Share of the population defined as severely food insecure vs. undernourished in Samoa
Samoa: Share of the population defined as severely food insecure vs. undernourished was 4.5 percent in 2023. ▲ Rising
Share of the population defined as severely food insecure vs. undernourished in Samoa, 2017–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in percent.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of the population defined as severely food insecure vs. undernourished in Samoa is 4.5 percent, measured in 2023. That is the highest value across all 7 years on record.
That represents a change of up 4.7% on the previous year and up 32.4% over ten years.
That places Samoa 64th out of 125 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
Share of the population defined as severely food insecure vs. undernourished in Samoa, year by year
| Year | percent | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 3.4 percent | — |
| 2018 | 3.5 percent | +2.9% |
| 2019 | 3.6 percent | +2.9% |
| 2020 | 3.9 percent | +8.3% |
| 2021 | 4.1 percent | +5.1% |
| 2022 | 4.3 percent | +4.9% |
| 2023 | 4.5 percent | +4.7% |
Samoa compared with similar countries
- Samoa's 4.5 percent is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 5 percent, 90% of the median. (39 countries reporting)
- Samoa's 4.5 percent is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 3.55 percent, 1.3× the median. (16 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 3.5 percent | 3.4 percent | 3.6 percent | 3 |
| 2020s | 4.2 percent | 3.9 percent | 4.5 percent | 4 |
Countries ranked near Samoa
More reference data data for Samoa
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.023 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.0165 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.0396 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.0396 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.077 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.0626 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.0918 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.2319 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Burning - Crop residues 0 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.1693 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the population defined as severely food insecure vs. undernourished in Samoa?
- Share of the population defined as severely food insecure vs. undernourished in Samoa was 4.5 percent in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of the population defined as severely food insecure vs. undernourished recorded in Samoa?
- The highest recorded value was 4.5 percent in 2023.
- What is the lowest share of the population defined as severely food insecure vs. undernourished recorded in Samoa?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.4 percent in 2017.
- How does Samoa rank for share of the population defined as severely food insecure vs. undernourished?
- Samoa ranks 64th out of 125 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of the population defined as severely food insecure vs. undernourished rising or falling in Samoa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 32.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Samoa data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of the population defined as severely food insecure vs. undernourished. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 7 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Both metrics indicate that someone does not get enough food (in terms of calories) to eat: these metrics should be strongly correlated. Severe food insecurity is measured based on food security questionnaires among households. Undernourishment is based on estimates of actual calorie intake across the population.