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Papua New Guinea · data for latest available · data as of 26 October 2026 · printed 27 Oct 2026
NationsTree / Countries / Papua New Guinea
2025
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Papua New Guinea

East Asia & Pacific Capital Port Moresby Lower middle income Nation age 51 years (since 1975) i PNG · PG
NationsTree Index 2025 i29.5164th of 196 Tree height 2025 i4.0 msee ranking Military strength i12percentile
Population i10.8 m91st of 217 Area i462,840 km²56th of 216 GDP i$32.50 bn111th of 210 GDP (PPP) i$56.13 bn intl.131st of 199 GDP per person (PPP) i$5,215 intl.164th of 199 Life expectancy i66.3 years185th of 217
Index pillars
Foundations · roots i13
Strength · trunk i31
Quality of life · crown i15
Problems (higher = fewer) · dry branches i46
Direction (5-year change) · new shoots i72
CSV

In short

Papua New Guinea is 164th of 196 countries in the NationsTree Index, with a score of 29.5 out of 100; its tree is 4.0 m tall.

It has 10.8 million people and an economy of $56.13 bn at purchasing power parity, 131st of 199 in the world.

Its strongest positions: Renewable freshwater per person (5th of 183), Unemployment (25th of 187) and GDP growth (40th of 210).

Its weakest positions: DPT immunization (190th of 193), Physicians (171st of 174) and Internet users (178th of 186).

Over five years it climbed from 179th to 164th in the index.

All data

Data as of 26 October 2026

Latest available value for each indicator, with its year. World rank is among countries with recent data (last 5 years of the series).

Land & people

49
Surface area ikm² 462,840 56th/216
Land area ikm² 452,860 54th/216
Population ipeople 10.8 m 91st/217
Population growth i% 1.75% 60th/217
Population density ipeople/km² 23.4 182nd/216
Urban population i% 15.8% 216th/217
Population aged 0–14 i% 33.1% 56th/217
Population aged 65+ i% 3.6% 176th/217

Economy

45
GDP iUSD $32.50 bn 111th/210
GDP (PPP) iintl. USD $56.13 bn 131st/199
Real GDP (PPP, constant 2021 prices) iintl. USD 2021 $47.96 bn 131st/199
GDP per person iUSD $3,020 164th/210
GDP per person (PPP) iintl. USD $5,215 164th/199
GNI per person (Atlas) iUSD $2,890 150th/201
GDP growth i% 5.6% 40th/210
Inflation i% 4.4% 133rd/180
Unemployment i% 2.6% 25th/187
Central government debt i% of GDP 52.0% 27th/55
General government gross debt i% of GDP 51.6% 87th/189
Government budget balance i% of GDP -2.1% 79th/192

Main industries

46
Agriculture, forestry, fishing i% of GDP 17.0% 42nd/197
Industry incl. construction i% of GDP 36.5% 24th/200
Manufacturing i% of GDP 1.6% 179th/192
Services i% of GDP 42.0% 181st/200

Trade

56
Exports of goods & services iUSD $2.83 bn2004
Imports of goods & services iUSD $2.31 bn2004
Exports i% of GDP 72.2%2004
Imports i% of GDP 58.9%2004
Trade openness i% of GDP 131.1%2004
Fuel exports i% of merchandise exports 42.6% 26th/170
Manufactures exports i% of merchandise exports 1.8% 163rd/171
Food exports i% of merchandise exports 19.7% 74th/171
Ores & metals exports i% of merchandise exports 29.8% 19th/171
High-tech exports i% of manufactured exports 10.2% 63rd/168
Current account balance i% of GDP 14.3% 14th/191
Foreign direct investment, inflows i% of GDP -3.6% 193rd/196

Natural resources

78
Natural resource rents i% of GDP 27.4% 14th/209
Oil rents i% of GDP 1.88% 38th/197
Natural gas rents i% of GDP 9.14% 5th/197
Coal rents i% of GDP 0.00% 68th/195
Mineral rents i% of GDP 14.41% 8th/209
Forest rents i% of GDP 1.96% 35th/209
Arable land i% of land area 0.7% 190th/206
Renewable freshwater per person im³ 78,505 5th/183

