OCEANIA · COUNTRY REFERENCE
Papua New Guinea
Written and compiled by American Business Capital Group Inc.
Selected country or entityMap: Natural Earth ↗
ANNUAL ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT
Population & economic scale
The most recent non-empty observations returned by the World Bank when this snapshot was collected. Read the year on each card: these are annual statistics, not live measurements.
World Bank reporting entity: Papua New Guinea · 3 of 3 indicators available.
Population
10,762,817
people
observation
Definition, value & source
Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship. The values shown are midyear estimates.
Received value: 10762817 people. The main card rounds for readability.
- Collected
- Oct 7, 2026
- Dataset update reported by API
- Jul 13, 2026; separate from the observation year
World Bank indicator ↗ · API record ↗
World Bank, World Development Indicators. CC BY 4.0. Underlying sources: World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), uri: https://population.un.org/wpp/, publisher: UN Population Division; Statistical databases and publications from national statistical offices, National Statistical Offices (NSOs), uri: https://unstats.un.org/home/nso_sites/, publisher: National Statistical Offices; Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, Eurostat (ESTAT), uri: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database?node_code=earn_ses_monthly, publisher: Eurostat; Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), United Nations (UN), uri: https://unstats.un.org, publisher: UN Statistics Division
GDP
$32.5 billion
current US$
observation
Definition, value & source
Gross domestic product is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period. It can be measured in three different ways: using either the expenditure approach, the income approach, or the production approach. This indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. This indicator is expressed in United States dollars.
Received value: 32498658653.8415 current US$. The main card rounds for readability.
- Collected
- Oct 7, 2026
- Dataset update reported by API
- Jul 13, 2026; separate from the observation year
World Bank indicator ↗ · API record ↗
World Bank, World Development Indicators. CC BY 4.0. Underlying sources: Country official statistics, National Statistical Organizations and/or Central Banks; National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB)
GDP per capita
$3,020
current US$ per person
observation
Definition, value & source
Gross domestic product is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period. It can be measured in three different ways: using either the expenditure approach, the income approach, or the production approach. The core indicator has been divided by the general population to achieve a per capita estimate.This indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. This indicator is expressed in United States dollars.
Received value: 3019.5309140573 current US$ per person. The main card rounds for readability.
- Collected
- Oct 7, 2026
- Dataset update reported by API
- Jul 13, 2026; separate from the observation year
World Bank indicator ↗ · API record ↗
World Bank, World Development Indicators. CC BY 4.0. Underlying sources: Country official statistics, National Statistical Organizations and/or Central Banks; National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB)
GDP and GDP per capita use current US dollars, without an inflation or purchasing-power-parity adjustment. Source years can differ. Missing data is not zero; earlier archive figures below are retained as a separate historical reference.
THE REFERENCE FILE
Papua New Guinea at a glance
These are historical reference facts from the 2025 World Factbook archive. Each estimate keeps its own period; an archive edition does not make every figure a measurement from that year.
