A total of 835 people travelled overseas for employment purposes in December 2025, highlighting the continued importance of overseas job opportunities for Fijians, according to the Fiji Bureau of Statistics.
New data released by the Bureau shows that while the majority of residents leaving Fiji during the month did so for short-term travel, employment was a major factor among those departing for longer periods.
Of the 835 employment-related departures, 261 people left Fiji for three to 12 months, while a further 362 people were recorded as being away for one to five years.
This indicates that a large proportion of employment-related travel involved medium to long-term work arrangements rather than short-term contracts.
The figures also show that employment departures exceeded those for education and training, which accounted for 314 departures during the month, and were higher than long-term business travel.
In total, 25,969 resident departures were recorded in December 2025.
The vast majority — 24,584 people — travelled for periods of under three months, mainly for holidays and visits to friends or relatives.
Statistics Fiji data also indicates that emigration, defined as departures for over five years or permanent, totalled 147 people, with employment and other reasons featuring among these longer-term exits.
