Bureau of Statistics says unemployment rate down from 5.5 to 4.5%, lowest in decades.

Our current population stands at 884,887,  compared to 837,271 in 2007

The  drop in the unemployment rate is testament that the policies of the FijiFirst Government are having a positive effect on ordinary Fijians, says Jone Usamate.

The Minister for Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations was commenting on the decrease from 5.5 to 4.5 per cent.It is the lowest in 20 years.

The figures are in the Bureau of Statistics 2017 Census results released yesterday.

Fiji’s population currently stands at 884,887 compared to 837,271 in 2007.

Mr Usamate said the focus on growing our economy and on growing investment has led to more employment opportunities around the country for all Fijians.

“The Government is also focused on growing self-employment as seen in the $1000 micro enterprise grants and the launch of the Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme (YES) programme (Thursday),’’ Mr Usamate said.

“We have also been investing in our rural areas to improve livelihoods.

“The FijiFirst policies are working and they are having positive impacts on the lives of ordinary Fijians,’’ Mr Usamate said.

“We are currently taking our draft National Employment Policy for consultation around Viti Levu this week.

“This policy will guide our efforts on employment into the future to achieve our target of less than four per cent unemployment as stated in our National Strategic Plan.”

Key highlights from the available statistics are as follows:

Fiji’s total population stands at 884,887 compared to 837,271 in the 2007 census. This is an increase of 47,616 or 5.7 per cent. The average annual population growth is 0.6 per cent, due to low birth rates and outward migration.

The median age of population is 27.5 years. This means that half of our population is below the age of 27.5 years.

69 per cent of Fiji’s population is below the age of 40.

Men make up 50.7 per cent of the population while women make up 49.3 per cent. While the proportion of males was higher below the age of 59 years, the female population was higher in the age groups above 60, indicating greater female longevity.

55.9 per cent of Fiji’s population reside in the urban areas, an increase from 50.7 per cent in 2007. The urban population stood at 494,252, an increase of 69,406 (16.3%) from 2007. This is attributed to the extension of town boundaries and also due to the movement of people from the rural to the urban areas.

44.1 per cent of Fiji’s population reside in the rural areas, down from 49.3 per cent in 2007. The rural population stood at 390,635, a decline of 21,790 (5.3%) from 2007.

Unemployment rate was down to 4.5 per cent, the lowest recorded in 20 years. This is lower than the 5.5 per cent unemployment rate estimated from the 2015-2016 Employment and Unemployment Survey.

The Labour Force Participation Rate (labour force/ population aged over 15 years) is 57.1 per cent.

62.7 per cent of the population aged 15 years and older reported to having bank accounts. This represents a total of 392,148 individuals.

13.7 percent of the population aged three and above reported at least one functioning challenge (disability). The international benchmark is 15 percent.

In publishing the available statistics, the Government Statistician thanked all those involved in conducting the 2017 Census and compiling the statistical information.

Edited by Naisa Koroi

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