The 2017 American Samoa Statistical Yearbook released today by the Department of Commerce again highlights the territory’s declining birthrate.
The number of births has decline significantly since 2012 with the exception of 2015 which had a slight increase of 12 births. Total births recorded in 2017 was 1,001 while total deaths was 310 resulting in a natural growth of the resident population of only 691.
LBJ medical records recorded six infant deaths in 2017. The leading causes of death in 2016 were heart disease, malignant neoplasm or cancer, septicemia, cerebovascular, and influenza/pneumonia.
Life expectancy for males is 71.1 years while that of females is 77.8 years.
The US Census Bureau population count for 2010 was 55,519, a drop of 1,700 persons or -3 percent. The annual growth rate of the resident population was 0.3 percent. Median age was 22.4 years The gender ratio was 103 males for every 100 males. The American Samoa Mid Year Population estimate for 2017 was 60,300.
In education number of students including the college was 15,967.
School enrollment has dropped significantly since 2013. The number of teachers in public schools also dropped in 2017, with the highest drop occurring in elementary school. About 82 percent of the population 25 years and over graduated from a high school while only about 10 percent had a bachelor degree or higher.
On law enforcement the statistical yearbook says that all offenses reported to the Department of Public Safety dropped by -0.7 percent in FY2017.
Burglaries continued to be the number one offense in Part 1 offense while robbery and larceny are on the rise. On Part 2 offenses , disorderly conduct followed by property damage/vandalism were the top two crime. Driving under the influence cases dropped by over 50% when compared to 5 years ago but narcotic cases doubled in the same period.
Likewise the number of cases with families and children also went up.
In particular, the number of weapons incidents reported to DPS continued to increase.
The number of fires reported to DPS increased by about 56%.
While the number of residential fires remained the same the number of commercial fires went up from an average of 8 fires in the past ten years to 52 in Fiscal Year 2017, an increase of over 500 percent. There were 12 major commercial fires and 40 minor ones reported in FY2017.
In the area of travel statistics, 71,592 people arrived in the territory in 2017 while 74,987 departed resulting in a net loss of 3,035.
Most incoming travelers were returning residents while visitors accounted for 38%.
New Zealand is the primary tourism market holding 42 percent of the market, the United States followed with 39 percent and Australia with 10.8 percent.
Call DOC at 633-5155 for more information about the 2017 Statistical Year Book.
