Abstract

The 2018 HIES is the fifth such survey conducted by the Samoa Bureau of Statistics since the first one in 1997. The 2018 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) was conducted in four rounds within a twelve month period from February to November 2018.

The 2018 HIES collected information on Income and Expenditure of sampled households in order to provide information on the economic characteristics of all households in Samoa. The main objectives of the survey are: 1. CPI Re-base: To obtain expenditure weights, review the “basket of goods and services,” understand where consumers purchase goods and services, and other useful data for the revision of the Consumer Price Index. 2. Hardship Analysis: To provide data to determine the extent of hardship and vulnerability of households in Samoa. 3. National Accounts: To supplement the data available for use in compiling official estimates of household accounts in the systems of national accounts.

Analysis unit

Households, individuals

Universe

The survey covered all households except households of diplomats.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face computer-assisted interviews [capi]

The 2011 Population and Housing Census of Samoa was taken on the midnight of November the 7th 2011. It counted every person in the country on that night and collected a wide range of social, economic and demographic information about each individual and their housing status.

The information were used to develop statistical indicators to support national plannning and policy-making and also to monitor MDG indicators and all other related conventions. This included population growth rates, educational attainment, employment rates, fertility rates, mortality rates, internal movements, household access to water supply, electricity, sanitation, and many other information. The full report is available at SBS website: http://www.sbs.gov.ws under the section on Population statistics and demography.

Version 01: Clean, de-identified version of the dataset.

The scope of the PHC 2011 includes:

Individuals: demographic characteristics, education, employment, fertility, mortality, internal movements and migration
Households: housing facilities and accessibility to socio-economic services

• Collection start: 2011
• Collection end: 2011

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Abstract

The PHC 2006 provides a population count of all people that resided in Samoa on the 6th of November, 2006. It collected a range of socio-economic and demographic information pertaining to household members and their associated housing facilities and household status. The information were used to develop statistical indicators to support national plannning and policy-making and also to monitor MDG indicators and all other related conventions. This included population growth rates, educational attainment, employment rates, fertility rates, mortality rates, internal movements, household access to water supply, electricity, sanitation, and many other information. The full report is available at SBS website: http://www.sbs.gov.ws under the section on Publications and Reports.

Geographic coverage

National coverage

Analysis unit

Private households Institution households Individuals Women 15-49 Housing facilities

Universe

The PHC covered all de facto household members, institutional households such as boarding schools, hospitals, prison inmates, expatriats residing in Samoa for more than 3 months and also all women 15-49 years .The PHC excluded tourists visiting Samoa and Samoans living overseas.

Kind of data

Census/enumeration data [cen]

Sampling procedure

Not applicable to census-undertaking

Sampling deviation

Not applicable to census-undertaking

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The PHC 2006 questionnaire was developed on the basis of the PHC 2001 with some modifications and additions. The Questionnaire has separate A-3 page for the Population questionnaire and a separate A4 page for the Housing questionnaire.

A Population questionnaire was administered in each household, which collected various information on household members including age, sex, citizenship, ethnicity, orphanhood, marital status, matai status, disability, language of communication, residence (birth, usual, previous), religion, education and employment.

In the Population questionnaire, a special section was administered in each household for women age 15-49, which also asked information on their children ever born still living, died or living somewhere else. Mothers of children under one year were also asked whether they have immunized their babies for measles and rubella.

The Housing questionnaire was also administered in each household which collected information on the types of building the household lived, floor materials, wall materials, roof materials, land tenure, house tenure, water supply, drinking water, lighting, cooking fuel, waste disposal, toilet facility, telephone, computer, internet, cell phones, homezone phone, refrigerator, radio, television, play-station or kidz video games, vehicle, and also the household three main sources of income.

In the Housing questionnaire, a special section was designed to capture household deaths and maternal deaths between November 2004-2006 including the deceased's sex, age at death, and ,the main cause of death.

Cleaning operations

how to edit on field and in the office to data processing

Data editing took place at a number of stages throughout the processing, including: a) Office editing and coding b) During data entry c) Structure checking and completeness d) Secondary editing e) Structural checking of SPSS data files Detailed documentation of the editing of data can be found in the "Data processing guidelines" document provided as an external resource.

