Remittances from families living in American Samoa, New Zealand and Australia continued to increase as Covid-19 devastated Samoa's economy.
The Samoa Observer newspaper reported that a December Central Bank of Samoa report indicated tourism earnings remained at zero.
However remittances increased by 0.3 percent compared to December 2019, to over $US22.6 million.
There was also an increase of around $US4.2 million over November 2019 remittances.
American Samoa remittances increased the most, followed by New Zealand and then Australia.
Total private remittances in the first six months of 2020/21 increased by 13.3 percent.
The report also said the depreciation of the Samoan tālā against both the New Zealand and Australian dollars was also partially responsible for the increase.