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Papua New Guinea

Includes Papua New Guinea real Gross Domestic Product growth rate, with latest forecasts and historical data, GDP per capita, GDP composition and breakdown by sector.

Browse additional economic indicators and data sets, selected by Global Finance editors, to learn more about Papua New Guinea economic outlook, debt to GDP ratio, international trade performance and population trends. Rankings of Papua New Guinea best banks and safest banks are also available.

Basic Information

Government Type: Parliamentary democracy (National Parliament) under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm

Capital City: Port Moresby

GDP & Economic Information

Macroeconomy & Sovereign Data

Central Bank Bank of Papua New Guinea
Currency Kina (PGK)
International Reserves USD 2.2 billion (2018)
Gross Domestic Product – GDP USD 21.3 billion (2018, estimate)
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity)
Intl$ 30.9 billion (2018, estimate)

GDP Data

Real GDP growth 2014: 15.4%
2015: 5.3%
2016: 1.7%
2017*: 2.4%
2018*: 0.0%

*Estimate
GDP per capita – current prices USD 2,530.2 (2018, estimate)
GDP per capita – PPP Intl$ 3,662.0 (2018, estimate)
GDP (PPP) – share of world total 0.02% (2019, estimate)
GDP – composition by sector agriculture: 22.1%
industry: 42.9%
services: 35.0%
(2016 estimate)
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D; (% of GDP) N/A
Inflation 2014: 6.0%
2015: 6.7%
2016: 4.9%
2017*: 5.2%
2018*: 3.9%

*Estimate

Inflation & Debt

Inflation 2014: 6.0%
2015: 6.7%
2016: 4.9%
2017*: 5.2%
2018*: 3.9%

*Estimate
Government Bond Ratings Standard & Poor’s: B

Moody’s: B2

Standard & Poor’s / Moody’s (Updated as of January 24th 2017)
Unemployment rate N/A

Household saving rates N/A
Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP) 2014: 29.9%
2015: 33.7%
2016: 33.1%
2017*: 35.5%
2018*: 41.4%

*Estimate
Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP) 2014: -4.6%
2015: -4.7%
2016: -2.5%
2017*: -3.9%
2018*: -4.9%

*Estimate
Market value of publicly traded shares N/A
Largest Companies N/A

Import/Export

Exports as percent of GDP (Exports of goods and services) N/A

Shares in world total merchandising export 0.05% (2018)
Shares in world total commercial services export 0.007% (2018)
Total exports USD 9.9 billion (2018 estimate)
Export commodities Liquefied natural gas, oil, gold, copper ore, nickel, cobalt logs, palm oil, coffee, cocoa, copra, spice (turmeric, vanilla, ginger, and cardamom), crayfish, prawns, tuna, sea cucumber
Total imports USD 4.4 billion (2018 estimate)
Import commodities Machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, food, fuels, chemicals
Exports – major partners Australia 18.9%, Singapore 17.5%, Japan 13.8%, China 12.7%, Philippines 4.7%, Netherlands 4.2%, India 4.2% (2017)
Imports – major partners Australia 30.1%, China 17.3%, Singapore 10.2%, Malaysia 8.2%, Indonesia 4% (2017)

Competitiveness & Trade

Current account balance USD 6.4 billion (2018 estimate)
Current account balance by percentage of GDP 27.4 % (2018 estimate)
FDI inflows 2016: USD -40 million
2017: USD -180 million
2018: USD 335 million
FDI Outflows 2016: USD -0.03 million
2017: USD -0.03 million
2018: USD -342.71 million
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser N/A


United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) – World Investment Report
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2014 N/A
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2015 N/A
Best countries for doing business
Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.

Overall ranking: 120 out of 190 countries (2017)

Subcategories:

Starting a Business: 142 out of 190 countries

Dealing with Construction Permits: 122 out of 190 countries

Getting Electricity: 118 out of 190 countries

Registering Property: 127 out of 190 countries

Getting Credit: 48 out of 190 countries

Protecting Minority Investors: 72 out of 190 countries

Paying Taxes: 118 out of 190 countries

Trading across Borders: 125 out of 190 countries

Enforcing Contracts: 173 out of 190 countries

Resolving Insolvency: 144 out of 190 countries

World Bank – Doing Business 2019
Global competitiveness ranking 81 out of 141 (2019)
Index of Economic Freedom Ranking: 101 / Score: 58.4 (Mostly unfree) (2018)

(100=totally free 0=totally repressed)

Population & Geographic Data

Time Zone UTC+10

Total Area 462,840 sq km
Total Population 1990: 3.76 million
2000: 5.13 million
2010: 6.68 million
2015: 7.92 million
2020*: 8.78 million

*Estimate
Urban population as % of total population 1960: 3.7%
1980: 13.0%
2000: 13.2%
2018: 13.2%
Population median age 23.4 years (2016 estimate)
Population growth rate 1.67% (2018 estimate)
Life expectancy 67.5 years (2018 estimate)
% of population living on less than $3.10 a day 65.6% (last available estimate, 2009)
Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index) 41.9 (last available estimate, 2009)
Freedom House rating Political Rights: 4
Civil Liberties: 3 (2019)

(1 represents the most free, 7 the least free rating)
Total telephone subscribers as % of population
Fixed: 1.9%

Mobile: 47.6% (2017) (fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)
Internet users as % of total population 11.21 % (2017)

Language & Religon

Languages Tok Pisin (official), English (official), Hiri Motu (official), some 839 indigenous languages spoken (about 12% of the world’s total); many languages have fewer than 1,000 speakers
Literacy Total population: 64.2%
Male: 65.6%
Female: 62.8%
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.)
Religions Roman Catholic 26%, 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 .4%), other Christian 5.3%, non-Christian 1.4%, u

World Rankings

Population 8.78 M
Mercer Cost of living index N/A
C02 Emissions per capita 0.8 metric tons per capita (2014)

Global Finance Rankings & Awards: Papua New Guinea

Global Finance Magazine holds several conferences and awards ceremonies throughout the year to recognize the winning financial institutions and companies in a host of categories including World’s Best Trade Finance Banks, World's Biggest Banks, World's Safest Banks, World's Best Developed & Emerging Markets Banks, World's Best Internet Banks, and World’s Best Investment Banks.

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Data Sources:

IMF World Economic Outlook

UN World Population Prospects

World Inequality Report

S&P Global Ratings

Moody’s

Fitch Ratings

IMF Direction of Trade Statistics (DOTS)

UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

CIA The World Factbook

World Bank’s World Integrated Trade Solution

Forbes Global 2000

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