This paper examines the resilience of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Fiji against the economic impacts of major shocks including the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and climate-related hazards, using a survey of 2,400 MSMEs from early 2023. The analysis focuses on...

Fiji has weathered a long history of economic shocks and, with a decade of political stability behind it, has ambitions to become a high-income country. Past policies have supported its transition to an upper middle-income country, driven by capital deepening, population growth and improvements...

Fiji faces significant challenges from sea-level rise (SLR), which could cause annual economic losses averaging 1.8% of GDP from 2020 to 2099. While widespread coastal protection measures limit damages, they are costly and may not yield significant net savings. Planned retreat can instead reduce...

Economic recovery has continued, driven mainly by tourism. Inflation decelerated sharply in 2024 as the impact of the 2023 VAT hike faded. The fiscal stance was tightened, but monetary and financial conditions remain highly accommodative. Progress has been made in enhancing the business...

This work was conducted at the request of the Ministry of Finance, Strategic Planning, National Development and Statistics (MFSPNDS). MFSPNDS requested the World Bank's support to conduct a systematic review of the health sector, to take stock of its current performance in tackling the country's...

This paper examines the resilience of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Fiji against the economic impacts of major shocks including the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and climate-related hazards, using a survey of 2,400 MSMEs from early 2023. The analysis focuses on...

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face many economic challenges. Economic stimuli such as tourism expenditures, remittances, and hotel investment, can address some of these challenges. This research seeks to quantify and compare the economic effects of these three primary injections into a...

The Fijian economy has recovered strongly from the pandemic. Real GDP rebounded by around 30 percent cumulatively in 2022-23, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. Inflation has recently ticked up modestly largely due to a temporary effect of the hike in Value-Added Tax rates. Supported by the...

The Country Opinion Survey in Fiji assists the World Bank Group (WBG) in better understanding how stakeholders in Fiji perceive the WBG. It provides the WBG with systematic feedback from national and local governments, multilateral/bilateral agencies, media, academia, the private sector, and...

This report presents the findings of the Vital Signs Profile (VSP) assessment conducted by the World Bank and the Primary Health Care Performance Initiative (PHCPI) in collaboration with Fiji's Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS). The VSP provides an opportunity to assess the state of...

As a final act, families of the deceased strive to implement funeral rites that are befitting of their loved one. However, perceived obligatory adherence to an immutable culture, plus emulation, can compel families to carry out a costly funeral. Yet, no data exist on financing and expenditure of...

Globally, more than one billion people live in urban informal settlements and experience suboptimal access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Participatory approaches are increasingly being promoted in WASH interventions, but the key elements of these approaches are not well-defined....

The 2023 Article IV Consultation discusses that Fiji's economy rebounded strongly in 2022, as tourism recovered rapidly. With the rapid rebound in tourism, the economy is experiencing a strong recovery. Nevertheless, significant risks to growth remain both on the demand side-due to the global...

The Fiji government responded quickly and moved decisively with stringent measures following the identification of the first COVID-19 case and took various effective measures to prevent its spread. It has been quick to implement public health emergency measures including lockdowns, curfews,...

Fiji’s 2018 National Elections was narrowly won by the FijiFirst Party (FFP), which formed government with twenty seven seats in Fiji’s fifty one seat parliament. On the other side, Fiji’s opposition was formed by the Social Liberal Democratic Party (SODELPA) and National Federation Party...

The standard approach to 'nowcast' disaster impacts, which relies on risk models, does not typically account for the compounding impact of various hazard phenomena (e.g., wind and rainfall associated with tropical storms). The alternative, traditionally, has been a team of experts sent to the...

The standard approach to ‘nowcast’ disaster impacts, which relies on risk models, does not typically account for the compounding impact of various hazard phenomena (e.g., wind and rainfall associated with tropical storms). The alternative, traditionally, has been a team of experts sent to...

In this paper, we apply the Markowitz portfolio optimization technique based on mean-variance and semi-variance as measures of risk on stocks listed on the South Pacific Stock Exchange, Fiji. We document key market characteristics and consider monthly returns data from SEP-2019 to FEB-2022 (T =...

In this study, we analyze portfolio performance under different methods and scenarios for the small island economy of Fiji. In addition to documenting the historical performance and the smallness of the stock market, the study looks at the possibility of opting for an equally weighted...

The purpose of this paper is to explore the macroeconomic and institutional factors influencing stock market development (SMD) in Fiji and to explore the causes of the prolonged sluggish nature of the South Pacific Stock Exchange (SPX) in Fiji. The findings that economic growth promotes SMD...

Both the public and private sectors rely on intensive data use in the 21st century. While data is everywhere, accessing that data is difficult. Accessing that data then requires permission, the ability to access and receive the data, and finally, the ability to use that data to produce useful...

In this paper, we apply the Markowitz portfolio optimization technique based on mean-variance and semi-variance as measures of risk on stocks listed on the South Pacific Stock Exchange, Fiji. We document key market characteristics and consider monthly returns data from SEP-2019 to FEB-2022 (T =...

This Country Private Sector Diagnostic (CPSD) comes at a challenging yet opportune juncture for Fiji to rebuild a more diverse and resilient economy amid the lingering impacts of COVID-19. Fiji recorded its strongest period of gross domestic product (GDP) growth (since achieving independence in...