Demographics of Fiji


The demographic characteristics of the population of Fiji are known through censuses, usually conducted in ten-year intervals, and has been analysed by statistical bureaus since the 1880s. The Fijian Bureau of Statistics has performed this task since 1996, the first enumerated Fiji census when an independent country. The 2017 census found that the permanent population of Fiji was 884,887, compared to 837,271 in the 2007 census. The population density at the time in 2007 was 45.8 inhabitants per square kilometre, and the overall life expectancy in Fiji was 67 years. Since the 1930s the population of Fiji has increased at a rate of 1.1% per year. Since the 1950s, Fiji's birth rate has continuously exceeded its death rate. The population is dominated by the 15–64 age segment. The median age of the population was 27.9, and the gender ratio of the total population was 1.03 males per 1 female.
Indigenous Fijians, the native inhabitants of Fiji, are a mixture of Polynesian and Melanesian, resulting from the original migrations to the South Pacific over time. The Indo-Fijian population increased rapidly from the 61,000 people brought from the Indian subcontinent between 1879 and 1916 to work in the sugarcane fields, many who later would lease/own the sugar cane plantations.
In 1977 The Economist reported that ethnic Fijians were a minority of 255,000, in a total population of 600,000 of which fully half were of Indian descent, with the remainder Chinese, European and of mixed ancestry.
The native Fijians live throughout the country, while the Indo-Fijians reside primarily near the urban centres and in the cane-producing areas of the two main islands. Nearly all of the indigenous Fijians are Christian, with some two-thirds being Methodist. The Indo-Fijians, by contrast, have a similar religious mix as India today: some 76.7% percent of the Indo-Fijians are Hindu, with a further almost 16% being Muslim and 6 percent Christian. There are also a few Sikhs.
A national census is supposed to be conducted every ten years, but the census intended for 2006 was postponed until 2007. Finance Minister Ratu Jone Kubuabola announced on 27 October 2005 that the Cabinet had decided that it would not be in the country's interest to have a census and a general election in the same year. "Peoples’ focus on the elections could have an impact on their cooperation with census officials", he said. The Statistics Office supported Kubuabola's announcement, saying that public interest in the general election would likely distract people's attention from the census, making it problematic to conduct.

Structure of the population

Age groupMaleFemaleTotal%
Total448 595436 292884 887100
0–447 19544 70291 89710.39
5–945 24343 05288 2959.98
10–1440 71538 88179 5969.00
15–1938 03236 05674 0888.37
20–2437 46436 15273 6168.32
25–2935 25334 05569 3087.83
30–3435 26633 55268 8187.78
35–3933 38231 76865 1507.36
40–4427 69725 81753 5146.05
45–4925 31424 19049 5045.59
50–5424 64923 96148 6105.49
55–5921 26320 74542 0084.75
60–6414 89115 72430 6153.46
65-6910 07611 25221 3282.41
70-746 3677 78114 1481.60
75+5 7888 60414 3921.63
Age groupMaleFemaleTotalPercent
0–14133 153126 635259 78829.36
15–64293 211282 020575 23165.01
65+22 23127 63749 8685.64

Age groupMaleFemaleTotal%
Total453 116440 352893 468100
0–445 06743 43488 5019.91
5–945 19843 35188 5509.91
10–1443 89141 66785 5599.58
15–1939 54537 63577 1798.64
20–2437 19535 50072 6958.14
25–2935 54434 70270 2467.86
30–3432 25131 37763 6287.12
35–3931 80730 51462 3216.98
40–4429 33328 02057 3526.42
45–4923 94822 53446 4825.20
50–5422 27721 33643 6124.88
55–5921 43520 57842 0134.70
60–6417 58917 13234 7223.89
65-6911 86312 62924 4922.74
70-747 8238 79116 6141.86
75+8 35011 15219 5022.18
Age groupMaleFemaleTotalPercent
0–14134 156128 452262 60829.39
15–64290 924279 328570 25263.82
65+28 03632 57260 6086.78

Registered births and deaths

YearPopu­lationLive birthsDeathsNatural increaseCrude birth rateCrude death rateRate of natural increaseTFR
1996775,07717,6084,60413,00422.76.216.52.80
199716,9775,57811,39921.65.516.12.60
199816,9105,24011,67021.25.415.82.60
199916,9165,66711,24921.04.516.52.60
200017,9665,91412,05222.25.316.92.70
200116,6895,77410,91520.56.114.42.50
200216,9905,63211,35820.66.214.42.50
200317,7016,11611,58521.26.115.12.60
200417,1995,62811,57120.96.814.12.60
200516,9005,96310,93720.37.113.22.50
2006830,61917,3566,15411,20220.87.413.42.60
2007834,51717,4566,35911,09720.97.613.32.50
2008841,37317,1996,47110,72820.47.712.72.50
2009845,46218,2116,11912,09221.57.214.32.70
2010850,70022,2205,96616,25424.47.217.23.00
2011854,29019,5476,15113,39622.97.515.42.90
2012858,03818,4346,43112,00321.57.613.92.84
2013862,06818,6336,48812,14521.67.614.02.71
2014865,71619,1436,57312,57021.98.013.92.92
2015869,45819,0816,67212,40921.77.714.02.91
2016873,21019,1807,58811,59221.88.613.22.8
2017884,88719,6466,92512,65422.27.814.32.7
2018889,64919,6907,51012,18022.28.413.82.6
2019894,41019,8257,59112,23422.28.513.72.8
2020899,17221,0407,78413,25623.48.714.7
202120,2178,81511,40222.49.812.6

Ethnic groups

At the time of the 2017 census the largest ethnic group of Fiji was the iTaukei with 555,499 members, followed by the Indo-Fijian population with 289,237 members, while other ethnicities constituted 40,151 individuals combined. Other ethnicities include Chinese, European, Jewish, as well as non-Fijian Pacific Islanders ethnicities, including the Banaban people in Rabi Island. The only autochthonous minority are Rotumans from Fiji dependency Rotuma island with 1,594 people living at Rotuma itself and ~9,000 or up to 20,000 Rotumans living across the Fiji archipelago.
Compared to previous censuses, the 2017 census indicated that the iTaukei population had been growing during the 1996-2017 period at the rate of 1.6-1.7% per annum, while the Indo-Fijian population had been slowly declining at the rate of 0.8% per year.
According to the 2007 Census of Fiji, the number of iTaukei Fijians increased from 393,575 in 1996 to 475,739, while the number of Indo-Fijians decreased from 338,818 to 313,798. According to government statistics, the latest estimated population of Indigenous Fijians is counted at 511,838, while there are 290,129 Indians and 56,071 Others.

Religion

† Includes atheists and agnostics.
Source:
As of the end of 2006 the LDS church reports 14,448 members in Fiji, which equal about 1.4% of the population. The LDS church also operates a temple in Fiji.