A nationwide survey conducted by civil society group Dialogue Fiji has found the rising cost of living is the dominant concern for Fijians as the government prepares the 2026–2027 National Budget, with nearly half of respondents naming it their top issue.
Between March and April 2026, Dialogue Fiji surveyed 1,266 people across all four divisions using a mix of field interviews and online participation to feed into pre-budget consultations. The organisation reports that 49.2 percent of respondents — almost one in two — identified the erosion of household purchasing power as their primary worry. That was by far the highest response for any single issue.
Crime and drugs ranked second at 18.0 percent, while unemployment and lack of jobs were the third-largest concern at 9.6 percent. Dialogue Fiji highlighted the scale of the disparity between the top worry and other issues, noting cost-of-living concerns commanded more than two-and-a-half times the response rate of the next-ranked issue. The report described this outcome as a “near-consensus national diagnosis” of the country’s chief economic problem.
Regional patterns showed cost-of-living concerns were particularly acute in the Central Division, where 50.7 percent of respondents selected it as their main concern. The report said similar dominance of cost-of-living worry appeared in the Western and Northern divisions, and that crime and drugs also featured strongly alongside economic pressures in urban centres.
Dialogue Fiji intends to submit the full findings to the Ministry of Finance to inform inclusive, evidence-based budget planning. With the government now drawing up next year’s fiscal plan, the survey’s results add quantitative weight to repeated calls from households and community groups for measures to protect household incomes and ease day-to-day expenses.
The survey arrives against a backdrop of fiscal choices that the government has faced in recent budgets. In 2024 the Ministry of Education received a substantial allocation, reflecting competing priorities in public spending. At the same time, remittances — a key source of household income for many families — have been an important feature of Fiji’s economic picture, pointing to both resilience and the uneven nature of income support outside formal employment.
Policymakers preparing the 2026–2027 Budget will need to balance those competing demands if they are to respond to the clear public mandate signalled by Dialogue Fiji’s survey: immediate relief from rising living costs, while also addressing law-and-order concerns and persistent unemployment. Dialogue Fiji’s submission to the Ministry provides a fresh evidence base that could shape decisions on social assistance, subsidies, price monitoring, and other measures aimed at easing the pressure on households.