At SBS, a team of Office editors was responsible for reviewing each completed questionnaire that came into the office and checking for missed questions, skip errors, fields incorrectly completed, and checking for inconsistencies in the data. In problematic EA, the Office editors liased with the ACEO:Census-Survey and recommended re-enumeration in areas where coverage was not good or quality of the questionnaire was poor. In 2006, the re-enumeration was carried out in some of the villages in the Apia urban region and some areas of Vaitele mainly due to the unavailability of household members during the allocated enumeration period, and, also due to poor quality of data collection.

On the other hand, the good completed questionnaires were passed on by the Office editors to the Office coders who then performed their coding processes of all the questionnaires in a sequential order. After each questionnaire is coded, the Office coders recorded their dates of completion and then passed on the coded questionnaires to the Data processing team for their controls and data entry processes.

The Data processing team is lead by the Computer Manager and Programmer who also works closely with the ACEO Census-Surveys in monitoring the flow of work. The Computer Manager/Programmer designed the data entry and editing programs, conducted the data entry training and then monitored the data entry and made progress reports. Any problems relating to coding at the data entry will be reported to the ACEO Census-Surveys for improvement.

The Computer Manager/Programmer ran data structural checkings and monitored completeness of data entries. Data verfication had also been closely monitored and double data entry was made at 50%. The ACEO Census-Surveys produced the Tabulation plan in which the Computer Programmer also used to monitor structural checks and data quality.

Any detalied information can be asked directly to the Computer Progammer/Manager of SBS or check into our website at http://www.sbs.gov.ws

Response rate

Not applicable to census-undertaking

Sampling error estimates

Not applicable to census-undertaking

Abstract

The 2011 Population and Housing Census of Samoa was taken on the midnight of November the 7th 2011. It counted every person in the country on that night and collected a wide range of social, economic and demographic information about each individual and their housing status.

The information were used to develop statistical indicators to support national plannning and policy-making and also to monitor MDG indicators and all other related conventions. This included population growth rates, educational attainment, employment rates, fertility rates, mortality rates, internal movements, household access to water supply, electricity, sanitation, and many other information. The full report is available at SBS website: http://www.sbs.gov.ws under the section on Population statistics and demography.

Geographic coverage

National coverage Regions Districts Village Enumeration areas

Analysis unit

Private households Institutional households Individuals Women 15-49 Housing/Buildings

Universe

The PHC 2011 covered all de facto household members, institutional households such as boarding schools, hospitals, prison inmates and expatriates residing in Samoa for more than 3 months. The PHC excluded all tourists visiting Samoa during the enumeration period and all Samoans residing overseas.

Kind of data

Census/enumeration data [cen]

Sampling procedure

Not applicable to a complete enumeration census.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

Users' consultation seminars were conducted for three consecutive days (June 8th -10th, 2010) with financial support provided by the office of UNFPA in Suva via the Samoa Parliamentary Group for Population Development (SPGPD) annual programs. For the first time in census history, the SPGPD or members of parliament have become the target group of users to get involved in any census questionnaire consultations.

All government ministries and non-governmental organizations were invited to the consultation seminars and each was asked to make a presentation of data needs for consideration in the final census 2011 questionnaire. To avoid re-inventing the wheel in the compilation of the list of census questions for census 2011, the questionnaire from the census 2006 was reprinted and distributed to all participants and presenters to select questions that they would consider again for the census 2011 in addition to their new data needs. Users were also advised that any new question would need good justifications of how it links to national interests.

At the end of the three days seminar, all new questions were compiled for final selection by Samoa Bureau of Statistics. Not all the users' data needs have been included in the final 2011 census questionnaire due mainly to the cost involved and limited time for census enumeration. Therefore, the final selection of questions was purely based on the linkage of the data being requested to the list of statistical indicators in the 'Strategy for the Development of Samoa 2008-2012' (SDS) and the 'Millennium Development Goals' (MDGs) 2015. All data requests outside of the two frameworks were put aside to be integrated in other more appropriate survey activities by the bureau.

From July 2010-December 2010, the questionnaire was formatted using the In-Design CS4 software. It is important to note that the PHC 2011 was the first ever census using the scanning technology to process data from the census questionnaires as a replacement of the usual manual data entry process. The scanning was pilot tested in April 2011, before it was finally used for final census enumeration.

The questionnaire was designed using A3 paper size.

The Population questionnaire was administered in each household, which collected various information on household members including age, sex, citizenship, disability, orphanhood, marital status, residence (birth, usual, previous), religion, education and employment.