Government type
parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
Population
total: 10,273,996 (2025 est.) male: 5,206,211 female: 5,067,785
Real GDP (purchasing power parity)
$45.487 billion (2024 est.) $43.697 billion (2023 est.) $42.093 billion (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars
GDP (official exchange rate)
$32.538 billion (2024 est.) note: data in current dollars at official exchange rate
Real GDP growth rate
4.1% (2024 est.) 3.8% (2023 est.) 5.7% (2022 est.) note: annual GDP % growth based on constant local currency
Real GDP per capita
$4,300 (2024 est.) $4,200 (2023 est.) $4,100 (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
0.6% (2024 est.) 2.3% (2023 est.) 5.3% (2022 est.) note: annual % change based on consumer prices
Unemployment rate
2.8% (2024 est.) 2.7% (2023 est.) 2.7% (2022 est.) note: % of labor force seeking employment
Labor force
3.66 million (2024 est.) note: number of people ages 15 or older who are employed or seeking work
Public debt
52.4% of GDP (2023 est.) note: central government debt as a % of GDP
Budget
revenues: $5.518 billion (2023 est.) expenditures: $6.856 billion (2023 est.) note: central government revenues and expenses (excluding grants/extrabudgetary units/social security funds) converted to US dollars at average official exchange rate for year indicated
Current account balance
$4.183 billion (2023 est.) $4.567 billion (2022 est.) $3.284 billion (2021 est.) note: balance of payments - net trade and primary/secondary income in current dollars
Exports
$12.93 billion (2023 est.) $14.862 billion (2022 est.) $11.032 billion (2021 est.) note: balance of payments - exports of goods and services in current dollars
Imports
$7.192 billion (2023 est.) $8.568 billion (2022 est.) $6.43 billion (2021 est.) note: balance of payments - imports of goods and services in current dollars
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold
$3.901 billion (2023 est.) $3.983 billion (2022 est.) $3.24 billion (2021 est.) note: holdings of gold (year-end prices)/foreign exchange/special drawing rights in current dollars
Debt - external
$7.011 billion (2023 est.) note: present value of external debt in current US dollars
Electricity access
electrification - total population: 19% (2022 est.) electrification - urban areas: 65.1% electrification - rural areas: 14.2%
Internet users
percent of population: 24% (2023 est.)
THE HISTORICAL REFERENCE LIBRARY
Explore the country in detail
Browse the economy, population, resources and infrastructure. These archived descriptions keep their original wording and dates; they have not been updated to describe current conditions.
31 of 31 sections
Location
Oceania, group of islands including the eastern half of the island of New Guinea between the Coral Sea and the South Pacific Ocean, east of Indonesia
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Capital
name: Port Moresby geographic coordinates: 9 27 S, 147 11 E time difference: UTC+10 (15 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) time zone note: Papua New Guinea has two time zones, including Bougainville (UTC+11) etymology: named in 1873 by Captain John MORESBY in honor of his father, British Admiral Sir Fairfax MORESBY (1786-1877)
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Economic overview
lower-middle-income Pacific island economy; primarily informal agrarian sector; natural-resource-rich and key exporter of liquified natural gas; collapse in betel nut prices, tighter monetary policy, and improved foreign-exchange availability contributing to declining inflation; challenges include lack of progress in infrastructure, agricultural reform, and corruption
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Natural resources
gold, copper, silver, natural gas, timber, oil, fisheries
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Agricultural products
oil palm fruit, coconuts, bananas, fruits, sweet potatoes, game meat, yams, root vegetables, vegetables, sugarcane (2023) note: top ten agricultural products based on tonnage
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Industries
oil and gas; mining (gold, copper, and nickel); palm oil processing; plywood and wood chip production; copra crushing; construction; tourism; fishing; livestock (pork, poultry, cattle) and dairy farming; spice products (turmeric, vanilla, ginger, cardamom, chili, pepper, citronella, and nutmeg)
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Exports - partners
China 28%, Japan 25%, Australia 17%, Taiwan 8%, India 4% (2023) note: top five export partners based on percentage share of exports
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Exports - commodities
natural gas, gold, copper ore, palm oil, nickel (2023) note: top five export commodities based on value in dollars
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Imports - partners
Australia 27%, China 24%, Singapore 15%, Malaysia 9%, Japan 4% (2023) note: top five import partners based on percentage share of imports
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Imports - commodities
refined petroleum, trucks, rice, plastic products, excavation machinery (2023) note: top five import commodities based on value in dollars
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Climate
tropical; northwest monsoon (December to March), southeast monsoon (May to October); slight seasonal temperature variation
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Terrain
mostly mountains with coastal lowlands and rolling foothills
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Land use
agricultural land: 3.1% (2023 est.) arable land: 0.7% (2023 est.) permanent crops: 2% (2023 est.) permanent pasture: 0.4% (2023 est.) forest: 75.2% (2023 est.) other: 21.7% (2023 est.)
