PAGO PAGO (RNZ Pacific/Pacnews) — New figures show the population of American Samoa has dipped below 50,000.
The U.S Census Bureau has released a demographic profile of the territory from the 2020 census.
The population count came to 49,710, which was down from 56,084 in 2010.
It shows that 57.6% of the population were born in American Samoa, 6.1% were born in the U.S and 36.3% were born elsewhere.
Those of Samoan ancestry made up 83.2% of the population, while 5.8% were Asian, with Filipinos making up the largest group in this category — 1,699 people.
On employment, the census report said out of 32,727 people, 16 years and older who are eligible for employment, 15,780 were employed and 2,394 were unemployed.
An American Samoa Commerce Department report released in August said: “American Samoa is showing very low fertility that warrants immediate attention to policy assessment and population impact implications.”
The census shows the median household income is $28,352.
The percentage of families in poverty in American Samoa declined from 54.4% in 2009 to 50.7% in 2019.
The 2020 Island Areas Censuses also collected information about computer and internet use.
Among all households in American Samoa, 92% had at least one type of computer and 69% had a broadband internet subscription.
