Papua New Guinea Economy - 2023

Economic overview

lower middle-income Pacific island economy; primarily informal agrarian sector; natural resource-rich; key liquified natural gas exporter; growing young workforce; slow post-pandemic recovery; increasingly impoverished citizenry; sustainable inflation

Real GDP (purchasing power parity)

$36.589 billion (2021 est.)

$36.479 billion (2020 est.)

$37.672 billion (2019 est.)

note: data are in 2017 dollars

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Real GDP growth rate

0.3% (2021 est.)

-3.17% (2020 est.)

4.48% (2019 est.)

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Real GDP per capita

$3,700 (2021 est.)

$3,700 (2020 est.)

$3,900 (2019 est.)

note: data are in 2017 dollars

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GDP (official exchange rate)

$19.82 billion (2017 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

4.48% (2021 est.)

4.87% (2020 est.)

3.93% (2019 est.)

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Credit ratings

Moody's rating: B2 (2016)

Standard & Poors rating: B- (2020)

note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.

GDP - composition, by sector of origin

agriculture: 22.1% (2017 est.)

industry: 42.9% (2017 est.)

services: 35% (2017 est.)

GDP - composition, by end use

household consumption: 43.7% (2017 est.)

government consumption: 19.7% (2017 est.)

investment in fixed capital: 10% (2017 est.)

investment in inventories: 0.4% (2017 est.)

exports of goods and services: 49.3% (2017 est.)

imports of goods and services: -22.3% (2017 est.)

Agricultural products

oil palm fruit, bananas, coconuts, fruit, sweet potatoes, game meat, yams, roots/tubers nes, vegetables, taro

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)

Industrial production growth rate

-7.5% (2020 est.)

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Labor force

3.073 million (2021 est.)

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Labor force - by occupation

agriculture: 85%

industry: NA

services: NA

Unemployment rate

2.75% (2021 est.)

2.6% (2020 est.)

2.45% (2019 est.)

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Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)

total: 5.3%

male: 6.3%

female: 4.2% (2021 est.)

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Population below poverty line

37% (2002 est.)

Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income

41.9 (2009 est.)

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Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: 1.7%

highest 10%: 40.5% (1996)

Budget

revenues: $4.039 billion (2019 est.)

expenditures: $5.135 billion (2019 est.)

Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)

-4.8% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

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Public debt

48.68% of GDP (2020 est.)

40.15% of GDP (2019 est.)

36.67% of GDP (2018 est.)

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Taxes and other revenues

11.88% (of GDP) (2020 est.)

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Fiscal year

calendar year

Current account balance

$5.451 billion (2018 est.)

$5.348 billion (2017 est.)

$5.175 billion (2016 est.)

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Exports

$10.597 billion (2018 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

$10.254 billion (2017 est.)

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Exports - partners

Japan 25%, China 25%, Australia 16%, Taiwan 6%, South Korea 6% (2021)

Exports - commodities

natural gas, gold, copper, palm oil, nickel, crude petroleum, lumber, refined petroleum, tuna, coffee (2021)

Imports

$4.844 billion (2018 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

$4.662 billion (2017 est.)

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Imports - partners

Australia 27%, China 25%, Singapore 13%, Malaysia 8%, Indonesia 5% (2021)

Imports - commodities

refined petroleum, rice, delivery trucks, excavation machinery, motor vehicle parts (2021)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

$2.339 billion (31 December 2019 est.)

$2.239 billion (31 December 2018 est.)

$1.762 billion (31 December 2017 est.)

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Debt - external

$17.94 billion (31 December 2017 est.)

$18.28 billion (31 December 2016 est.)

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Exchange rates

kina (PGK) per US dollar -

3.509 (2021 est.)

3.46 (2020 est.)

3.388 (2019 est.)

3.293 (2018 est.)

3.189 (2017 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Papua New Guinea on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Papua New Guinea 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Papua New Guinea 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.