In the Population questionnaire, a special section was administered in each household for women age 15-49, which also asked information on their children ever born still living, died or living somewhere else. Mothers of children under one year were also asked whether their last born children were still living at the time of the census.

The Housing questionnaire was also administered in each household which collected information on the types of building the household lived, floor materials, wall materials, roof materials, land tenure, house tenure, water supply, drinking water, lighting, cooking fuel, toilet facility, telephone, computer, internet, refrigerator, radio, television and others.

Cleaning operations

Data editing was done in several stages. 1. Office manual editing and coding 2. Automatic scanning data entry edits 3. Visual verification questionnaire edits 3. Structure checking and completeness 4. Structure checks of the CSPro data files Editing program can be enquired at the Division of IT and Data Processing at email address: info.stats@sbs.gov.ws

Sampling error estimates

The census is a full-coverage of the population, therefore it is not a sample where sampling errors can be estimated.

Data appraisal

There was no post-enumeration in the census 2011. One of the normal practices by the bureau to validate the total population counts from all villages, districts and regions of Samoa in any census is the manual count of the population in all areas during the on-going census enumeration.That information is collected by the enumerators and field supervisors during the enumeration using the Enumerators and Supervisors control forms. At the end of the enumeration, the control forms which mainly contained the number of males and females per enumeration area will be collected and compiled by the Census and Survey division as the first preliminary count of the census. In the census 2011, the preliminary population counts were compiled and launched as the 'Village Directory 2011' report after 4 weeks from end of the enumeration period.

The significance of the Village Directory report is it helps to provide a qiuick overall picture of the population growth and population distribution in all villages of the country relative to previous censuses. Most important of all is that the preliminary count will provide the basis for a decision whether a post-enumeration is warrant or otherwise. If the preliminary country is close to the projected population then the post-enumeration is assumed not worth the cost because it is expensive and it will delay all other census processes. In the census 2011, the preliminary count arrived at 186,340 which was more than the projected population of 184,032 as depicted in the Statistical Abstract 2009. Therefore the decision was made that post-enumeration was not worth it.

Provides a list of all the datasets available in the Public Data Inventory for the Small Business Administration.

Abstract

The EPC-Customer Satisfaction Survey 2014 collected information to obtain and establish a baseline for customer's satisfaction on the EPC services and to identify the areas of the corporation's services that need improvement. The CSS results are planned to provide updated information to design new strategies for improving the services of the corporation. The overall outcome of the CSS 2014 is to assist and recommend relevant strategies to improve and upgrade the service of the EPC to its clients.The Customer Satisfaction Survey 2014 was conducted on the domestic or household level as well as all the other types of customers registered with the corporation.

Geographic coverage

National Regional

Analysis unit

EPC customers such as domestic, commercial, school, religion, government, industrial, hotels

Universe

EPC users or customers

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

There were seven types of customers, namely: domestic, commercial, religion, school, government, hotel and industrial in the EPC frame or their list of population which was given to SBS for sampling selection. It took several months for both parties to sort the list of registered customers with the corporation especially the domestic clients, so that they can be easily searched and identified during the field work or data collection period, therefore the SBS offered it list of households as part of domestic customers for the EPC to avoid the delay with the survey timeframe.

The total number of households with SBS was 26,205 which were counted from the latest census of population and housing 2011. Out of that total households with SBS, 25,262 or 96percent of households were with electricity. The total number of customers proposed by the corporation was about 200 in which 100 from the domestic and 80 from the other types of customers, however to accommodate the non response cases, the SBS increased the sample size to 250 in which 150 were from household or domestic customers and 100 from other types of customers.

Household/domestic sample

The sample of domestic customers for the CSS 2014 was drawn from the master sample frame of the list of occupied households compiled in the most recent Population and Housing Census 2011. The sample size was based on a 95 percent confidence interval of ± 5 percent margin of error. This means that if the survey found that 50 percent of respondents were satisfied with induction meter services of EPC, we could be 95 percent sure of getting the same result had we interviewed everyone in the population give or take 5 percent. An 80 percent response rate and a design-effect of 1.2 was used to allow for clustering of the complex design. After taking into account all those features, it resulted in the required sample size of 150 selected households.

In national statistical surveys, the region of Apia Urban Area (AUA) represented the urban population while the regions of North West Upolu (NWU), Rest of Upolu (ROU) and Savaii represented the rural population. Therefore in order to achieve the sample size of 150 for the domestic customers, a representative probability sample of households was selected in two stages.