2023 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Natural hazards
active volcanism; frequent and sometimes severe earthquakes; mud slides; tsunamis volcanism: severe volcanic activity; Ulawun (2,334 m), one of Papua New Guinea's potentially most dangerous volcanoes, has been deemed a Decade Volcano by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to its explosive history and close proximity to human populations; Rabaul (688 m) destroyed the city of Rabaul in 1937 and 1994; Lamington erupted in 1951, killing 3,000 people; Manam's 2004 eruption forced the island's abandonment; other historically active volcanoes include Bam, Bagana, Garbuna, Karkar, Langila, Lolobau, Long Island, Pago, St. Andrew Strait, Victory, and Waiowa; see note 2 under "Geography - note"
1937, 1994, 1951, 2004 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Languages
Tok Pisin (official), English (official), Hiri Motu (official), some 839 living indigenous languages are spoken (about 12% of the world's total) note: Tok Pisin, a creole language, is widely used and understood; English is spoken by 1%-2%; Hiri Motu is spoken by less than 2%
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Religions
Protestant 64.3% (Evangelical Lutheran 18.4%, Seventh Day Adventist 12.9%, Pentecostal 10.4%, United Church 10.3%, Evangelical Alliance 5.9%, Anglican 3.2%, Baptist 2.8%, Salvation Army 0.4%), Roman Catholic 26%, other Christian 5.3%, non-Christian 1.4%, unspecified 3.1% (2011 est.) note: data represent only the citizen population; roughly 0.3% of the population are non-citizens, consisting of Christian 52% (predominantly Roman Catholic), other 10.7% , none 37.3%
2011 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Age structure
0-14 years: 37.1% (male 1,902,272/female 1,825,471) 15-64 years: 58.9% (male 2,991,479/female 2,923,410) 65 years and over: 4% (2024 est.) (male 198,511/female 205,090)
2024 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Urbanization
urban population: 13.7% of total population (2023) rate of urbanization: 2.91% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
2023, 2020 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 70.1 years (2024 est.) male: 68.3 years female: 71.9 years
2024 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Literacy
total population: 70.1% (2017 est.) male: 78.4% (2017 est.) female: 61.6% (2017 est.)
2017 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Electricity
installed generating capacity: 1.148 million kW (2023 est.) consumption: 4.399 billion kWh (2023 est.) transmission/distribution losses: 328.234 million kWh (2023 est.)
2023 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Electricity generation sources
fossil fuels: 76.4% of total installed capacity (2023 est.) solar: 0.1% of total installed capacity (2023 est.) hydroelectricity: 21.2% of total installed capacity (2023 est.) geothermal: 2% of total installed capacity (2023 est.) biomass and waste: 0.3% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)
2023 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Petroleum
total petroleum production: 32,000 bbl/day (2023 est.) refined petroleum consumption: 30,000 bbl/day (2023 est.) crude oil estimated reserves: 159.656 million barrels (2021 est.)
2023, 2021 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Natural gas
production: 11.57 billion cubic meters (2023 est.) consumption: 677.736 million cubic meters (2023 est.) exports: 10.892 billion cubic meters (2023 est.) proven reserves: 183.125 billion cubic meters (2021 est.)
2023, 2021 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Carbon dioxide emissions
5.798 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.) from coal and metallurgical coke: 1,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.) from petroleum and other liquids: 4.467 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.) from consumed natural gas: 1.33 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)
2023 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Telephones - mobile cellular
total subscriptions: 4.1 million (2024 est.) subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 39 (2024 est.)
