Overview: Papua New Guinea is richly endowed with natural resources, but exploitation has been hampered by the rugged terrain and the high cost of developing an infrastructure. Agriculture provides a subsistence livelihood for 85% of the population. Mining of numerous deposits, including copper and gold, accounts for about 60% of export earnings. Budgetary support from Australia and development aid under World Bank auspices have helped sustain the economy. Robust growth in 1991-92 was led by the mining sector; the opening of a large new gold mine helped the advance. The economy remained strong in 1993, primarily because of continued growth in the mining and oil sectors.

National product: GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $8.2 billion (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate: 1.2% (1993 est.)

National product per capita: $2,000 (1993 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.5% (1992-93)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget:
revenues: $1.33 billion
expenditures: $1.49 billion, including capital expenditures of $225 million (1993 est.)

Exports: $1.3 billion (f.o.b., 1990)
commodities: gold, copper ore, oil, logs, palm oil, coffee, cocoa, lobster
partners: Australia, Japan, South Korea, UK, US

Imports: $1.6 billion (c.i.f., 1990)
commodities: machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, food, fuels, chemicals
partners: Australia, Japan, US, Singapore, New Zealand, UK

External debt: $2.2 billion (April 1991)

Industrial production: growth rate 21% (1992); accounts for 31% of GDP

Electricity:
capacity: 400,000 kW
production: 1.6 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 400 kWh (1992)

Industries: copra crushing, palm oil processing, plywood production, wood chip production, mining of gold, silver, and copper, construction, tourism

Agriculture: Accounts for 28% of GDP; livelihood for 85% of population; fertile soils and favorable climate permits cultivating a wide variety of crops; cash crops - coffee, cocoa, coconuts, palm kernels; other products - tea, rubber, sweet potatoes, fruit, vegetables, poultry, pork; net importer of food for urban centers

Economic aid:
recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $40.6 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $6.5 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $17 million

Currency: 1 kina (K) = 100 toea
Exchange rates: kina (K) per US$1 - 1.0281 (January 1994), 1.0221 (1993), 1.0367 (1992), 1.0504 (1991), 1.0467 (1990), 1.1685 (1989)

Fiscal year: calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Papua New Guinea on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Papua New Guinea Economy 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Papua New Guinea Economy 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.