Government says levels decreased overall, but still ‘uneven’
By Serelisoni Moceica
SUVA, Fiji (Fiji Times, April 30, 2012) – Rural poverty has increased across the country.
From 40 percent in 2002, the rate was 43 percent in 2008.
A United Nations Children's Fund report launched recently on Fiji children found that with the exception of the Northern Division, all other divisions experienced the increase.
"Between 2002/2003 and 2008/2009 urban poverty dropped by 34 percent while rural poverty increased by 6 percent," the report said.
The Central Division has a 36 percent poverty rate based on statistics from the last census.
This meant that 28,193 people in the division lived under the poverty line, an increase from 29 percent back in 2002.
Poverty rate in the Western Division also increased from 38 percent in 2002 to 43 percent in 2008 where 53,230 people were defined poor from the division's total population of 78,313....