Transport and infrastructure in Samoa

Road traffic

The network of roads and highways has a total length of 1,150 km. For each of the country's 200,144 inhabitants, this corresponds to 5.75 meters. This puts Samoa in 98th place in the global ranking. However, the country's size and population density of around 70 inhabitants per km² must also be taken into account. Countries with fewer inhabitants on the same or even larger area naturally achieve quite different values here and have to connect remote areas to the transport network despite a smaller population.

With an average of 25 traffic fatalities per year (2012 - 2019), road traffic in Samoa is considered reasonably safe. This corresponds to around 4.3 accident fatalities per 13.0 inhabitants per year. By comparison, this figure is 12.2 in the USA and 17.1 worldwide.

In Samoa, left-hand traffic is the rule on the roads, i.e. you drive in the left lane and overtake on the right. Oncoming traffic comes to meet you on the right side. This regulation was enforced on September 2nd, 2009. Here you can also find an overview of all countries with left-hand traffic.

Data sources used

• Global Health Observatory Data Repository (World Health Organization)
• UNCTAD
• Internation Union of Railways (UIC)
• CIA Factbook
• OECD Statistics
• Wikipedia (german)