December food prices show downward trend for 4th straight month

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — At -0.5%, the American Samoa Basic Food Index (BFI) for December 2025 was reportedly negative for the fourth month in a row. Significantly eggs — a small dozen — was the lowest it's been for the entire year of 2025.

In January 2025, the average price was $4.35; in December, eggs cost $2.41, a -36.2% decrease. Aside from egg prices, there were other food commodities that have also decreased in prices which include fish (-3.6%) $4.77 lb, taro (-2.9%) $2.31 lb, pork spare ribs (-1.6%) $1.88, bread (-1 .1%) $3.56 a long loaf, sugar (-1 .1%) $3.61 for 2 kg, corned beef (-0.7%) $5.79 a can, and ice cream (-0.3%) 2 ltrs $9.68.

Now, even with the overall decrease in food costs, a few commodities have seen a slight increase in prices, including chicken (0.1%) $18.31 a case, sausage (0.5%) $2.23, mayonnaise (0.8%) $4.79, tuna (0.9%) $2.37, turkey tail (1.2%) $2.51 lb, and butter (1.8%) $5.08.

In addition, six items, such as banana, milk, rice, saimin, soda, and water, have reported no change in prices for the last month of the year.

The Basic Food Index is a monthly rapid assessment of basic food items, to monitor the cost and availability of these 20 food products throughout the community. The BFI is not to be confused with the Quarterly Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is a comprehensive standard measure of inflation and the cost of living in American Samoa.

A major upgrade to the survey coverage was implemented at the beginning of 2022, when 7 additional stores were included in the data collection process, extending coverage from Se'etaga in the West to Amouli in the East. In total, 14 major to mid-size retail stores have been selected for the monitoring of basic food costs.