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  • Publication | 2023

WFP Fiji – Price Monitoring Bulletin – 2022 Annual Review

Global Food and Nutrition Security

Highlights

  • The impact of the war in Ukraine and the global food crisis in the form of rising food prices and increased transport costs has disproportionately affected the most vulnerable groups of the population, causing gaps in food consumption and/or the use of harmful coping mechanisms to cope with food stresses.

  • Inflation increased steadily throughout 2022 in Fiji, with an average annual rate of 4.4% in December, a 3.6% increase from December 2021. The rise was primarily driven by a significant increase of prices for transportation, food and non-alcoholic beverages.

  • The value of the Fijian Dollar (FJD) continued to depreciate against the USD throughout 2022, closing in December 2022 at 2.22 FJD per USD, 4.4% lower than in December 2021.

  • Evidence from WFP’s remote data collection for the third quarter of 2022 indicated an increase in food prices as a major concern for 82% of surveyed households. Further, households reported a significant increase in the adoption of emergency or crisis coping strategies in order to meet essential needs.

  • Continued depreciation of the national currency has triggered an increase in fuel costs. In December 2022, the diesel retail price reached FJD 3.06 per litre – a rise of 32.5% compared to December 2021. On average, the diesel retail price increased by 46% in 2022.

  • Overall, in comparison with the previous year, prices of many essential staple foods increased significantly in 2022. Several products were affected by high price volatility throughout the year, with prices varying greatly across quarters. For example, prices for onions doubled while the price of potatoes rose by 53%, flour by 29% and chicken by 9% in a year-on-year basis.

  • At present, the levels of food insecurity remain low across the country. Nonetheless, the increased proportion of surveyed households reporting employing non-traditional coping strategies to meet food and essential needs suggests that many families are increasingly resorting to unsustainable and severe measures to sustain their food consumption over time