From trade to employment, an online portal for Samoa’s national statistics has launched, built on the same world-class, open-source platform used by other statistics innovators internationally.
The Samoa Bureau of Statistics has today launched data.sbs.gov.ws, a new portal serving as a single entry point to Samoa’s most important official statistics—enabling users to search, view and download national datasets, with complete metadata and documentation, in open, easy-to-use formats.
From school pupils to policymakers, data.sbs.gov.ws lets users discover, understand and use official data through well-designed navigation and search, data previews and contextual metadata, as well as download in standard formats such as an Excel or CSV file. It also provides advanced APIs for expert users who want to use live data feeds in their own tools, such as a spreadsheet or software.
A collaborative effort, the Samoa Bureau of Statistics, Pacific Community (SPC), Asian Development Bank and United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) all provided expertise on the project, with SPC’s contribution supported by New Zealand’s Government. The project also supports the roll-out of Fiji Bureau of Statistics’ own data portal, twinning Samoa and Fiji’s bureaux in this endeavour and increasing partnerships among Pacific countries.
Data.sbs.gov.ws is built on the .Stat Suite, open-source software supported by a community of organisations, including SPC and other partners, that in recent years has become the industry standard for disseminating data from official statistics. As well as this latest deployment, the suite is used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Stats NZ, the UK Data Service, and other international counterparts.
In the launch event held today, Samoa’s Government Statistician, Mr Leota Aliielua Salani, spoke to the strategic importance of the platform.
“The launch of the Samoa Stats Portal is a milestone in our commitment to transparency, accessibility, and evidence-based decision-making,” he said.
“By providing a centralised platform for official statistics, we are strengthening public trust in data, enhancing its usability across sectors, and simplifying how we share critical insights.
“This portal ensures that policymakers, businesses, researchers, and the public have easy access to reliable and timely data, empowering informed choices that drive Samoa’s development forward.”
Datasets available at launch cover five thematic areas: international trade (with seven tables available); consumer prices (nine tables); national accounts (three tables); government finance statistics (six tables); and employment statistics (14 tables).
Data availability on the platform will continue to grow over time. More fundamentally, the portal reflects a growing, global trend in official statistics towards the use of structured, interoperable and accessible datasets as the foremost means of statistical dissemination, explains Mr Denis Grofils, Statistics Adviser in Process Modernisation with SPC’s Statistics for Development Division.
“Using the .Stat Suite and SDMX means using global standards,” Mr Grofils explains, with SDMX referring to ‘Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange’—a standardised framework designed to improve the efficiency and interoperability of statistical data-sharing.
“With the introduction of their new data portal, Samoa Bureau of Statistics have entered a global community of .Stat users and SDMX experts, and part of international best practice.”
The project was ambitious from its origin, aiming to deliver a state-of-the-art solution for Samoa’s data users through in-kind expertise from each of the partners. Capacity-building in statistical infrastructure and dissemination has been a major part of the year-long project behind this rollout, the launch today representing the final of four workshops between the five organisations involved.
From a resilience and security perspective, the platform is cloud-hosted, critical in a region with significant disaster risk—and another Pacific-first aspect to the project.
“This launch of Samoa’s first national data portal is really pioneering,” says Mr Grofils. “It shows the power and potential of modern, open-source tools to reshape how data are disseminated and used.
“With this project, Samoa has moved itself to among the best of its international peers for statistical data access for decision-making, and we’re really proud to have supported them in their journey.”
