Fijians paying same price for less: Kumar

Opposition Member of Parliament Premila Kumar told Parliament last Friday that Fijian families were being quietly robbed through “shrinkflation,” where product sizes shrink but prices stay the same.

Ms Kumar cited a Consumer Council of Fiji report showing powdered milk dropped from 450 grams to 400 grams while the cost per gram rose by 23 cents.

Toilet paper fell from 1200 sheets to 800 – a 33 per cent cut, with the cost per sheet more than doubling. Even a box of matches that once held 12 packs now contains only 10.

“While prices may appear stable on the surface, something else is happening beneath that surface — something that is quietly robbing Fijian families of their hard-earned money,” Ms Kumar said.

She said low-income families spending 60 to 70 per cent of their income on food were hardest hit, with some diluting milk, skipping meals or switching to cheaper, less nutritious food.

Ms Kumar also warned that shrinkflation was not being captured in official inflation data, meaning the true cost of living was being underestimated.

“If we are underestimating inflation, then we are also underestimating the true cost of living,” she said.

Responding, former Finance Minister Biman Prasad confirmed Government’s Price Monitoring Enforcement Task Force was now examining shrinkflation and “skim inflation” — where quality drops but prices hold — and would hold businesses accountable.

Mr Prasad said official inflation had fallen to negative 1.4 per cent in 2025, but acknowledged global fuel prices were now pushing costs back up.