Remittance inflows to GDP in Samoa
Samoa: Remittance inflows to GDP was 25.3% in 2020. ▼ Falling
Remittance inflows to GDP in Samoa, 1982–2020
Source: World Development Indicators (WDI), World Bank. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2020, remittance inflows to gdp in Samoa stood at 25.3%.
That represents a change of up 38.8% on the previous year and up 21.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, remittance inflows to gdp in Samoa peaked at 34.2% in 1990 and was at its lowest, 0.2%, in 2004.
That places Samoa 5th out of 197 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 39 years of available data.
Remittance inflows to GDP in Samoa, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 15.7% | — |
| 1983 | 17.9% | +14.1% |
| 1984 | 18.3% | +2.4% |
| 1985 | 25.1% | +37.1% |
| 1986 | 28.7% | +14.4% |
| 1987 | 33.1% | +15.3% |
| 1988 | 28.6% | -13.7% |
| 1989 | 33.4% | +16.8% |
| 1990 | 34.2% | +2.5% |
| 1991 | 27.9% | -18.5% |
| 1992 | 30.2% | +8.5% |
| 1993 | 24.0% | -20.5% |
| 1994 | 16.7% | -30.4% |
| 1995 | 18.0% | +7.7% |
| 1996 | 17.7% | -1.7% |
| 1997 | 16.3% | -7.9% |
| 1998 | 15.6% | -4.5% |
| 1999 | 17.5% | +12.2% |
| 2000 | 17.4% | -0.6% |
| 2001 | 16.9% | -2.8% |
| 2002 | 16.0% | -5.5% |
| 2003 | 13.5% | -15.5% |
| 2004 | 0.2% | -98.4% |
| 2005 | 17.1% | +7673.0% |
| 2006 | 17.4% | +1.8% |
| 2007 | 16.9% | -3.3% |
| 2008 | 17.0% | +0.9% |
| 2009 | 19.0% | +11.9% |
| 2010 | 20.9% | +9.8% |
| 2011 | 21.6% | +3.6% |
| 2012 | 23.4% | +8.0% |
| 2013 | 21.4% | -8.5% |
| 2014 | 18.6% | -13.1% |
| 2015 | 16.6% | -10.4% |
| 2016 | 16.4% | -1.7% |
| 2017 | 16.3% | -0.3% |
| 2018 | 18.0% | +10.1% |
| 2019 | 18.2% | +1.4% |
| 2020 | 25.3% | +38.8% |
Samoa compared with similar countries
- Samoa's 25.3% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 4.0%, 6.3× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Samoa's 25.3% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 2.3%, 10.9× the median. (32 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Remittance inflows to GDP in Samoa changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | +7673.0% | 0.2% | 17.1% |
| 2004 | -98.4% | 13.5% | 0.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 25.1% | 15.7% | 33.4% | 8 |
| 1990s | 21.8% | 15.6% | 34.2% | 10 |
| 2000s | 15.1% | 0.2% | 19.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 19.1% | 16.3% | 23.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 25.3% | 25.3% | 25.3% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Samoa
- 2 Kyrgyzstan 31.1% compare
- 3 Tajikistan 26.9% compare
- 4 Lebanon 25.6% compare
- 6 Somalia 24.9% compare
- 7 Nepal 24.3% compare
- 8 El Salvador 24.1% compare
More financial sector data for Samoa
- Reserve position in the IMF, US dollar, annual growth rate 5.01 % change on previous year (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, US dollar, per unit of GDP 0.002 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, US dollar, per capita 11.51 units per person (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, SDR, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, SDR, per unit of GDP 0.0014 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, SDR, per capita 8.41 units per person (2025)
- Reserve tranche position, US dollar, annual growth rate 5.01 % change on previous year (2025)
- Reserve tranche position, US dollar, per unit of GDP 0.002 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Reserve tranche position, US dollar, per capita 11.51 units per person (2025)
- Reserve tranche position, SDR, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is remittance inflows to gdp in Samoa?
- Remittance inflows to gdp in Samoa was 25.3% in 2020, according to World Development Indicators (WDI), World Bank.
- What is the highest remittance inflows to gdp recorded in Samoa?
- The highest recorded value was 34.2% in 1990.
- What is the lowest remittance inflows to gdp recorded in Samoa?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.2% in 2004.
- How does Samoa rank for remittance inflows to gdp?
- Samoa ranks 5th out of 197 countries with data for 2020.
- Is remittance inflows to gdp rising or falling in Samoa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 21.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Samoa data come from?
- The figures come from World Development Indicators (WDI), World Bank, published as part of Remittance inflows to GDP (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 39 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Workers' remittances and compensation of employees comprise current transfers by migrant workers and wages and salaries earned by nonresident workers. Data are the sum of three items defined in the fifth edition of the IMF's Balance of Payments Manual: workers' remittances, compensation of employees, and migrants' transfers. Remittances are classified as current private transfers from migrant workers resident in the host country for more than a year, irrespective of their immigration status, to recipients in their country of origin. Migrants' transfers are defined as the net worth of migrants who are expected to remain in the host country for more than one year that is transferred from one country to another at the time of migration. Compensation of employees is the income of migrants who have lived in the host country for less than a year.