Papua New Guinea — Country Profile
Population, GDP, natural resources, leaders and history of Papua New Guinea: the Magna Factbook country file, with its Magna Power score (--/100, ranked #-- of 195).
Last updated: October 2026
Papua New Guinea is a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm in 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. It covers 462,840 sq km. Terrain: mostly mountains with coastal lowlands and rolling foothills. Climate: tropical; northwest monsoon (December to March), southeast monsoon (May to October); slight seasonal temperature variation.
| Capital | Port Moresby |
|---|---|
| Population | 10,273,996 (2025 est.) |
| GDP (PPP) | $45.487 billion (2024 est.) |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | $4,300 (2024 est.) |
| Real GDP growth | 4.1% (2024 est.) |
| Inflation | 0.6% (2024 est.) |
| Unemployment | 2.8% (2024 est.) |
| Public debt | 52.4% of GDP (2023 est.) |
| Exports | $12.93 billion (2023 est.) |
| Imports | $7.192 billion (2023 est.) |
| Life expectancy | 70.1 years (2024 est.) |
| Median age | 21.9 years (2025 est.) |
| Urbanization | 13.7% of total population (2023) |
| Government | parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm |
| Independence | 16 September 1975 (from the Australia-administered UN trusteeship) |
| Languages | Tok Pisin (official), English (official), Hiri Motu (official), some 839 living indigenous languages are spoken (about 12% of the world's total) |
Papua New Guinea’s GDP is $45.487 billion (2024 est.) in purchasing-power-parity terms. At official exchange rates it stands at $32.538 billion (2024 est.). Real GDP grew 4.1% (2024 est.). See where Papua New Guinea ranks among all 195 countries by GDP.
POWER --/100 — The Magna Power score is our 0–100 composite of structural national power — nine components, 135 indicators. It is the Bureau's own assessment, not a mirror of World Bank or CIA figures.
Momentum 0 — Quarterly momentum: the Bureau's read on the country's trajectory over the last quarter, from −10 (deteriorating fast) to +10 (accelerating).
Nothing in Jul–Sep 2026 moved the needle. The institutions functioned, the economy ran its course, and the world looked elsewhere.
That is the honest note: a quarter of normalcy, scored as such.
- What our model rewards: inflation tamed at 0.6%; a current-account surplus of $4 billion — the world pays it more than it pays out
- What drags it down: a median age of 22 — a nation of children, its workforce still in the classroom; fertility of 3.7 children per woman — far above replacement, a cradle overflowing faster than schools can keep up
Gold, Copper, Silver, Natural gas, Timber, Oil.
Energy is the physical base of economic power — what a country can generate, move and burn decides what it can build, sell and defend.
| Electricity access | 19% (2022 est.) |
|---|---|
| Installed capacity mix (CIA) | 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.) |
| Energy consumption per capita (CIA) | 8.781 million Btu/person (2023 est.) |
Sources: CIA World Factbook, Energy section; Our World in Data (IEA/Ember), 2024.
Trade shows what the world buys from a country and what the country must buy from the world — the balance between the two is a direct measure of economic leverage.
| Exports | $12.93 billion (2023 est.) |
|---|---|
| Imports | $7.192 billion (2023 est.) |
| Trade balance (calculated) | Surplus of $5.7 billion (2023), calculated from the CIA export and import figures above. |
| Key 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) |
Source: CIA World Factbook, Economy section.
James Marape — Prime Minister. King CHARLES III (since 8 September 2022); represented by Governor General Grand Chief Sir Bob DADAE (since 28 February 2017)
Papua New Guinea maintains 21 embassies abroad, hosts 16 foreign diplomatic missions, holds permanent missions to UN New York, UN Geneva. The breadth of a diplomatic network is a direct measure of diplomatic power — it shows how far a country’s influence, alliances and interests reach.
| Embassies abroad | 21 |
|---|---|
| Foreign missions hosted | 16 |
| Multilateral missions | UN New York, UN Geneva |
Source: Lowy Institute Global Diplomacy Index 2024 (released 2024-02-25), https://globaldiplomacyindex.lowyinstitute.org/; Wikipedia 'List of diplomatic missions of Papua New Guinea', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_diplomatic_missions_of_Papua_New_Guinea; '... in Papua New Guinea', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_diplomatic_missions_in_Papua_New_Guinea
Transport networks are economic power made physical — ports, runways, railways and pipelines decide what a country can move, sell and defend.
| Sea access | Coastal — 5152 km of coastline. |
|---|---|
| Airports (total) | 569 + 3 heliports (registration prefix P2) |
| Major seaports | Kavieng Harbor, Kieta, Port Moresby, Rabaul, Vanimo, Wewak Harbor |
| Pipelines | 264 km oil (2013) |
Major airports
Nadzab Tomodachi International Airport (LAE) — Lae; Port Moresby Jacksons International Airport (POM) — Port Moresby; Baimuru Airport (VMU) — Baimuru; Balimo Airport (OPU) — Balimo; Buka Airport (BUA) — Buka Island; Chimbu Airport (CMU) — Kundiawa; Daru Airport (DAU) — Daru; Girua Airport (PNP) — Popondetta; Goroka Airport (GKA) — Goronka; Gurney Airport (GUR) — Gurney.
Showing 10 of 15 major airports.
Terminals
| LNG export terminals | Port Moresby |
|---|
Sources: OurAirports public-domain extract (2026-10-02); per-entry Wikipedia links included; CIA World Factbook via cia_factbook snapshot (2026-09-28); theodora.com CIA mirror (CIA World Factbook Transportation section), scraped 2026-10-02
| Political system | parliamentary constitutional monarchy |
|---|---|
| Next election | No election currently scheduled. |
POWER --/100 Ranked #-- of 195 countries in the Magna Country Rankings. Full ranking breakdown for Papua New Guinea.
Historical timeline of Papua New Guinea
This profile covers the population, economy, natural resources, leaders, and history of Papua New Guinea — with the Bureau’s live national-power score of --/100, ranking #-- of 195 countries.
What is Papua New Guinea's power score?
Papua New Guinea has a Magna Power score of --/100. The score measures structural power — the proven capacity to shape events — across nine components.