Approximately 16,122 residents of Fiji left the country in September 2024, according to the monthly data released by the Fiji Bureau of Statistics (FBoS). Out of this number, 14,864 individuals, accounting for 92.2 percent, departed for a short-term absence of fewer than three months, while 451 residents, or 2.8 percent, traveled for more than three months but less than a year. Additionally, 807 residents (5.0 percent) left for longer-term absences of one year or more.
A total of 835 Fiji residents left the country in search of employment opportunities, with their intended stays varying from three months to five years. The primary reasons cited for short-term departures included holidays (54.1 percent), visiting friends or relatives (35.0 percent), business purposes (5.5 percent), education or training (2.0 percent), and other reasons (2.0 percent), with employment accounting for 1.4 percent.
On a related note, provisional data indicated that visitor arrivals in September 2024 reached a total of 92,591, marking a record for the month and a 2.4 percent increase compared to the previous year. However, this represented a decline of 2.3 percent from August 2024, which recorded 94,787 total arrivals.
Among the 92,591 visitors, the majority (91,679) arrived by air, while 912 came by sea, primarily consisting of 798 seamen on fishing vessels and 114 by yacht. The main reasons for visit included holiday purposes, accounting for 81.6 percent of arrivals, followed by visiting friends or relatives (8.0 percent), business (2.0 percent), and other reasons (8.4 percent).
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