Only 100 people were added to American Samoa’s population between July 2016 and June 2017, according to the mid year population stats released by the Department of Commerce.
The total number of people in the territory mid 2017 was estimated at 60,300.
There were 30,643 females and 29,657 males.
The population estimate is derived from the balancing equation method, which takes into account net migration of residents, births and deaths.
According to DOC, recent fertility trends continued to decline.
The number of births dropped from 1,800 a year ten years ago to just over 1,000 last year.
The number of deaths on the other hand has increased, averaging at about 280 deaths a year, or 23 deaths a month, or 5 deaths a week.
DOC says net migration is difficult to assess due to lack of quality data.
However using immigration arrival/departure statistics DOC estimates that American Samoa may have lost about 6,000 residents in the past ten years.
Chief Statistician Meleisea Vai Filiga said, “This is a big loss in the indigenous population but at the same time we might have gained about 7,000 from visiting families and relatives in the same period.”
However he said those intending residents seeking authorization to reside in American Samoa are not capture as a primary reason of travel but are, if not all arriving as VRFs that visiting relatives and friends.
Between July 2016 and June this year, the population natural growth, that is births minus deaths was +707.
Net migration using the two categories of resident and visiting relatives/families amounted to -600,
The largest age group is the 25-64 years which made up 44% of the population, followed by the 6-13 years accounting for 17.5% and the 14-18 years with 11.1%.
