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 (FBOS) 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 (modern day India, Bangladesh, Pakistan) between 1879 and 1916 to work in the sugarcane fields, many who later would lease/own the sugar cane plantations.

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.

Structure of the population

Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 17.IX.2017):

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (17.IX.2021):

Registered births and deaths

Ethnic groups

In the 2017 census, the largest group in Fiji was the iTaukei, also known as Indigenous Fijians, with 555,499 people making up 62.8% of the population. The next largest group was the Indo-Fijian community, with 289,237 people, which is about 32.7% of the population. Together, these two groups make up most of Fiji's people. Smaller groups include Chinese, European, Jewish, and other Pacific Islanders such as the Banaban people on Rabi Island. There are also Rotumans from Rotuma island.

From 1996 to 2017, the number of Indigenous Fijians grew slowly, while the number of Indo-Fijians decreased a little each year. This change was seen in earlier counts as well.

Religion

Fiji has many different groups of people who follow various beliefs. Some people do not follow any particular belief and are called atheists or agnostics.

The LDS church, also known as the Mormon church, had about 14,448 members in Fiji by the end of 2006. This made up around 1.4% of the country's population at that time. The LDS church also has a special building called a temple in Fiji.