ANZ Pacific Economist Dr. Kishti Sen says that with Australia and New Zealand tightening their migration policies, many Fijians will be returning home when their visas expire.

Dr. Sen says there was a significant uptick in student and work visa departures in 2022; however, this is expected to decrease this year and beyond.

He adds that, due to the increase in the departure of Fijians, retail sales dipped towards the end of 2023 and in the first quarter of this year.

ANZ Pacific Economist Dr. Kishti Sen (left), ANZ Country Head Fiji, Rabih Yazbek

Dr. Sen highlights that the drag on retail sales from long-term departures will gradually be alleviated by the end of this year, as people whose visas expire will return home since they cannot transition to permanent visas.

“And remember, a lot of long-term departures are temporary visa departures, not permanent resident sort of visa departures, right? Because we look at the permanent resident arrivals into Australia from Fiji are not too dissimilar in 2020 compared to 2019, not too dissimilar. But what’s driven the big increase is people leaving on student and work visas.”

Fiji has experienced an exodus of skilled workers in recent years, leaving a significant gap in our labour market.