Islam in Samoa: history and Muslim population data

History of Islam in Samoa

The Independent State of Samoa changed its name from Western Samoa in 1997. It gained its independence in 1962 from New Zealand, which took it from the Germans in 1914. The total area is 2,934 sq km comprising two main islands where almost all the population lives and eight much smaller islands. The main islands are Savai’i (1,694 sq km) and Upolu (1,091 sq km) where the capital Apia is located and over three quarter of the population lives. The other inhabited islands are Manono (3 sq km) and Apolima (1 sq km), located between the two main islands, in Apolima Strait.

In 1907, the Muslim population comprised of five Chinese Muslims, or 0.01% of the total population. According to Census data, the Muslim population increased from less than thirteen in 1945 to less than fifteen in 1951, remaining less than 0.02% of the total population. The number increased to 48 or 0.03% in 2001, then 61 or 0.03% in 2006, but decreased to 38 or 0.02% in 2011 then increased to 87 or 0.04% in 2016 but decreased to 52 or 0.03% in 2021.

Thus, assuming that the percentage of Muslims will increase by 0.01 of a percentage point per decade; then the Muslim population is expected to reach 200 or 0.05% by 2050 and 400 or 0.1% by 2100.

Historical Muslim population dataset for Samoa

The figures below are from the CoMPS historical dataset. Population values are expressed in thousands; 2100 is a modelled projection, not a present-day count.

For the full time series and visualisation, use the interactive map above.