Samoa: Food exports (% of merchandise exports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Samoa's food exports (% of merchandise exports) fell 15.93 percentage points on 2023 (from 40.68% to 24.75%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1974 to 2023), the average change was +0.51 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 6.31 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.6 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 10.54 percentage points in 2011 and the biggest yearly fall was 15.93 percentage points in 2024. 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 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 9% of the movement over 9 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 2024, Samoa had the 18th highest value of the 36 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

• Madagascar — 15th of 36: 30.47%
• Namibia — 16th of 36: 27.95%
• Mauritania — 17th of 36: 25.52%
• Lesotho — 19th of 36: 23.3%
• Zimbabwe — 20th of 36: 21.6%
• Senegal — 21st of 36: 21.59%

What this measures

Food comprises the commodities in SITC (Rev. 3) sections 0 (food and live animals), 1 (beverages and tobacco), and 4 (animal and vegetable oils and fats) and division 22 (oil seeds, oil nuts, and oil kernels). This indicator is expressed as a percentage of merchandise exports which is comprised of goods whose economic ownership is changed between a resident and a non-resident and that are not included in the following specific categories: goods under merchanting, non-monetary gold, and parts of travel, construction, and government goods and services n.i.e.

Limitations: Previous editions contained data based on the SITC revision 1. Data for earlier years in previous editions may differ because of the change in methodology. Concordance tables are available to convert data reported in one system to another.

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

All 45 values

Food exports (% of merchandise exports) in nearby economies

• Australia — 13.74% (2025)
• Brunei Darussalam — 0.11% (2025)
• Cambodia — 15.38% (2024)
• China — 2.34% (2025)
• Fiji — 55.36% (2025)
• French Polynesia — 7.42% (2025)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 1.34% (2025)
• Indonesia — 22.92% (2025)
• Japan — 1.28% (2025)
• Kiribati — 97.22% (2021)

More private sector & trade data for Samoa

• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$467 million (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$24 million (2025)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 75.22% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in East Asia & Pacific (% of total merchandise imports) — 24.62% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise imports) — 0% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy (current US$) — US$462.21 million (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within region (% of total merchandise imports) — 24.62% (2023)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Samoa's food exports (% of merchandise exports)?

24.75% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1962?

It is down 74.37 percentage points from 99.12% in 1962. The highest value was 99.12% in 1962 and the lowest 14.33% in 2008.

How does Samoa rank?

18th highest of 36 economies with data for 2024.

Is the latest change in food exports (% of merchandise exports) unusual for Samoa?

In 2024, Samoa's food exports (% of merchandise exports) fell 15.93 percentage points on 2023 (from 40.68% to 24.75%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1974 to 2023), the average change was +0.51 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 6.31 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.6 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TX.VAL.FOOD.ZS.UN, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Comtrade database, United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Statistics Division; World Integrated Trade Solution system (WITS); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) 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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