Tourism

3
International tourist arrivals iarrivals 39,000 180th/194
Tourism receipts iUSD $4.2 m 173rd/175
Tourism receipts i% of exports 0.0% 167th/168
Outbound trips idepartures 92,0002002

Society & health

14
Life expectancy iyears 66.3 185th/217
Under-5 mortality iper 1,000 births 39.4 158th/196
Physicians iper 1,000 people 0.06 171st/174
Hospital beds iper 1,000 people 0.6 134th/145
DPT immunization i% of children 12–23 months 42% 190th/193
Completed lower secondary, 25+ i% of adults 34.5% 124th/153
Secondary enrolment i% gross 52.1% 152nd/173
Social protection coverage (incl. pensions) i% of population 4.2%2009
Old-age dependency ratio i% of working-age population 5.7% 186th/217
Health spending i% of GDP 2.9% 181st/193
Adult literacy i% 87.0% 60th/98
Tertiary enrolment i% gross 1.9%1999
Human Development Index iindex 0–1 0.576 160th/193
Income inequality (Gini) iindex 41.92009
Extreme poverty i% of population 52.2%2009

Infrastructure & digital

17
Access to electricity i% of population 43.3% 203rd/215
Safely managed sanitation i% of population 16.7% 131st/144
Internet users i% of population 18.8% 178th/186
Mobile subscriptions iper 100 people 39 206th/210
Fixed broadband iper 100 people 0.2 188th/208
Trade & transport infrastructure quality (LPI) iscore 1–5 2.40 96th/164
Air passengers carried ipassengers 1.5 m 86th/161

Environment & energy

79
CO₂ emissions per person it CO₂e 0.52 43rd/203
Renewable energy i% of final energy use 54.6% 43rd/212
Air pollution (PM2.5) iµg/m³ 14.1 75th/200
Forest area i% of land area 75.2% 10th/214

Institutions & safety

30
Government effectiveness iscore 0–100 37.8 158th/205
Control of corruption iscore 0–100 32.3 156th/207
Rule of law iscore 0–100 49.2 138th/207
Political stability iscore 0–100 56.0 158th/207
Regulatory quality iscore 0–100 44.9 144th/205
Voice & accountability iscore 0–100 53.4 116th/205
Homicide rate iper 100,000 9.32010

Military

12
Military expenditure iUSD $106.5 m 139th/156
Military expenditure i% of GDP 0.4% 150th/156
Military expenditure i% of government spending 1.6% 146th/154
Armed forces personnel ipeople 4,000 148th/170
Armed forces personnel i% of labour force 0.12% 158th/168
Arms imports (SIPRI TIV) iTIV 9.0 m 111th/163

Science & innovation

17
R&D spending i% of GDP 0.03%2016
Patent applications by residents iapplications 1 126th/137
Scientific articles iarticles 70 147th/197

Compare Papua New Guinea with

BruneiFijiLaosMacaoMongolia

Sources

Figures on this page come from: World Bank — World Development Indicators, International Monetary Fund — World Economic Outlook (DataMapper), Global Change Data Lab (Our World in Data) — Our World in Data, World Bank — Worldwide Governance Indicators . Nation age: Wikidata P571 (inception) (source). Every value is stored with its year and source series; see Sources & licences and Methodology.

Cite as: NationsTree (2026). Papua New Guinea — country profile. https://nationstree.org/countries/papua-new-guinea. Data as of 26 October 2026.

All figures come from official statistics published by public institutions (World Bank WDI and WGI, compiling UN agencies, IMF, WHO and national statistical offices). Each value carries its year; ranks are positions among countries with data.
Cite as: NationsTree (2026). Papua New Guinea — country profile. https://nationstree.org/countries/papua-new-guinea. Data as of 26 October 2026.
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