Solomon Islands

Economy & income

Currency

• Solomon Islands dollar (SBD, SI$/$)
• ~8.1 SBD per USD (Jul 2026; 1 SBD ≈ US$0.124)
• managed against a trade-weighted basket by the Central Bank of Solomon Islands (CBSI)

GDP per capita

• ~$1,930 nominal (2024, World Bank; ~$2,135 in 2025, IMF est.)
• ~$2,872 PPP (2024, World Bank) — among the lowest in the Pacific

Average salary

• ~SI$2,500/mo gross ≈ ~$310 (wage.is/TimeCamp, 2024-26; formal-sector average)
• Numbeo Honiara net ~$700/mo but from a very thin, expat/professional-skewed sample — treat as unreliable

Median salary

• n/a official — Solomon Islands National Statistics Office publishes no wage median
• Paylab self-reported median ~SBD 5,430/mo (~$670) skews to formal white-collar respondents
• the majority is rural/subsistence & informal

Minimum wage

• SBD 8.00/hr general (SBD 7.20/hr for agriculture, plantations & fishing) — Minimum Rates of Wages Order 2019, effective 1 Aug 2019
• ≈ SI$1,385/mo full-time ≈ ~$170/mo
• (some outdated sources still cite the old SBD 4.00/hr)

Cost of living

• Low-Medium in USD but HIGH relative to local incomes — livingcost/Numbeo Honiara ~$1,150/mo for a single person excl. rent (late 2025)
• imported goods pricey (remote-island logistics)
• Numbeo sample is thin — flag

Digital landscape

Population

0.829 million (829k; DataReportal Jan 2025) — very young (median age 20.7) and ~73% rural

Internet users

42.5% (~352k users; Jan 2025); ~57.5% (~477k) offline

Social media users

21.0% (~174k social identities; Jan 2025) — 36.6% of adults 18+

Mobile connections

• 547k cellular connections = 66.0% of population (Jan 2025)
• 81.8% broadband-capable (3G/4G/5G)

Devices

• mobile ~54.5% / desktop ~44.9% / tablet ~0.6% (StatCounter, Jun 2026) — desktop reads high for a poor market (office/institutional & tourist pageviews inflate small Pacific samples)
• mobile is the true mass channel

Ad spend

• n/a — DataReportal Digital 2025 Solomon Islands publishes no ad-spend figure (market too small to break out)
• no separate digital ad-spend reported

Top social platforms

Facebook ~174k, 21% of pop — dominant, effectively IS social media here

Messenger ~75.8k, 9.1%

LinkedIn ~30k, 3.6% — registered members

Instagram ~18.5k, 2.2%

TikTok fast-growing youth channel; no official DataReportal reach; top creator @shakra__boi ~165k

X/Twitter ~3.1k, 0.4% — negligible

Messengers

• Facebook Messenger (~75.8k, ~9% of pop — dominant chat app)
• WhatsApp (common; family & AU/NZ/PNG diaspora ties)
• Viber (some Pacific use)
• iMessage (~20% iOS share)

Payments & behaviour

Payment methods

• Cash (dominant — largely a cash economy, esp. rural/informal & cash-on-delivery)
• Mobile money — M-SELEN (Our Telekom) & M-PAiSA (bmobile-Vodafone) (mass-market wallets driving financial inclusion)
• Bank transfer / mobile & internet banking (BSP, ANZ, Pan Oceanic Bank, BRED)
• Cards — Visa/Mastercard debit & EFTPOS (limited, urban Honiara)
• Cross-border / remittances (AU/NZ/PNG diaspora)

E-wallets

• M-SELEN (Our Telekom — largest mobile network, ~400k subs)
• M-PAiSA (bmobile-Vodafone)
• youSave loMobael (savings/pension-linked wallet, SINPF)
• iumiCash
• Ezi Pei (Solomon Post)

Cash on delivery

• High — cash-on-delivery / pay-on-pickup is the norm for local online & social-commerce orders
• card acceptance is limited and prepay trust is low

E-commerce

• Very low / nascent — total online commerce estimated under US$10M/yr but growing 20%+ YoY
• ~60% of digital transactions are mobile
• much 'e-commerce' runs through Facebook Pages/groups with COD or mobile money

Notes

• Cash + mobile money are the reality
• low formal banking penetration
• M-SELEN & M-PAiSA (M-Pesa-style rails) are the standout way to reach the unbanked
• remittances are a major money flow

Audience & culture

Languages

• Solomon Islands Pijin (English-based creole; de facto lingua franca — spoken by the majority)
• English (official; language of government/business/media, but only ~1-2% fluent)
• 70+ indigenous Melanesian languages (e.g. Kwara'ae, To'abaita, Kwaio)

Religion

• Christian ~92% — Church of Melanesia (Anglican) ~32-35%, Roman Catholic ~19%, South Seas Evangelical Church ~17%, United Church ~11%, Seventh-day Adventist ~10%
• indigenous/animist ~5% (notably the Kwaio of Malaita) (2019 census)

