Fort Towson

Demographics of American Samoa include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects. American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean.

A rising line graph
Population in thousands; Data of FAO, year 2005.

Vital statistics

Births and deaths[1]

21st-century demography of American Samoa
Year Population Live births Deaths Natural increase Crude birth rate Crude death rate Rate of natural increase
2001 59,400 1,655 239 1,416 27.9 4.0 23.9
2002 60,800 1,629 295 1,334 26.8 4.9 21.9
2003 62,600 1,608 257 1,351 25.7 4.1 21.6
2004 64,100 1,713 289 1,424 26.7 4.5 22.2
2005 65,500 1,720 279 1,441 26.3 4.3 22.0
2006 66,900 1,442 267 1,175 21.6 4.0 17.6
2007 68,200 1,293 251 1,042 19.0 3.7 15.3
2008 69,200 1,338 240 1,098 19.3 3.5 15.8
2009 70,100 1,375 324 1,051 19.6 4.6 15.0
2010 67,380 1,279 247 1,032 19.0 3.7 15.3
2011 64,292 1,287 283 1,004 20.0 4.4 15.6
2012 63,596 1,175 282 893 18.5 4.4 14.1
2013 62,610 1,161 270 891 18.5 4.3 14.2
2014 61,811 1,084 259 825 17.5 4.2 13.3
2015 60,863 1,096 314 782 18.0 5.2 12.8
2016 60,200 1,013 280 733 16.8 4.7 12.1
2017 60,300 1,001 310 691 16.6 5.1 11.5
2018 59,600 921 298 623 15.5 5.0 10.5
2019 58,500 840 278 562 14.4 4.8 9.6

Structure of the population

Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 01.IV.2010): [2]
Age Group Male Female Total %
Total 28 164 27 355 55 519 100
0–4 3 417 3 194 6 611 11.91
5–9 3 470 3 065 6 535 11.77
10–14 3 214 3 065 6 279 11.31
15–19 3 218 3 078 6 296 11.34
20–24 1 944 1 947 3 891 7.01
25–29 1 670 1 654 3 324 5.99
30–34 1 726 1 784 3 510 6.32
35–39 1 845 1 764 3 609 6.50
40–44 1 793 1 807 3 600 6.48
45–49 1 673 1 716 3 389 6.10
50–54 1 335 1 344 2 679 4.83
55–59 1 011 1 038 2 049 3.69
60–64 755 725 1 480 2.67
65-69 500 460 960 1.73
70-74 321 333 654 1.18
75-79 155 182 337 0.61
80-84 76 130 206 0.37
85+ 41 69 110 0.20
Age group Male Female Total Percent
0–14 10 101 9 324 19 425 34.99
15–64 16 970 16 857 33 827 60.93
65+ 1 093 1 174 2 267 4.08

Population statistics

Historical population
YearPop.±%
19005,679—    
19127,251+27.7%
19208,056+11.1%
193010,055+24.8%
194012,908+28.4%
195018,937+46.7%
196020,051+5.9%
197027,159+35.4%
198032,297+18.9%
199046,773+44.8%
200057,291+22.5%
201055,519−3.1%
202049,710−10.5%

The statistics from 1900 to 1950 and every decennial census are from the U.S. Census Bureau. There was no census taken in 1910, but a special census taken in 1912. Beginning with the 1930 Census, Swain Island is included in the population count for American Samoa. The remaining statistics are from the World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.[3]

Population

  • Approximately 55,212,[4][5][6][7] but the Factbook states 49,437 (2020 estimate). About 65% of the population are U.S. nationals, of whom at least 10% are U.S. citizens.[8] Of the foreign-born population, 81% are from Samoa, 9% are from other parts of Oceania, and 9% are from Asia.[8]

Age structure

  • 0–14 years: 27.76% (male 7,063/female 6,662)
  • 15–24 years: 18.16% (male 4,521/female 4,458)
  • 25–54 years: 37.49% (male 9,164/female 9,370)
  • 55–64 years: 9.69% (male 2,341/female 2,447)
  • 65 years and over: 6.9% (male 1,580/female 1,831) (2020 est.)

Median age

  • total: 27.2 years
  • male: 26.7 years
  • female: 27.7 years (2020 est.)

Population growth rate

  • −2.1% (2021 est.)