The first stage involved the selection of clusters or enumeration area (EAs) from the master sample frame using stratified systematic sampling with probability proportional to size. A total of 30 primary sampling units or clusters were selected in which 6 clusters were from the urban areas and 24 clusters were selected from the rural areas. The design did not allow for replacement of clusters or households.

In the second stage, a total of 5 households were selected from each cluster using systematic equal probability selection. Normally an updated household listing from selected clusters could have been done to select 5 households. However, due to the delay in sorting of customers list and it was towards the end of the year, and the fact that the census 2011 was just completed in the previous three years, it was seen not necessary to conduct a fresh household listing which would have taken SBS another two months to carry out causing delay to the survey.

Other Types of Customers

The sample for the CSS other types of customers such as commercial, religion, school, government, hotel and industrial was drawn from the master sample frame of the list of all the 3767 customers registered with the EPC . The commercial type has 2587 customers, religion with 751customers, school with 229 customers, governments with 118 customers, hotels with 75 customers and industries with 47 customers .The sample size was based on a 95 percent confidence interval of ±5 percent margin of error, assuming an 80 percent response rate. To achieve a representative probability sample, the systematic method was used to select the 100 customers of other 6 types apart from the domestic customers.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

A structured English questionnaire was prepared by the EPC team to collect the feedback from the corporation's customers. However, SBS made some improvements in terms of instructions between questionnaire sections in order to make the interviewing flow properly from beginning to end. The questionnaire was also translated into the Samoan language to complement the English questionnaire so that the interpretation of questions by the field enumerators was consistent in the field. A cover page of the questionnaire was also developed so that selected customer's identifications were clearly noted. The options for the survey status were also listed to account for non-coverage of EPC customers during the fieldwork. The Survey Questionnaire consists of four sections with a cover page in the beginning for the Identification of selected households and other types of customers. Section A has seven questions about the type of meters the customers used and the service provided by EPC to pay bills and buy cash power units, and open questions to state some reasons why the customers were not satisfied with the service given by the EPC, areas of paying of electricity bills and selling cash power units. Section B contains five questions on the management of complaints lodged to the corporation and the satisfaction of service provided. Section C asked two types of questions in which one was a rating question on the perception of the customers of the EPC service, and the second was a ranking question of the mediums that the public used to get EPC public awareness. Section D was open for the customers to list any of their comments about the service of EPC for improvement.

Cleaning operations

After coding, the computer data program was created using CSPro 5 software for data entry. After testing the program, the data entry was conducted in one week (March 24th-28th). The data editing, cleaning and weighting of the data took another two weeks (April 1st-11th) to complete, leaving three weeks (April 14th - May 2nd) to analyse and write the analysis report to meet the deadline.

Data editing was done using writing option in CSPro 5.0.

Response rate

A total of 150 households were selected to represent the domestic customers and 139 households were occupied during the field work period. Of the occupied households only 133 were successfully interviewed resulting in a household response rate of 95.7 percent. The 6 households which were selected but not able to answer the questionnaire because of they had no access to electricity during the survey period; most of them were in the island of Savaii.

For other types of EPC customers in which 100 were selected, only 97 customers were found during the survey period. From these customers, 94 were able to complete the survey while the others were no longer operating due to the following reasons: one was destroyed by tsunami, another changed its customer type, and the last was not in the location previously identified in the list of sample respondents.

This is explained in the final analytical report.

Sampling error estimates

Any survey will be affected by sampling errors and non-sampling errors. The latter is difficult to measure but can be greatly reduced by the application of high quality survey management, efficient field supervisions, skilful enumerators, good control of data coding and data processing, sufficient resources, etc. Sampling errors are usually calculated using relevant sampling estimation formulae and computer programs. For the CSS 2014, the variance formula for complex design was used to calculate sampling errors. Dr Ren Ruilin of ICF Macro developed specific sampling error estimation templates in Excel for use by developing countries like Samoa where expensive computer programs like SAS could not be purchased. The Excel templates used the Taylor linearization method of variance estimation for survey estimates like means and proportions. The design effect (DEFT) for each estimate was also calculated whereby a DEFT value of 1.0 indicates that the complex design used was just as efficient as the simple random sampling and a value more than 1 indicates an increase in sampling error due to the design and vice versa. In addition, the confidence limits of 95 percent can also be estimated for each variable which provides the range of values for which the true value falls.