Median age

20.7 years (DataReportal, Jan 2025) — one of the world's youngest populations

Key seasons

• Independence Day (7 July — national day; parades & celebrations, esp. Honiara)
• Christmas & New Year (Dec-Jan — peak retail & family gatherings)
• Easter (Good Friday–Easter Monday)
• Provincial 'Second Appointed Day' province days
• Dry-season / tourism high May-Oct (peak Jun-Sep); wet season Nov-Apr

Cultural notes

• The 'wantok' (kinship / one-talk) system governs social & financial obligation
• strong church influence (quiet Sundays)
• communal, village-oriented
• Facebook-first & mobile-first
• low disposable income
• sensitive to Guadalcanal/Malaita ethnic history & China-Taiwan geopolitics

Where to find creators

• Facebook (pages & groups — dominant)
• TikTok (fast-growing youth channel)
• YouTube (island music)
• local radio (SIBC, Paoa FM, Z-FM)
• church & community networks

Media landscape

Creators & public figures

Top creators

Celebrities

Jeremiah Manele n/a (reaches public via official govt pages)

Prime Minister of Solomon Islands (since May 2024); former foreign minister

Manasseh Sogavare n/a

Four-time former Prime Minister; dominant modern political figure (led the 2019 switch to China)

E

Ezekiel Alebua n/a

Former Prime Minister (1986-89) & Guadalcanal Premier

David Vunagi n/a

Governor-General (2019-2024); former Anglican Archbishop of Melanesia

C

Commins Menapi n/a

Legendary national football team striker; Oceania great

Benjamin Totori n/a

National football team striker (OFC / New Zealand leagues)

Affiliate & traffic

Hot verticals

• Mobile apps, utilities & casual gaming
• Airtime/data top-ups & telco offers
• Sweepstakes / prize & gift-card offers
• E-commerce (COD / mobile-money checkout; imported goods)
• Finance — remittances, mobile money, microloans (CBSI-regulated)
• Tourism/travel (dive & WWII-history tourism)
• Dating (niche)

Active networks

• No local networks — served by global/regional players
• Involve Asia (SE-Asia/Pacific reach)
• Admitad/Mitgo
• CJ / Awin / Impact (cross-border)
• Amazon Associates
• ClickBank
• AU/NZ & travel programs (airlines, hotels, Booking.com)
• CPA nets targeting 'Pacific'/AU-adjacent (sweeps, dating, nutra)

Payouts

• Tier-3 — low CPMs/CPCs & low payouts
• CPI/CPL small (dating CPL ~$0.5-3, sweeps/CPI low), remittance/finance CPL moderate
• value skews to tourism & diaspora
• small volumes overall

Competition

• Very low absolute volume (~829k pop, ~174k social identities)
• usually bundled into 'Pacific' or AU/NZ-diaspora buys rather than run standalone
• local advertiser competition minimal

Seasonality

• Independence Day (July) & Christmas/New-Year retail peaks
• tourism dry season Jun-Sep
• wet season (Nov-Apr) shifts more time online/indoors

Traffic sources

• Meta — Facebook & Messenger (dominant)
• TikTok (growing)
• Google Search & YouTube
• Facebook buy/sell groups
• local radio (SIBC)

Good to know

Capital

Honiara (on Guadalcanal)

Major cities

• Honiara (capital, ~85k)
• Auki (Malaita)
• Gizo (Western)
• Munda
• Noro
• Kirakira (Makira)
• Buala (Isabel)
• Tulagi

Time zones

Single zone — UTC+11 (Honiara); no daylight saving

Android vs iOS

80% 20%

Android 80% iOS 20%

Phone brands

• Samsung (~27%)
• Apple (~20%)
• Xiaomi (~14%)
• Oppo (~6%)
• Motorola (~3%)
• unknown/other (~30%)

Top e-commerce

• Facebook Marketplace & Pages / buy-sell groups (dominant social commerce; COD / mobile money)
• Bulk Shop Online (bulksolomons.com.sb — local groceries/essentials)
• Ubuy Solomon Islands (ubuy.com.sb — cross-border imports)
• Island Tech Solomon marketplace (local vendors; Honiara–Gizo delivery)
• cross-border AU/NZ (AliExpress, Amazon)

Peak activity

Weekday evenings ~6-10pm SBT (UTC+11) and lunch ~12-1pm; weekend daytime; Sunday mornings quiet (church); Facebook/Messenger prime time

Creative taboos

• Guadalcanal/Malaita ethnic tensions (1998-2003 'the Tensions' & 2021 Honiara riots)
• the China–Taiwan switch (2019) & geopolitics
• customary land ownership
• religion (Christian respect)
• LGBTQ+ (male same-sex acts still criminalised — highly taboo)
• nudity/adult content

Also worth knowing

1. Facebook/Messenger effectively IS the internet here — run Meta-first with English + Pijin creatives; TikTok is the fast-growing youth channel (top creator ~165k).
2. Tiny addressable market (~352k online, ~174k social) — best bundled into a Pacific / AU-adjacent campaign, not run standalone; cheap CPMs but low volume & low payouts.
3. Cash + mobile money (M-SELEN/M-PAiSA) dominate and COD is essential — card penetration is minimal; crypto & online gambling sit in legal grey zones.