BIRTH registration delays are most severe in Taveuni and Tailevu, according to the Fiji Bureau of Statistics (FBoS).
The bureau’s latest report shows the average time between a child’s birth and registration was 685 days in Taveuni and 681 days in Tailevu — almost two years in both areas.
The FBoS identified significant variations across civil registry offices in both the volume and timeliness of birth registrations, according to findings from its report ‘Addressing gender inequities in on-time birth registration in Fiji through identification of priority geographic areas for targeted interventions’.
The report shows that between 2015 and 2024, a total of 158,153 births were registered nationwide, with large differences between registry offices.
The Suva Registry accounted for the highest share, recording 36.2 per cent, or 57,304, of all birth registrations.
This was followed by Lautoka Registry with 13.7 per cent (21,725), Labasa Registry with 9.5 per cent (15,088), Nausori Registry with 7.3 per cent (11,585) and Nadi Registry with 6.9 per cent (10,929).
“The remaining registry offices each individually constituted less than five per cent of all birth registrations,” the report stated, noting that smaller offices such as Rotuma, Seaqaqa and Navosa recorded fewer than 100 registrations over the 10-year period.
FBoS also highlighted delays in registering births. The estimated average time between a child’s date of birth and registration was 427 days.
“This estimate is the absolute minimum and can be expected to increase over time, particularly as the 40 to 70 per cent of currently unregistered children born during 2021 to 2024 become registered,” the report stated, adding that most of these will be late registrations.
When broken down by registry office, the report found stark differences.
Among offices with at least 1000 registrations, Lautoka had an average registration interval of 352 days and Ba had 363 days.
In contrast, Taveuni recorded an average of 685 days and Tailevu 681 days.
The proportion of births registered on time — within 365 days — was estimated at 71.5 per cent nationally.
“Similar to the registration interval, there was a large variation in on-time registration across registry offices,” the report stated.
Lautoka Registry recorded 77.5 per cent of births registered on time, closely followed by Ba at 77.2 per cent. However, on-time registration was significantly lower in Taveuni at 55.6 per cent and Tailevu at 55.3 per cent.
