Median annual income
Includes income from all sources – including income support.
- The Fijian adult population had a median annual income of $17,100 in the year to March 2001 – $2,300 above the median annual income of the Pacific adult population. The median annual income of the New Zealand adult population, at $18,500, was approximately $1,400 higher than that of Fijian adults.
- The median annual income of Fijian adults who were in employment in the week preceding the 2001 Census was $24,400 – equivalent to 88 percent of the median annual income of employed New Zealand adults ($27,700).
- The real median annual income (adjusted for inflation to 2001 dollars) of Fijian people increased by 6 percent from $16,100 in 1991 to $17,100 in 2001. Over the same period, the real median annual income of the Pacific population and the New Zealand population increased by 16 percent and 11 percent respectively.
- Overseas-born Fijians had a higher median annual income ($17,700) than Fijians born in New Zealand ($15,500) in 2001.
- In 2001, the median annual income of Fijian women was equivalent to 64 percent of that of Fijian men ($13,800 compared with $21,600). The gap between the sexes narrows for those in employment – with the median annual income of employed Fijian women equating to 78 percent of that of employed men ($21,300 compared with $27,200).
- Figure 8.2 shows that Fijian women were proportionately more likely to be in income bands under $20,001, while Fijian men were more likely to be in bands of $20,001 and over.
Income sources
- Wages and salaries were received by 66 percent of Fijian adults in the year to 2001. The equivalent proportions among the Pacific and New Zealand populations were 58 percent and 57 percent respectively, as figure 8.3 shows.
- Income from self-employment or a self-owned business was received by 8 percent of Fijian adults in 2001. By comparison, 4 percent of the Pacific population and 17 percent of the New Zealand population received income from this source.
- Eight percent of Fijians received income from interest, dividends, rent or investments in 2001 – double the equivalent figure for the Pacific population (4 percent). Just over a quarter (26 percent) of the New Zealand population received income from these sources in 2001.
- A quarter (25 percent) of Fijian people received some form of income support at some stage during the 12 months prior to the 2001 Census. ‘Income support’ refers to monetary support from the government, excluding ACC payments and New Zealand Superannuation.
- New Zealand-born Fijians were more likely than their overseas-born counterparts to have received income support in 2001 (33 percent compared with 21 percent). The comparable figures for the Pacific and New Zealand populations were 33 percent and 19 percent respectively.
- Fijian women (29 percent) were more likely to have received income support than Fijian men (20 percent) in 2001.