That dollar metric results from a 3.8% upturn from $1.03 billion five years earlier in 2019.
Year over year, Fijian exported products flatlined via a -0.3% downturn compared to $1.07 billion starting from 2022.
Most Valuable Trade Partners for Fiji’s Exports
The latest available country-specific data shows that 64.2% of products exported from Fiji was bought by importers in: United States of America (19.9% of Fiji’s total), Australia (9.7%), Tonga (6.9%), New Zealand (5.3%), Vanuatu (4.1%), Samoa (3.8%), mainland China (3.1%), United States Minor Outlying Islands (2.5%), Netherlands (2.4%), Kiribati (2.3%), Tuvalu (2.2%) and the United Kingdom (2.1%).
From a continental perspective, 53.9% of Fiji’s exports by value was delivered to Oceania led by Australia, Tonga and New Zealand while 25.9% was sold to importers in North America. Fiji shipped another 11.7% worth of goods to Asia.
Smaller percentages went to buyers in Europe (7.4%), Latin America (0.9%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Africa (0.3%).
Given Fiji’s population of 917,000 people, its estimated $1.068 billion in 2023 exports translates to about $1,150 for every person living in Fiji. That dollar metric lags the average $1,200 one year earlier during 2022.
Fiji’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Fijian global shipments during 2023, at the 2-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Fiji.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$283.1 million (26.5% of total exports)
- Beverages, spirits, vinegar: $167.5 million (15.7%)
- Sugar, sugar confectionery: $71.3 million (6.7%)
- Fish: $61.5 million (5.8%)
- Gems, precious metals: $45.8 million (4.3%)
- Cereal/milk preparations: $44.2 million (4.1%)
- Wood: $35.1 million (3.3%)
- Meat/seafood preparations: $27.5 million (2.6%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $24.4 million (2.3%)
- Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $23.8 million (2.2%)
Fiji’s top 10 exports accounted for almost three-quarters (73.4%) of the overall value of its global shipments.
Mineral fuels including oil was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 12.4% from 2022 to 2023. Processed petroleum oils represent a strong driver for that increase.e
In second place for improving export sales was meat or seafood preparations via a 6.5% advance.
Fiji’s shipments of cereal or milk preparations posted the remaining gain in value, up by 2.1%.
The leading decliner among Fiji’s top 10 export categories was fish, recording a -32.2% year-over-year reduction.
The above information is presented at the two-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level.
Drilling down into the more granular four-digit HTS codes, processed petroleum oils represent Fiji’s most valuable exported product at 26.1% of the country’s total. In second place were mineral or aerated waters (14.8%) trailed by sugar (6%), whole frozen fish (5%), unwrought gold (4.1%), bread and biscuits plus cakes and pastries (2.7%), wheat or meslin flour (1.9%), fuel wood, wood chips and sawdust (also 1.9%), manioc, artichokes and sweet potatoes (1.7%), then plants used in perfumery (1.6%).
Products Generating Fiji’s Largest Trade Surpluses
The following types of Fijian product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.
In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Beverages, spirits, vinegar: US$132.2 million (Down by -7.3% since 2022)
- Sugar, sugar confectionery: $52.9 million (Down by -2.8%)
- Fish: $35.8 million (Down by -46.3%)
- Gems, precious metals: $27.8 million (Down by -6.2%)
- Cereal/milk preparations: $23.5 million (Down by -8.7%)
- Wood: $21 million (Down by -22.2%)
- Milling products, malt, starches: $13.9 million (Up by 21.4%)
- Meat/seafood preparations: $9.8 million (Down by -21%)
- Railways, streetcars: $9.5 million (Reversing a -$789,000 deficit)
- Oil seeds: $9 million (Down by -4.7%)
Fiji generated highly positive net exports in the international trade of waters including natural or artificial mineral waters plus aerated waters. In turn, these cashflows indicate Fiji’s strong competitive advantages under the beverages, spirits and vinegar category.
Products Causing Fiji’s Worst Trade Deficits
Fiji incurred an overall -$1.95 billion trade deficit for 2023, swelling by 49.5% from -$1.3 billion in red ink one year earlier in 2022.
Below are exports from Fiji that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Fiji’s goods trail Fijian importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US470 million (Down by -5.1% since 2022)
- Machinery including computers: -$280.8 million (Up by 16.8%)
- Vehicles: -$196.7 million (Up by 32.7%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$189.5 million (Up by 14.2%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: -$117 million (Up by 140.1%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$101.1 million (Down by -28.3%)
- Cereals: -$96.4 million (Down by -3.1%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$59.6 million (Up by 27.2%)
- Dairy, eggs, honey: -$56.9 million (Up by 1.4%)
- Meat: -$53.4 million (Up by 3.2%)
Fiji incurred highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the mineral fuels-related category, notably for refined petroleum oils and petroleum gases.
Fijian Export Companies
Not one Fijian corporation ranks on the Forbes Global 2000 list.
Wikipedia lists exports-related companies from Fiji. Selected examples are shown below.
- Dominion Fashions Limited (clothing)
- Falani Marketing Fiji Ltd (agricultural produce, fish)
- Fiji Recyclers (recycled tires)
- Krishna Export Handicraft (wood handicraft)
- Nelesh Kamal Co (kava)
- Organic Earth Fiji (skin care products)
- Popular Furniture Limited (home furniture)
- Scud Timber (Fiji) Ltd (sandalwood)
In macroeconomic terms, Fiji’s total exported goods represent 7% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($15.2 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 7% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2023 compares to 8.7% for 2022. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Fiji’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Fiji’s unemployment rate averaged 5.5% in 2023, down from an average 6.5% for 2022 per International Monetary Fund metrics.
Fiji’s capital city is Suva.
See also America’s Top Trading Partners, Australia’s Top Trading Partners, New Zealand’s Top Trading Partners and Tonga’s Top 10 Exports
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Australia-Oceania: Fiji. Accessed on September 8, 2024
FlagPictures.org, Flag of Fiji. Accessed on September 8, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on September 8, 2024
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on September 8, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on September 8, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 8, 2024
Wikipedia, Fiji. Accessed on September 8, 2024
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on September 8, 2024
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on September 8, 2024