Birth rate

  • 17.19 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)

Death rate

  • 6 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)

Net migration rate

  • −32.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)

Urbanization

  • Urban population: 87.2% of total population (2020)
  • Rate of urbanization: 0.07% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

Sex ratio

  • At birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
  • 0–14 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
  • 15–24 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
  • 25–54 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
  • 55–64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
  • 65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female
  • Total population: 1 male(s)/female (2020 est.)
A pyramid heavily weighted toward youth
American Samoa's population pyramid.

Infant mortality rate

  • Total: 10.25 deaths/1,000 live births
  • Male: 12.39 deaths/1,000 live births
  • Female: 8 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

  • Total population: 75.06 years
  • Male: 72.55 years
  • Female: 77.72 years (2021 est.)

Total fertility rate

  • 2.28 children born/woman (2021 est.)

Nationality

  • Noun: American Samoan(s) (US Nationals)
  • Adjective: American Samoan

Ethnic groups

Religions

  • Christian 98.3%
  • Other 1%
  • Unaffiliated 0.7% (2010 est.)

Major Christian denominations on the island include the Congregational Christian Church in American Samoa, the Catholic Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Methodist Church of Samoa. Collectively, these churches account for the vast majority of the population. [9]

J. Gordon Melton in his book claims that the Methodists, Congregationalists with the London Missionary Society, and Catholics led the first Christian missions to the islands. Other denominations arrived later, beginning in 1895 with the Seventh-day Adventists, various Pentecostals (including the Assemblies of God), Church of the Nazarene, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The World Factbook 2010 estimate shows the religious affiliations of American Samoa as 98.3% Christian, other 1%, unaffiliated 0.7%.[3] World Christian Database 2010 estimate shows the religious affiliations of American Samoa as 98.3% Christian, 0.7% agnostic, 0.4% Chinese Universalist, 0.3% Buddhist, and 0.3% Baháʼí.[10]

According to Pew Research Center, 98.3% of the total population is Christian. Among Christians, 59.5% are Protestant, 19.7% are Catholic and 19.2% are other Christians. A major Protestant church on the island, gathering a substantial part of the local Protestant population, is the Congregational Christian Church in American Samoa, a Reformed denomination in the Congregationalist tradition. As of August 2017, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints website claims membership of 16,180 or one-quarter of the whole population, with 41 congregations, and 4 family history centers in American Samoa.[11] The Jehovah's Witnesses claim 210 "ministers of the word" and 3 congregations.[12]

Languages

Native languages include:

  • Samoan 88.6%
  • English 3.9%
  • Tongan 2.7%
  • Other Pacific islander 3%
  • Other 1.8% (2010 est.)

English proficiency is very high.

References

  1. ^ "Statistical Yearbook | Department of Commerce". October 15, 2018. Archived from the original on September 8, 2021. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  2. ^ "UNSD — Demographic and Social Statistics". unstats.un.org. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "American Samoa". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency. October 6, 2021. (Archived 2021 edition)
  4. ^ "American Samoa Population (live) - Worldometers". www.worldometers.info.
  5. ^ Mendoza, Moises (October 11, 2014). "How a weird law gives one group American nationality but not citizenship". Public Radio International (PRI). Retrieved August 24, 2018. Those nationals — born on the 55,000-person US island territory in the South Pacific — receive US passports, can serve in the military and work and live on the mainland United States.
  6. ^ "U.S. nationals born in American Samoa sue for citizenship". NBC News. Associated Press. March 28, 2018. Retrieved 2018-10-01.
  7. ^ "Census 2010 News | U.S. Census Bureau Releases 2010 Census Population Counts for American Samoa". 2010 United States Census. census.gov. Archived from the original on July 23, 2012. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  8. ^ a b 2010 American Samoa Demographic Profile Data, U.S. Census Bureau.
  9. ^ Macpherson, Cluny; Macpherson, La'avasa (2011). "Churches and the Economy of Sāmoa". The Contemporary Pacific. 23 (2): 304–337. doi:10.1353/cp.2011.0042. hdl:10125/23847. JSTOR 23725519. S2CID 154742271 – via JSTOR.
  10. ^ "American Samoa: Adherents Profile at the Association of Religion Data Archives, World Christian Database". Thearda.com. Archived from the original on September 29, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  11. ^ "LDS Newsroom". Mormonnewsroom.org. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
  12. ^ "American Samoa: How Many Jehovah's Witnesses Are There?". JW.ORG. Retrieved August 13, 2017.