Details of sampling errors are presented in the sampling errors appendix of the report.

This list includes all SBA offices and Resource Partner office where small business owners across the country can go to receive business assistance, counseling and or training.

Abstract

The 2009 Samoa Demographic and Health Survey (SDHS) is a national survey covering all four regions of the country. The survey was designed to collect, analyze, and disseminate information on housing and household characteristics, education, maternal and child health, nutrition, fertility and family planning, gender, and knowledge and behaviour related to HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections (STI).

The 2009 SDHS is the first DHS survey to be undertaken in Samoa both by the health sector and for an improved health system. The planning and implementation of the survey was carried out jointly by the Samoa Bureau of Statistics (SBS) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) with the technical assistance and guidance of ICF Macro. The Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development assisted by facilitating community support for the survey through villages and mayors.

The Samoa DHS is part of a worldwide survey program. The international MEASURE DHS program is designed to:

• Assist countries in conducting household sample surveys to periodically monitor changes in population, health, and nutrition. • Provide an international database that can be used by researchers investigating topics related to population, health, and nutrition.

As part of the international DHS program, surveys are being carried out in countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Data from these surveys are used to better understand the population, health, and nutrition situation in Samoa.

Geographic coverage

National Regional Urban and Rural

Analysis unit

individual (woman aged 15-49, man aged 15-54), household

Universe

The survey covered all de jure household members (usual residents), all women aged 15-49 and men aged 15-54 years

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The Survey used a two-stage sample based on the 2006 Population and Housing Census (PHC) to allow reliable estimation of key demographic and health indicators such as fertility, contraceptive prevalence, and infant and child mortality for each of the four geographic regions in Samoa.

The population covered in the 2009 SDHS is the universe of all women age 15-49 in Samoa in a sample of 2,247 selected households. Every other household selected for the women's samplev was also eligible for the men's sample (men age 15-54).

The primary sampling unit (PSU) for the 2009 SDHS was the cluster. The first stage involved selecting clusters from the master sample frame (the 2006 Population and Housing Census). In the second stage, all the households in each selected cluster were listed. Households were then systematically selected from each cluster for participation in the survey. The design did not allow for replacement of clusters or households.

The sample was designed to include10 percent of the households in rural areas and 12 percent of the households in the urban areas. The sample was designed to permit detailed analysis of most indicators for the national level, for urban and rural areas separately, and for each of the four regions (Apia Urban Area, North West Upolu, Rest of Upolu, and Savaii). Overall, a total of 296 primary sampling units or clusters were selected, 104 in urban areas and 196 in the rural areas. Because Samoan household do not move frequently, a fresh household listing was not deemed to be necessary. Instead, a list from the November was used. In the urban clusters, 5 households were selected per cluster, whereas in the rural clusters, 10 households were selected per cluster. The number of clusters in each of the four geographical regions was calculated by diving the total allocated number of households by the sample taken of 5 for Apia Urban Area (the number of households of households in the urban EAs) and 10 for other regions (the number of households for rural EAs). In each region EAs were stratified by urban location first and then by rural location. Clusters were selected systematically, with propability proportional to size.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

Three questionnaires were used in the SDHS: a Household Questionnaire, a Women's Questionnaire, and a Men's Questionnaire. The household and individual questionnaires were based on model survey instruments developed in the MEASURE DHS program. The model questionnaires were adapted to meet the current needs of Samoa. Each household selected for the SDHS was eligible for interview with the Household Questionnaire.

The Household Questionnaire was used to list all usual members of and visitors to the selected households and to collect information on the socio-economic status of the household. It was also used to identify the women and men who were eligible for the individual interview (i.e., women age 15-49 and men age 15-54).

The Women's Questionnaire was used to collect information from all women age 15-49 years and covered the following topics: - background characteristics (education, residential history, media exposure, etc.) - birth history - antenatal, delivery, and postnatal care - knowledge, attitudes, and use of family planning methods - fertility preferences; marriage, woman's work, and husband's background characteristics - breastfeeding and infant feeding practices; vaccinations and childhood illnesses - childhood mortality - knowledge of and attitudes toward aids and other sexually transmitted diseases - knowledge of and attitudes toward tuberculosis - other health issues.

