Permanent Secretary for Finance Shiri Gounder while presenting at the 2023 National Economic Summit in Suva this morning.

In 2022, Fiji lost close to 22,000 people, 5,000 through migration and over 16,000 on work permits.

This was highlighted by Permanent Secretary for Finance Shiri Gounder while presenting at the 2023 National Economic Summit in Suva this morning.

He says this excludes residents going on student visas, which have picked up significantly.

“What these numbers do not capture, which is a very significant component of skill we are losing, are students who are going on student visas. So there are a lot of Fijians that are going overseas on student visas because Australia has allowed 40 hours of work and we have lost a lot of people.”

Gounder says this is creating a major challenge for the public and private sectors.