Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The Basic Food Index (BFI) for the month of February 2024 saw a monthly decrease of 1.3% since January 2024, with the price of an American Samoa staple —Ramen settling back to the December price.

A total of 14 major to mid-sized retail stores have been selected for monitoring basic food costs of 20 commodities on Tutuila island — from the far-west side to the far-east side.

The Basic Food Index is a monthly rapid assessment of basic food items, to monitor the cost and availability of these 20 food products throughout the community. 

Among the twenty food commodities, ten were responsible for the decrease. These food products include ramen (-11.8%) at 54¢ a package, rice (-5.0%) at $6.69 for 5 lbs., milk (-1.3%) $2.52, mayonnaise (-1.3%) $4.77, taro (- 1.2%) $2.22, ribs (-0.9%) $1.86, turkey tail (-0.7%) $1.84, corned beef (-0.7%) $5.65, and tuna (-0.1%) $2.36.

Despite the overall decrease in the BFI, several food items experienced a rise in costs last month.

These include banana  (14.2%) $1.54, soda (4.6%) $1.13, chicken legs case (3.8%) $18.31, sugar (3.8%) $3.88, bread (3.6%) $3.55, fish (3.6%) $5.19, butter (1.2%) $4.42, 2 ltr ice-cream (0.8%) $9.34, and eggs (0.7%) $2.41.

Regardless of fluctuations in other food commodities, water has remained constant.

DOC notes that the BFI is not to be confused with the Quarterly Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is a comprehensive standard measure of inflation and the cost of living in American Samoa.

For more information, please contact DOC’s Statistics & Analysis Division at 633-0120 or email americansamoastatistics@doc.as.gov