brunei Darussalam — 18.01% (2025)
- Cambodia — -3.72% (2025)
- China — 3.77% (2025)
- Fiji — -7.78% (2024)
- French Polynesia — 7.49% (2016)
- Hong Kong SAR, China — 12.25% (2025)
- Indonesia — -0.09% (2025)
- Japan — 4.86% (2025)
- Kiribati — -15.23% (2025)
- Korea, Rep.
More economic policy & debt data for Samoa
- Grants, excluding technical cooperation (BoP, current US$) — US$114.41 million (2023)
- Technical cooperation grants (BoP, current US$) — US$14.69 million (2023)
- Net official development assistance and official aid received (current US$) — US$117.17 million (2023)
- Net official development assistance and official aid received (constant 2023 US$) — US$117.17 million (2023)
- Net official development assistance received (current US$) — US$117.17 million (2023)
- Net official development assistance received (constant 2023 US$) — US$117.17 million (2023)
- Net ODA received per capita (current US$) — US$540.81 (2023)
- Total reserves, including gold (current US$) — US$598.34 million (2025)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Samoa's current account balance (% of GDP)?
- 6.93% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1977?
- It is up 16.83 percentage points from -9.9% in 1977. The highest value was 12.11% in 1989 and the lowest -39.68% in 1992.
- How does Samoa rank?
- 15th highest of 135 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in current account balance (% of GDP) unusual for Samoa?
- In 2025, Samoa's current account balance (% of GDP) rose 1.35 percentage points on 2024 (from 5.58% to 6.93%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1990 to 2024), the average change was −0.25 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 10.49 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator BN.CAB.XOKA.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF); World Development Indicators Database, World Bank (WB); National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 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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