A workshop in Fiji has been told that almost half of Fiji's population live in poverty.
The Household and Income and Expenditure Survey 2008/2009 is yet to be released, but the Fiji Times reports the data was presented to a poverty alleviation workshop this week.
The organisation, Save the Children, doubts that 45 percent of people in Fiji live in poverty, but its Chief Executive Officer, Chandra Shekhar, says there has been an increase in squatter settlements.
"There has been movement of people into settlements, particularly because people are moving closer to urban centres looking for employment and more cash flow and because of that they are finding it difficult to get good housing and they end up in smaller settlements because they cannot afford the renting of expensive places."
Chandra Shekhar
The Poverty Eradication Unit says the numbers are still unofficial.
