Minister for Home Affairs Pio Tikoduadua

More people are leaving Fiji than entering the country.

This was revealed in Parliament by Minister for Home Affairs Pio Tikoduadua.

He adds that Australia remains the top immigration destination for Fijians, with over 70,000 people arriving in 2019.

“In fact, the size of our immigrant population compared to Fiji’s population sits between 20 percent to 30 percent. This means that if Fiji has a population of a million, between 200,000 to 300,000 are living outside of Fiji.”

Tikoduadua says a major contributing factor to our migration pattern is the Pacific Labor Mobility Scheme that Fiji shares with Australia and New Zealand.

The Minister says between 2000 and 2016, 51 percent of Fijians leaving for Australia went through the skills stream.