16,122 Fijians Departed in September

About 16,122 Fiji residents departed the country last month, says the Fiji Bureau of Statistics (FBoS) in its monthly resident departures data for September, 2024.

According to the FBoS, 14,864 or 92.2 per cent were for a short-term absence of less than three months and 451 or 2.8 per cent were for over three months and within 12 months period.

About 807 or 5.0 per cent of resident departures were for a longer-term absence of one year or more.

About 835 individuals left Fiji to seek employment opportunities abroad, with durations of stay ranging from three months to five years.

The reasons for departure as reported by residents leaving for a short-term absence were;

• Holiday – 54.1 per cent

• Visiting friends or relatives – 35.0 per cent

• Business – 5.5 per cent

• Education/Training – 2.0 per cent

• Others – 2.0 per cent

• Employment – 1.4 per cent

TOURIST ARRIVALS

Meanwhile, provisional numbers show that visitor arrivals for September, 2024 totaled 92,591.

The FBoS stated that the number was a record for the month of September and represented an increase of 2.4 per cent compared to a year earlier.

However, there was a decrease of 2.3 per cent compared to August 2024, which recorded 94,787.

Of the 92,591 visitors, 91,679 came by air while 912 came by sea. The sea arrivals were mostly seamen on fishing vessels (798) and 114 arrivals by yacht.

Visitors arriving for holiday purposes accounted for 81.6 per cent of total arrivals, 8.0 per cent came to visit their friends or relatives, 2.0 per cent came for business purposes, while 8.4 per cent visited Fiji for other reasons.

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