The Men's Questionnaire, administered to all men age 15-54 years living in every other Household (i.e. half of the sample households), collected information similar to that on the Women's Questionnaire but was shorter because it did not contain questions on reproductive history, maternal and child health, and nutrition.

After finalization of the questionnaires in English, they were translated into Samoan.

Cleaning operations

The processing of the SDHS results began shortly after the fieldwork started. Data editing was first done in the field by the field editors and supervisors. Completed and edited questionnaires for each cluster were packed and delivered to the SDHS centre at Motootua where they were entered and edited by data processing personnel. The data processing team was composed of 15 data entry operators, 1 data entry supervisor with 2 assistants and 7 office editors working in two shifts. Data operators and supervisors went through a one-week training programme with the technical assistance of ICF Macro. Data were entered using CSPro, a programme specially developed for use in household based surveys and censuses. All data were entered twice (100 percent verification). The concurrent processing of the data was an advantage because the survey technical staff were able to advise field teams of problems detected during the data entry using tables generated to check various data quality parameters. As a result, specific feedback was given to the teams to improve their performances. The data entry and editing phase of the survey was completed in February 2010.

Response rate

The Samoa DHS 2009 selected 2,247 households for the sample, of which 2,066 were found occupied at the time of the fieldwork. Of these 1947 households were successfully interviewed yielding a household response rate of 94 percent.

In the households interviewed, a total of 3,033 eligible women aged 15-49 were identified, of whom 2657 were interviewed (respond rate of 88 percent). For eligible men aged 15-54 were identified in the sub-sample a total of 1,689 but only 1,307 were successfully interviewed (respond rate of 77 percent).

By area, response rates for households and women are slightly lower in urban (82 and 86 percent, respectively) than in rural areas (95 and 86 percent, respectively). For men on the other hand, response rate is higher in urban areas, 81 percent, than in rural areas, 76 percent.

The principal reason for non-response for eligible women and men was the failure to find them at home despite repeated visits to the households. The substantially lower response rates for men reflect the more frequent and longer absences of men from the home.

Response rates by region and the details on the calculation of the response rates can be found in Appendix A of the 2009 SDHS report.

Sampling error estimates

Sampling errors for the 2009 SDHS were calculated using a Macro SAS procedure. This procedure used the Taylor linearization method of variance estimation for survey estimates that are means or proportions. The Jackknife repeated replication method is used for variance estimation of more complex statistics, such as fertility and mortality rates.

Sampling errors for the 2009 SDHS are calculated for selected variables considered to be of primary interest. The results are presented in Appendix B of the 2009 SDHS report for the country as a whole, for urban and rural areas, and for the four geographical regions. Standard errors, design effect, relative standard errors and 95 percent confidence limits for each statistic of a variable are presented in the tables of the Appendix. Details on sampling error calculation are also provided.

In summary, for the total sample, the value of the DEFT, averaged over all variables, is 1.05. This means that, due to multi-stage clustering of the sample, the average standard error is increased by a factor of 1.05 over that in an equivalent simple random sample.

Data appraisal

Data quality tables and were generated to assess the quality and reliability of the 2009 SDHS data.

Only counties in nonmetropolitan areas may be eligible for HUBZone designated status. In order for a nonmetropolitan county to qualify: the median household income in the county must be less than 80% of the nonmetropolitan state median household income, or the unemployment rate in the county must be at least 140% of either the national or state unemployment rate, or the county is classified as a Difficult Development Area, as designated by HUD within Alaska, Hawaii, or any territory or possession of the United States, outside of the 48 contiguous states.

This report provides statistics on Year to Date (YTD) SBA Business Loan Approval Activity comparisons for Fiscal Years

A census tract is a statistical subdivision of counties that may include just a few neighborhoods in a city or, in rural areas, may include several towns. HUD designates Qualified Census Tracts (QCTs) for purposes of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. To qualify, census tract must either: demonstrate a poverty rate of at least 25 percent, or 50 percent or more of its householders must have incomes below 60 percent of the area median household income.

