Demographics of Fiji

The demographic characteristics of the population of Fiji are known through censuses, usually conducted every ten years. The Fijian Bureau of Statistics (FBOS) has performed this task since 1996. The 2017 census found that the permanent population of Fiji was 884,887.

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 people aged between 15 and 64. The median age of the population was 27.9.

Indigenous Fijians, the native inhabitants of Fiji, are a mixture of Polynesian and Melanesian. The Indo-Fijian population increased rapidly from the 61,000 people brought from the Indian subcontinent to work in the sugarcane fields.

The native Fijians live throughout the country, while the Indo-Fijians reside primarily near urban centres. Nearly all of the indigenous Fijians are Christian, with some being Methodist. The Indo-Fijians have a religious mix: some are Hindu, some are Muslim and some are 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):

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	448 595	436 292	884 887	100
0–4	47 195	44 702	91 897	10.39
5–9	45 243	43 052	88 295	9.98
10–14	40 715	38 881	79 596	9.00
15–19	38 032	36 056	74 088	8.37
20–24	37 464	36 152	73 616	8.32
25–29	35 253	34 055	69 308	7.83
30–34	35 266	33 552	68 818	7.78
35–39	33 382	31 768	65 150	7.36
40–44	27 697	25 817	53 514	6.05
45–49	25 314	24 190	49 504	5.59
50–54	24 649	23 961	48 610	5.49
55–59	21 263	20 745	42 008	4.75
60–64	14 891	15 724	30 615	3.46
65-69	10 076	11 252	21 328	2.41
70-74	6 367	7 781	14 148	1.60
75+	5 788	8 604	14 392	1.63
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	133 153	126 635	259 788	29.36
15–64	293 211	282 020	575 231	65.01
65+	22 231	27 637	49 868	5.64

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	453 116	440 352	893 468	100
0–4	45 067	43 434	88 501	9.91
5–9	45 198	43 351	88 550	9.91
10–14	43 891	41 667	85 559	9.58
15–19	39 545	37 635	77 179	8.64
20–24	37 195	35 500	72 695	8.14
25–29	35 544	34 702	70 246	7.86
30–34	32 251	31 377	63 628	7.12
35–39	31 807	30 514	62 321	6.98
40–44	29 333	28 020	57 352	6.42
45–49	23 948	22 534	46 482	5.20
50–54	22 277	21 336	43 612	4.88
55–59	21 435	20 578	42 013	4.70
60–64	17 589	17 132	34 722	3.89
65-69	11 863	12 629	24 492	2.74
70-74	7 823	8 791	16 614	1.86
75+	8 350	11 152	19 502	2.18
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	134 156	128 452	262 608	29.39
15–64	290 924	279 328	570 252	63.82
65+	28 036	32 572	60 608	6.78

Registered births and deaths

In Fiji, the government keeps records of births and deaths. These records help leaders make good choices for the country. They show how many people are born and how many people die each year.

The numbers of births and deaths change a little each year. Sometimes there are more births, and sometimes there are more deaths. This depends on many things, like health and how safe people feel.

These records are very important. They help leaders plan for things like schools and hospitals. They also help families know what to expect in their own lives.

Ethnic groups

Ethnic Map of Fiji based on the 2017 census.

In the 2017 census, the largest group in Fiji was the iTaukei, also known as Indigenous Fijians. The next largest group was the Indo-Fijian community. 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.

The number of Indigenous Fijians grew slowly from 1996 to 2017, while the number of Indo-Fijians decreased a little each year.

Religion

Fiji has many different groups of people with 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 members in Fiji. The LDS church also has a special building called a temple in Fiji.

Religion (1996 census)	Indigenous House		Indo-Fijian		Others		TOTAL
Religion (1996 census)	393,575	%	338,818	%	42,684	%	775,077	%
Methodists	261,972	66.6	5,432	1.6	13,224	31.0	280,628	36.2
Roman Catholics	52,163	13.3	3,520	1.0	13,637	31.9	69,320	8.9
Assemblies of God	24,717	6.2	4,620	1.4	1,735	4.1	31,072	4.0
Seventh-day Adventists	19,896	5.1	572	0.2	1,719	4.0	22,187	2.9
Anglicans	2,508	0.6	1,208	0.4	2,609	6.2	6,325	0.8
Jehovah's Witness	4,815	1.2	486	0.1	801	1.9	6,102	0.8
CMF (Every Home)	5,149	1.3	269	0.1	255	0.6	5,673	0.7
Latter Day Saints	2,253	0.6	633	0.2	589	1.4	3,475	0.4
Apostolics	2,237	0.6	250	0.1	106	0.2	2,593	0.3
Gospelers	618	0.2	514	0.2	222	0.5	1,354	0.2
Baptists	695	0.2	382	0.1	219	0.5	1,296	0.2
Salvation Army	628	0.2	251	0.1	110	0.3	989	0.1
Presbyterians	105	0.0	90	0.0	188	0.4	383	0.0
Other Christians	12,624	3.2	2,492	0.7	2,969	7.0	18,085	2.3
All Christians	390,380	99.2	20,719	6.1	38,383	89.9	449,482	58.0

Sanatanis	551	0.1	193,061	57.0	315	0.7	193,927	25.0
Arya Samajis	44	0.0	9,493	2.8	27	0.1	9,564	1.2
Kabirpanthis	43	0.0	73	0.0	2	0.0	118	0.0
Sathya Sai devotees	7	0.0	52	0.0	1	0.0	60	0.0
Other Hindus	219	0.1	57,096	16.9	113	0.3	57,428	7.4
All Hindus	864	0.2	259,775	76.7	458	1.1	261,097	33.7

Sunnis	175	0.0	32,082	9.5	94	0.2	32,351	4.2
Ahmadiyyas	18	0.0	1,944	0.6	14	0.0	1,976	0.3
Other Muslim	131	0.0	19,727	5.8	138	0.3	19,996	2.6
All Muslims	324	0.1	53,753	15.9	246	0.6	54,323	7.0

Sikhs	0	0.0	3,076	0.9	0	0.0	3,076	0.4

Baháʼís	389	0.1	25	0.0	149	0.3	563	0.1

Confucians	8	0.0	21	0.0	336	0.8	365	0.0

Other religions	61	0.0	314	0.1	664	1.6	1,039	0.1

No religion†	1,549	0.4	1,135	0.3	2,448	5.7	5,132	0.7

Population	884,887
Official languages	English, Fijian, Fiji Hindi
Major ethnic groups	56.8% Itaukei, 37.5% Indian, 1.2% Rotuman

Structure of the population

Registered births and deaths

Ethnic groups

Religion

Images

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