Papua New Guinea profile

Demography and Health

Papua New Guinea (PNG) has a population of about 10.6 million people in 2024, placing it around the 91st most populous country globally. The country exhibits a relatively high birth rate of 24.6 per 1,000 people (2023) alongside a crude death rate of 6.52 per 1,000 people, contributing to a young demographic profile. Life expectancy at birth is 66.1 years (2023), reflecting ongoing health and development challenges. Under-5 mortality remains high at 40.3 deaths per 1,000 live births, highlighting gaps in child health care and preventative services. Nutrition remains a critical issue, with 27.7% of the population undernourished in 2022, underscoring widespread vulnerability to food insecurity. Net migration registered at about -707 people in 2024, indicating a small outflow that, given PNG’s large population, is unlikely to offset broad demographic growth in the near term.

The health system faces resource constraints. Current health expenditure accounts for 2.62% of GDP (2022), signaling limited investment relative to needs. Domestic general government health expenditure per capita, PPP stands at 67.5 international US dollars in 2022, which points to relatively modest public funding for health services per person. The physician density is low, with 0.063 physicians per 1,000 people in 2021, highlighting a shortage of trained health workers. The combination of limited public spending, scarce health professionals, and a high burden of undernourishment helps explain persistently elevated under-5 mortality and moderate life expectancy. HIV prevalence and other disease burdens are not captured in the provided data, but PNG’s health indicators suggest ongoing vulnerabilities common to lower-middle-income settings with dispersed rural populations.

Digital connectivity remains limited, with 24.1% of the population using the Internet in 2023, which can constrain health information access, telemedicine potential, and health system reforms. The country’s safety and stability context—political and governance indicators discussed in another category—also shapes health program implementation, funding cycles, and the capacity to deliver essential health services across a geographically complex landscape that includes many remote communities.

Economy

PNG’s economy shows a modest level of income, with GDP per capita at current prices of 3,076 US dollars in 2024 (rank 133), and GDP per capita on a PPP basis of 4,889 international US dollars (2024, rank 150). Inflation is low at 0.602% (2024), suggesting price stability over the period identified, though this can mask domestic supply constraints and imported price dynamics in a small, open economy. The current account balance stands at 13.6% of GDP in 2023, indicating a surplus that may reflect commodity exports or remittances, but also exposing vulnerability to external price swings and terms of trade shocks typical for commodity-reliant economies.

Foreign direct investment (FDI), net inflows, are 0.268% of GDP in 2023, signaling limited but positive external investment activity relative to the size of the economy. The country is also a notable exporter of high-technology goods to some degree, with high-technology exports valued at about 86.3 million US dollars in 2021, reflecting a relatively small but present role for advanced sectors in the economy. Total greenhouse gas emissions per capita are 0.928 t CO2e, indicating a low-carbon intensity typical of resource-based and less-industrialized economies, yet environmental vulnerabilities remain due to land use, mining, and energy consumption patterns.

PNG’s economy is characterized by a reliance on natural resources and agriculture, with macroeconomic indicators showing growth potential against a backdrop of governance and infrastructure constraints flagged in other sections. The resilience of the economy depends on diversification, investment in human capital, and improved efficiency in trade and infrastructure to reduce the cost of doing business and expand private-sector opportunities beyond extractive activities.

Trade and Investment

Trade and investment dynamics in PNG reflect a balance between export-led activity and import dependence, with a current-account surplus in 2023 pointing to favorable external balances at least in the short term. The net inflow of FDI, at 0.268% of GDP in 2023, suggests that foreign investment exists but remains modest as a share of the economy, potentially constrained by governance and infrastructure factors discussed elsewhere. PNG’s export profile includes high-technology exports (a category that, while modest in scale, demonstrates some diversification into knowledge-intensive goods with a value of about 86.3 million USD in 2021), signaling that, even if commodity-led, there is space for selective technology-oriented activities and linkages with international markets.