This dataset contains non-personally identifiable (non-PII) data from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Loan Program for Superstorm Sandy. Following a declared disaster, the SBA provides disaster assistance in the form of low-interest, long-term disaster loans for damages not covered by insurance or other recoveries to businesses of all sizes, private nonprofit organizations, as well as homeowners and renters. For more information about the SBA Disaster Loan Program, please visit www.sba.gov/disasterassistance. This dataset includes raw, unedited data from SBA’s Disaster Credit Management System (DCMS) which may have been entered directly by disaster survivors and as such is subject to human error. Additionally, the dollar values in the data set may not reflect subsequent changes to verified losses or approved loan amounts. SBA adjusts damages and loan amounts as needed based on the availability of new or corrected information. For example, verified loss and approved loan amounts may be increased later if new damages are discovered or the cost of repairs increase during the rebuilding project. Similarly, loan amounts may be decreased if the disaster survivor receives additional recoveries from insurance or grant assistance which duplicate SBA’s assistance, thereby decreasing the overall loan eligibility. This dataset is not intended to be an official Federal report, and should not be considered as such. If you have media inquiries about the SBA Disaster Loan Program, please email Carol Chastang in SBA’s Office of Communications and Public Liaison at carol.chastang@sba.gov. For inquiries about how to submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or a Privacy Act request, please contact SBA’s Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts Office by email at foia@sba.gov or by phone at (202) 404-8203. For all other inquiries about this data set, including requests from States and local governments for more detailed loan data, please email the SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance’s Data Steward, Alejandro Contreras, at alejandro.contreras@sba.gov.

This dataset contains non-personally identifiable (non-PII) data from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Loan Program. Following a declared disaster, the SBA provides disaster assistance in the form of low-interest, long-term disaster loans for damages not covered by insurance or other recoveries to businesses of all sizes, private nonprofit organizations, as well as homeowners and renters. For more information about the SBA Disaster Loan Program, please visit www.sba.gov/disasterassistance. This dataset includes raw, unedited data from SBA’s Disaster Credit Management System (DCMS) which may have been entered directly by disaster survivors and as such is subject to human error. Additionally, the dollar values in the data set may not reflect subsequent changes to verified losses or approved loan amounts. SBA adjusts damages and loan amounts as needed based on the availability of new or corrected information. For example, verified loss and approved loan amounts may be increased later if new damages are discovered or the cost of repairs increase during the rebuilding project. Similarly, loan amounts may be decreased if the disaster survivor receives additional recoveries from insurance or grant assistance which duplicate SBA’s assistance, thereby decreasing the overall loan eligibility. This dataset is not intended to be an official Federal report, and should not be considered as such. If you have media inquiries about the SBA Disaster Loan Program, please email SBA’s Office of Communications and Public Liaison at press_office@sba.gov. For inquiries about how to submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or a Privacy Act request, please contact SBA’s Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts Office by email at foia@sba.gov. For all other inquiries about this data set, including requests from States and local governments for more detailed loan data, please email the SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance’s Data Steward, Alejandro Contreras, at alejandro.contreras@sba.gov. Information for State and local governments on how to request a data sharing agreement with SBA to help identify and prevent duplications of benefits.

SBA offers a variety of loan programs for very specific purposes. These reports detail weekly lending activity for SBA loan programs.

Reflects total recovery rates, as a percent of the purchase amounts by purchase year, for the four large guarantied programs and an aggregate total for the small guarantied programs.

This table lists small business size standards matched to industries described in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), as modified by the Office of Management and Budget effective January 1, 2012.

description: Reflects total post-charge off recovery rates, as a percent of the amounts charged off by charge off year, for the major loan programs and aggregate totals by charge off year for the small direct and guarantied programs.; abstract: Reflects total post-charge off recovery rates, as a percent of the amounts charged off by charge off year, for the major loan programs and aggregate totals by charge off year for the small direct and guarantied programs.

The below reference files provide current and historical small business size standards effective during the provided reference periods. Size standards for reference periods prior to August 2019 are provided based on the size standards in effect on January 1 of each CFR reference year, and thus, may not provide the entire history of SBA’s changes to size standards that occurred after January 1 of the CFR reference year. As such, changes that occur after January 1 of the CFR reference year are reflected in the Table of Small Business Size Standards for the next CFR reference year. Legal requirements related to size standards are governed by SBA’s size regulations actually in effect during the applicable period. Size standards for reference periods after August 2019 are provided based on the actual effective dates of the size standards. The Small Business Size Standards APIs, also provided below, power the following application: https://fanyv88.com:443/https/www.sba.gov/size-standards/, which can be used to determine if a business qualifies as small for purposes of Federal government contracting.

SBA Disaster Loan Data for Superstorm Sandy provides verified loss and approved loan amount totals for both home and business disaster loans, segmented by city, county, zip code and state.