2024 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Broadband - fixed subscriptions
total: 22,000 (2022 est.) subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: (2022 est.) less than 1
2022 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Airports
569 (2025)
2025 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Ports
total ports: 22 (2024) large: 0 medium: 0 small: 6 very small: 16 ports with oil terminals: 8 key ports: Kavieng Harbor, Kieta, Port Moresby, Rabaul, Vanimo, Wewak Harbor
2024 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
GDP - composition, by sector of origin
agriculture: 17.2% (2024 est.) industry: 37.2% (2024 est.) services: 41.5% (2024 est.) note: figures may not total 100% due to non-allocated consumption not captured in sector-reported data
2024 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Remittances
0% of GDP (2023 est.) 0% of GDP (2022 est.) 0% of GDP (2021 est.) note: personal transfers and compensation between resident and non-resident individuals/households/entities
2023, 2022, 2021 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
CURRENCY OBSERVATIONS
Money & exchange rates
The latest verified daily references are separate from the historical country profile. Values are currency units per US$1.
Kina
PGK per US$1
Published reference snapshot; its original observation date is preserved.
1 PGK = US$0.2231944
4.4468–4.5041 PGK per US$1 across the displayed observations. The vertical scale follows this range.
View dated observations
| Observation date | PGK per US$1 |
|---|---|
| Oct 6, 2026 | 4.4804 |
| Oct 5, 2026 | 4.4852 |
| Oct 4, 2026 | 4.4842 |
| Oct 2, 2026 | 4.4779 |
| Oct 1, 2026 | 4.4924 |
| Sep 30, 2026 | 4.5041 |
| Sep 29, 2026 | 4.4977 |
| Sep 28, 2026 | 4.478 |
| Sep 27, 2026 | 4.4579 |
| Sep 25, 2026 | 4.472 |
| Sep 24, 2026 | 4.4687 |
| Sep 23, 2026 | 4.4537 |
| Sep 22, 2026 | 4.4599 |
| Sep 21, 2026 | 4.4622 |
| Sep 20, 2026 | 4.4806 |
| Sep 18, 2026 | 4.4738 |
| Sep 17, 2026 | 4.485 |
| Sep 16, 2026 | 4.4928 |
| Sep 15, 2026 | 4.4749 |
| Sep 14, 2026 | 4.4702 |
| Sep 13, 2026 | 4.4852 |
| Sep 11, 2026 | 4.4881 |
| Sep 10, 2026 | 4.4854 |
| Sep 9, 2026 | 4.4592 |
| Sep 8, 2026 | 4.4468 |
| Sep 7, 2026 | 4.463 |
Daily references are not live execution prices. A check time does not change a source observation date.
CAPITAL MARKETS
Stock exchanges
No venue from our curated stock exchange directory is listed for this entity.
Browse the worldwide directory →Exchange directory coverage is curated and does not establish that an entity has no other trading venues.
CONTINUE YOUR RESEARCH
Official data & country reports
Research directories have their own coverage. A link is not a claim that every entity has an IMF report or a separate national statistical office.
SOURCES & DATES
Where the facts come from.
Editorial presentation by American Business Capital Group Inc. The organizations and archive links below are the underlying sources.
- Country reference
- CIA World Factbook · 2025 archive
- Archive retrieved
- Oct 6, 2026 · retrieval date, not an observation period
- Currency associations
- SIX / ISO 4217 currency registry ↗
- Rate observations
- Frankfurter / official reference providers ↗ · each observation is dated separately
- State classification
- UN member states ↗ · UN observer states ↗
- UN membership is shown separately from territory and currency coverage; inclusion is not a position on sovereignty or boundaries.
- CIA World Factbook text preserved by World Factbook Archive. Archive edition 2025; individual estimates retain their own dates. These are historical reference facts, not current observations.
About the editions. The CIA announced the end of its online World Factbook on February 4, 2026. Our historical profiles retain the archive editions shown above.
Skyhorse lists The CIA World Factbook 2026–2027, published April 7, 2026 (ISBN 9781510786042). That book’s full text has not been incorporated here; its edition title does not redate the imported archive. Archive distribution license.
Geography is a simplified reference. Displayed boundaries and entity inclusion do not express a position on sovereignty or disputed borders.