2022 Economic Census of American Samoa shows increases

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Data from the 2022 Economic Census of American Samoa which was released yesterday by the US Census Bureau, shows that there were increases in the Territory’s sales and other measures of employer business output for nearly every sector of the economy, as compared to the last economic census taken in 2017.

Businesses that have one or more paid employees are mandated by law to answer the census questionnaire.

The economic census is conducted every five years and provides comprehensive data on sales and other measures of employer business output for nearly every sector of the economy.

The 2022 Economic Census of American Samoa shows there were 593 business establishments in the Territory that year, including the canneries.

The businesses employed 8,999 people and had a combined annual payroll of $163.9 million. 

According to the last economic census conducted five years earlier in 2017, there were 511 business establishments employing 7,767 employees with an annual payroll of $143.9 million.

Comparisons between the two economic census findings reveal an increase of 82 business establishments and a $20 million increase in the annual payroll amount in the five-year period.

The census data was presented yesterday to the media in a press conference held at the Department of Commerce (DOC) conference room, by two officials of the US Census Bureau, Michael Sprung, the Assistant Survey Director and Robert Nusz, Assistant Survey Director Staff Chief.

Nusz began the presentation by defining what the economic census means.

“It’s a census of every business in the United States with paid employees,” he explained. “It includes the US territories which includes American Samoa. We do this once every five years for years that end with 5 or 7.

“So these statistics are 2022 statistics and you may be thinking, that’s a couple of years ago. But we can’t start collecting the data till the year is over. So we start the collection at the beginning of 2023 and it takes us most of the year to do the collection and some additional time to do the analysis, and now we’re releasing these statistics.

“This is a mandatory survey, the businesses are required to respond and everything we collect is entirely confidential.

“The statistics we release are released at an aggregate level and we take steps to make sure that no individual business can be identified by the statistics.” 

According to the statistics, the sector with the most employees is Manufacturing which showed 2,463 employees, followed by Retail trade which employed 1,670 workers, Health Care and Social Assistance employed 1,132, Accommodation and Food Services employed 922 and Construction had 656 employees. 

Manufacturing recorded sales, value of shipments or revenue for the year at $403.4 million, the next highest was Retail trade which reported $393.5 million in sales, value of shipment and revenues. 

Wholesale trade registered $203 million, followed by Construction at $96.9 million and Health Care and Social Assistance recorded $86.7 million in sales, value of shipments or revenue. 

Compared to the 2017 economic census there were increases in business establishments of 16%, sales by 33.3%, payroll by 14 percent and employees by 2.6%

According to the data, the Eastern District which starts from the eastern side of the island extending up to Nu’uuli, had 366 business establishments, while the Western District which extends from Tafuna to the western side, had 226. 

Commenting on the 2022 economic census data, the US Census Bureau official stated that overall it wasn’t as bad as he’d expected.

“I would say it’s not as bad as expected because the last time we did this was before the pandemic, now we’ve collected statistics after the pandemic, it’s a little bit of a gauge as to the effects of it, but it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting,” Nusz pointed out. 

Referring to the increases witnessed in American Samoa with regard to the number of business establishments, the combined revenue of all the sectors of the economy, payroll and the number of employees, he stated that it could be attributed to pandemic assistance or it could show signs of inflation.

The US Census Bureau officials will be giving a presentation for the American Samoa Chamber of Commerce before they return.