Fiji

Year

DEMOGRAPHICS, GENDER AND POVERTY

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Ministry of Health
Dinem House, 88 Amy Street, Toorak, Suva
Tel: (679) 3306177
Fax: (679) 3306163
info@health.gov.fj

WHO Representative in the South Pacific
Level 4, Provident Plaza 1, Downtown Boulevard, 33 Ellery Street, Suva
P.O. Box 113, Suva, Fiji
Tel:(679) 3-304600 / 3-304631
Fax:(679) 3-300462
who@sp.wpro.who.int

Fiji has the largest population of the South Pacific island countries. The estimated multiethnic population for 2003 was 832 446 and it is growing slowly due to a moderately low level of fertility and a high level of emigration. The population occupies around two-thirds of the 322 Fiji islands and is concentrated on the two largest islands, Viti Levu (10 429 km²) and Vanua Levu (5556 km²), with the nation's capital of Suva located on Viti Levu. Life expectancy at birth is high for both women (70.7 years) and men (66.5 years). Infant, child and maternal mortality have been halved since the 1960s and are now low. There is a high level of adult literacy and almost universal primary school enrolment (98%), and around 40% of adolescents remain at school until the age of 18 years, up from a small minority a generation ago. In 2003, the ratio of girls to boys in primary education was 0.93, in secondary education 1.0 and in tertiary education 0.99. Of the adult population (all people over 15 years), the most disadvantaged group is Indo-Fijian female adults, of whom 14% in 1996 had no formal education, followed by Indo-Fijian male adults, of whom 8% had no formal education.

The share of women in paid employment has grown considerably in Fiji over the past three decades. During the 1990s, female waged employment grew faster than male employment because more women were joining the labour force and the occupations where most women were employed were expanding. The latest urban National Household Income and Expenditure Surveys (HIES - 2002) found that women comprised 35.5% of the economically active population, but only 31% of people engaged in the cash economy. Of urban women who did work, 64% were engaged in the money economy; most others worked in non-monetary subsistence activities.

Despite the prominence now given in national policy to reducing poverty, there are very few reliable or up-to-date data available. While HIES have been conducted, the most recent in 2003-2004, the data have not yet been evaluated. The extent of poverty increased between 1977 and 1990-1991. In 1977, around 15% of Fiji households lived below the poverty line. By 1990-1991, that figure had risen to 25.5% (urban 27.6%, rural 22.4%), and the poverty gap ratio was 0.3% in 1990. Although there are as yet no firm data, there are signs that the extent of poverty has grown further during the 1990s and the 2000s.

Disclaimer: The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply the expression of an opinion whatsoever on the part of the World Health Organization concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or areas or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.