Partial indicators also point to an improvement in investment activity, the Reserve Bank of Fiji reported in its December Economic Review.
Although the number of completion certificates issued fell by 25.1 percent, the value of those projects surged by 167.8 percent in the year to the third quarter, suggesting that higher-value developments were completed.
Over the same period, the value of work put in place rose by 20.4 percent, reflecting elevated building costs earlier in the year and progress on major projects.
While prices for building materials declined in the final two quarters of 2025, they remained 0.9 percent higher on an annual basis. Building permits — a forward-looking indicator of construction activity — increased by 10.4 percent, although the value of those permits fell by 3.6 percent.
Imports of prefabricated materials and other building supplies jumped 43.5 percent up to October, supporting construction and signalling cost-saving strategies across the industry.
However, some indicators weakened. New loans issued for investment purposes declined by 2 percent in the year to November, driven largely by a 15.3 percent fall in lending to the building and construction sector.
Lending to households and the real-estate sector, meanwhile, rose by 16 percent and 1.8 percent respectively.
Domestic cement sales increased 5.6 percent in October but remain 2.1 percent lower cumulatively following the temporary closure of Pacific Cement Limited earlier in the year for maintenance works.
