The World Bank Has Revised Fiji’s Poverty Rate.

It has gone from an estimated 29.9 per cent as previously recorded in the 2019-2020 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) to 24.1 per cent. In a statement released yesterday, the World Bank stated that the Household consumption estimates in Fiji’s 2019-2020 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) had been updated to account for revised estimates on spending on non-food items such as utilities, communications, domestic services, and education.

The statement said the discrepancy in the coding was identified by the World Bank’s Poverty & Equity Global Practice Team during a cross-check review exercise to ensure Fiji’s Survey remained in-line with international practices

It said that the World Bank regretted that the error was not identified earlier.

“The review identified that in the consumption aggregate estimated from the 2019-20 Survey, expenditure on four non-food categories: utilities (electricity, gas, water, garbage collection), communications (telephone, TV, internet and postal) domestic services and education (including school fees and books) was only included for households that spend on all sub-categories.

“The revised expenditure measures now represent total spending on any of these items, bringing these figures in line with international standards.”