Samoa: Risk of impoverishing expenditure for surgical care (% of people at risk)

Key figures

Over five years it is down 3.1 percentage points from 13.1% in 2011. Since 2003 it is down 3.2 percentage points from 13.2% in 2003. The World Bank has no value for 3 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2016, Samoa's risk of impoverishing expenditure for surgical care (% of people at risk) fell 0.8 percentage points on 2015 (from 10.8% to 10%).

Across the 8 yearly changes before that (2004 to 2015), the average change was −0.37 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.29 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations below 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 3.5 percentage points in 2014 and the biggest yearly fall was 3.8 percentage points in 2013. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2008 to 2016 the straight-line trend is downward, about 0.36 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 39% of the movement over 9 observed years.

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

How it compares

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

Closest to Samoa in the 2016 ranking

• Madagascar — 1st of 2: 96.1%

What this measures

The proportion of population at risk of impoverishing expenditure when surgical care is required. Impoverishing expenditure is defined as direct out of pocket payments for surgical and anaesthesia care which drive people below a poverty threshold (using a threshold of $2.15 PPP/day).

Limitations: Prior to 2015, global data on surgery, anesthesia and obstetric care was virtually nonexistent. With the idea that “We can’t manage what we don’t measure”, the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery developed six Surgical, Obstetric and Anesthesia (SAO) indicators and collected data for them. The analysis of these data show large gaps in SAO care across countries by income groups.

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

All 11 values

Risk of impoverishing expenditure for surgical care (% of people at risk) in nearby economies

• Australia — 0.1% (2021)
• China — 6.3% (2022)
• Indonesia — 23.2% (2022)
• Japan — 0.1% (2022)
• Kiribati — 34% (2022)
• Korea, Rep. — 0.1% (2022)
• Lao PDR — 26% (2022)
• Malaysia — 7.2% (2018)
• Mongolia

More health data for Samoa

• Population ages 00-04, female (% of female population) — 11.91% (2025)
• Population ages 00-04, male (% of male population) — 12.59% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, female — 40,419 (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, female (% of female population) — 37.14% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, male — 43,051 (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, male (% of male population) — 38.97% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, total — 83,470 (2025)
• Population ages 0-14 (% of total population) — 38.06% (2025)
• Population ages 05-09, female (% of female population) — 12.82% (2025)
• Population ages 05-09, male (% of male population)

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Questions people ask

What is Samoa's risk of impoverishing expenditure for surgical care (% of people at risk)?

10% in 2016, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2003?

It is down 3.2 percentage points from 13.2% in 2003. The highest value was 13.9% in 2012 and the lowest 10% in 2016.

Is the latest change in risk of impoverishing expenditure for surgical care (% of people at risk) unusual for Samoa?

In 2016, Samoa's risk of impoverishing expenditure for surgical care (% of people at risk) fell 0.8 percentage points on 2015 (from 10.8% to 10%). Across the 8 yearly changes before that (2004 to 2015), the average change was −0.37 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.29 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations below 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 SH.SGR.IRSK.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Program in Global Surgery and Social Change (PGSSC), Harvard Medical School, uri: https://www.pgssc.org/ 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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