International tourism, number of arrivals in Samoa
Samoa: International tourism, number of arrivals was 23,900 in 2020. ▲ Rising
International tourism, number of arrivals in Samoa, 2006–2020
Source: Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism.
Analysis
In 2020, international tourism, number of arrivals in Samoa stood at 23,900. That is the lowest value across all 15 years on record.
That represents a change of down 86.8% on the previous year and down 81.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, international tourism, number of arrivals in Samoa peaked at 181,000 in 2019 and was at its lowest, 23,900, in 2020.
Samoa ranks 192nd of 201 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 15 years of available data.
International tourism, number of arrivals in Samoa, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 116,000 | — |
| 2007 | 122,000 | +5.2% |
| 2008 | 122,000 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 129,000 | +5.7% |
| 2010 | 130,000 | +0.8% |
| 2011 | 128,000 | -1.5% |
| 2012 | 135,000 | +5.5% |
| 2013 | 125,000 | -7.4% |
| 2014 | 132,000 | +5.6% |
| 2015 | 139,000 | +5.3% |
| 2016 | 146,000 | +5.0% |
| 2017 | 158,000 | +8.2% |
| 2018 | 172,000 | +8.9% |
| 2019 | 181,000 | +5.2% |
| 2020 | 23,900 | -86.8% |
Samoa compared with similar countries
- Samoa's 23,900 is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 778,000, 3% of the median. (56 countries reporting)
- Samoa's 23,900 is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 487,000, 5% of the median. (35 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where International tourism, number of arrivals 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | -86.8% | 181,000 | 23,900 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 122,250 | 116,000 | 129,000 | 4 |
| 2010s | 144,600 | 125,000 | 181,000 | 10 |
| 2020s | 23,900 | 23,900 | 23,900 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Samoa
More private sector data for Samoa
- Merchandise trade 38.1% (2025)
- Food imports 29.6% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 48.0% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 467.00 million current US$ (2025)
- Commercial service imports 102.13 million current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 24.8% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 39.4% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 24.00 million current US$ (2025)
- Commercial service exports 328.00 million current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 109.44 current US$ per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is international tourism, number of arrivals in Samoa?
- International tourism, number of arrivals in Samoa was 23,900 in 2020, according to Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism.
- What is the highest international tourism, number of arrivals recorded in Samoa?
- The highest recorded value was 181,000 in 2019.
- What is the lowest international tourism, number of arrivals recorded in Samoa?
- The lowest recorded value was 23,900 in 2020.
- How does Samoa rank for international tourism, number of arrivals?
- Samoa ranks 192nd out of 201 countries with data for 2020.
- Is international tourism, number of arrivals rising or falling in Samoa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 81.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Samoa data come from?
- The figures come from Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism, published as part of International tourism, number of arrivals. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 15 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
International inbound tourists (overnight visitors) are the number of tourists who travel to a country other than that in which they have their usual residence, but outside their usual environment, for a period not exceeding 12 months and whose main purpose in visiting is other than an activity remunerated from within the country visited. When data on number of tourists are not available, the number of visitors, which includes tourists, same-day visitors, cruise passengers, and crew members, is shown instead. Sources and collection methods for arrivals differ across countries. In some cases data are from border statistics (police, immigration, and the like) and supplemented by border surveys. In other cases data are from tourism accommodation establishments. For some countries number of arrivals is limited to arrivals by air and for others to arrivals staying in hotels. Some countries include arrivals of nationals residing abroad while others do not. Caution should thus be used in comparing arrivals across countries. The data on inbound tourists refer to the number of arrivals, not to the number of people traveling. Thus a person who makes several trips to a country during a given period is counted each time as a new arrival.