The price of everyday food items — from cabbages to corned beef — has surged across Samoa, with Chinese cabbage up more than 34 percent and corned beef nearly 24 percent higher than a year ago, driving the country’s annual inflation rate to 2.8 percent in September.

Samoa’s annual inflation rate rose by 2.8 per cent in September 2025 compared to the same month last year, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the Samoa Bureau of Statistics on Friday.

While prices across most divisions rose modestly, the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages category remained the largest contributor, accounting for 1.8 percentage points of the overall increase. Higher prices for chicken leg quarters (up 12.3%), corned beef (up 23.9%), cooking oil (up 13.6%), Chinese cabbage (up 34.5%), CCK coffee (up 22.4%), coconut (up 17.0%) and round cabbage (up 12.3%) were among the main drivers.

The Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco and Narcotics division contributed 0.6 percentage points, largely due to increases in Pall Mall cigarettes (up 9.0%), paper cigarettes (up 5.7%), and Samoan kava (up 5.3%).

Prices in the Restaurants and Hotels group recorded the sharpest monthly rise, up 9.0 per cent, driven by meals such as fish and chips (up 10.6%) and steamed rice with chicken (up 21.4%).

Transport costs also climbed 0.6 per cent, following significant fare increases for return tickets to Pago Pago (up 18.7%), Auckland (up 17.7%), and private car registration (up 25.0%).

Other divisions contributing to the rise included Miscellaneous Goods and Services (up 1.9%), mainly due to toiletries (up 12.5%), and Clothing and Footwear (up 1.6%), led by Nike running shoes (up 14.5%).

Minor increases were noted for Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (up 0.2%) and Health (up 3.4%), with amoxicillin 500 mg tablets rising by 3.2 per cent. Communication costs also rose 0.2 per cent, driven by a sharp 160 per cent increase in local mobile calling rates.

In contrast, prices for Recreation & Culture and Furnishing, Household Equipment & Maintenance fell by 1.5 per cent and 1.0 per cent, reflecting cheaper laptops (down 24.3%) and washing powder (down 8.0%).

Imported goods prices rose 2.3 per cent year-on-year, reflecting higher costs for food, cigarettes, televisions, cleaning products, Nike running shoes and school books. Local goods increased by 3.3 per cent, mainly from fresh produce and coffee.

The Bureau reported that the All Items Underlying Index rose 3.4 per cent over the year, while average annual inflation for the year ending September 2025 stood at 2.8 per cent, slightly below the 2.9 per cent recorded for the year ending September 2024.

The next CPI update will be released on 14 November 2025.