Trade infrastructure quality, as captured by the Logistics Performance Index at 2.4 on a 1–5 scale (2022), indicates considerable room for improvement in trade and transport-related infrastructure. This constraint can raise the cost and time of moving goods domestically and internationally, affecting competitiveness and the efficiency of supply chains. The combination of a healthy current account and limited but present FDI highlights an economy with opportunities for growth through better integration into global value chains, but these opportunities depend on addressing bottlenecks in infrastructure, governance, and regulatory environments.

Governance and Institutions

Papua New Guinea faces significant governance challenges as reflected by several negative indicators in 2023: Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism is -0.479, Regulatory Quality -0.643, Rule of Law -0.54, Control of Corruption -0.657, and Government Effectiveness -0.802. These scores collectively point to a fragile institutional environment, with concerns about public sector capacity, rule of law, and the integrity of governance processes. Such constraints can affect policy continuity, investment climate, and service delivery across sectors including health, education, and infrastructure.

Low governance quality can impede the effectiveness of reforms and deter private investment, particularly in areas requiring predictable regulatory frameworks, contract enforcement, and disciplined public finance management. Conversely, PNG’s macroeconomic stability, evidenced by a positive current account and moderate inflation, suggests that with improvements in governance and institutions, the country could strengthen its economic resilience and implement development strategies more effectively. Policy makers may prioritize anti-corruption measures, legal reform, and stronger institutions to build credibility, attract investment, and support inclusive growth that reaches remote populations.

Infrastructure and Technology

PNG’s infrastructure and technology landscape reveals a mixed picture. The Logistics Performance Index score of 2.4 (2022) on a 1–5 scale indicates substantial challenges in trade-related infrastructure, including transport and logistics services. This constraint raises trade costs and can limit the competitiveness of PNG’s exports while increasing the cost of imports, impacting households and businesses. Internet access remains limited, with 24.1% of the population online in 2023, signaling gaps in digital infrastructure and digital literacy that can hamper e-government, e-commerce, and modern service delivery in health, education, and finance.

On the human-capital side, the health workforce is sparse, evident from a physicians-per-1,000-people ratio of 0.063 in 2021, which has implications for health outcomes and the ability to scale health services. The energy mix shows resilience and transition potential: renewable energy accounted for 54.6% of total final energy consumption in 2022, underscoring PNG’s reliance on renewable sources and opportunities to expand clean energy access, increase energy security, and reduce import dependence. In manufacturing and technology, high-technology exports, while modest, reflect capacity to participate in global tech value chains, even if the country remains primarily resource- and agriculture-based. The combination of weak governance indicators, infrastructure bottlenecks, and limited digital connectivity challenges PNG’s technology-adoption trajectory, but also points to clear targets for investment in broadband, transport networks, and human-capital development to unlock productivity gains.

Environment and Sustainability

PNG faces environmental and sustainability considerations that intersect with energy, climate, and resource management. The country’s water-stress indicator—freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available resources—stood at 0.132 (1.32%) in 2021, suggesting moderate withdrawal pressure relative to freshwater resources, though local variations likely exceed national averages. Total greenhouse gas emissions per capita are 0.928 t CO2e (2023), indicating a relatively low per-capita emissions level typical of lower-income economies with limited industrialization, but this understates the country’s climate vulnerability given its exposure to extreme weather events and dependence on natural resources. The prevalence of undernourishment at 27.7% (2022) also has environmental dimensions, highlighting the interlinkages between agricultural practices, climate variability, and food security.

PNG’s environmental trajectory is influenced by its mining and extractive sectors, land-use change, and the need to balance development with conservation. Renewable energy’s sizable share provides an opportunity to improve energy access and reduce emissions further, while investments in sustainable land and water management can support resilience for rural communities and biodiversity. The data imply a climate-vulnerable country that would benefit from strengthened resilience planning, investment in sustainable infrastructure, and inclusive policies that connect environmental stewardship with livelihoods and growth.