Papua New Guinea People - 2021

Population

7,399,757 (July 2021 est.)

Nationality

noun: Papua New Guinean(s)

adjective: Papua New Guinean

Ethnic groups

Melanesian, Papuan, Negrito, Micronesian, Polynesian

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

note: Tok Pisin, a creole language, is widely used and understood; English is spoken by 1%-2%; Hiri Motu is spoken by less than 2%

Religions

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%), Roman Catholic 26%, other Christian 5.3%, non-Christian 1.4%, unspecified 3.1% (2011 est.)

note: data represent only the citizen population; roughly .3% of the population are non-citizens, consisting of Christian 52% (predominantly Roman Catholic), other 10.7% , none 37.3%

Age structure

0-14 years: 31.98% (male 1,182,539/female 1,139,358)

15-24 years: 19.87% (male 731,453/female 711,164)

25-54 years: 37.68% (male 1,397,903/female 1,337,143)

55-64 years: 5.83% (male 218,529/female 204,717)

65 years and over: 4.64% (male 164,734/female 171,916) (2020 est.)

Dependency ratios

total dependency ratio: 63.2

youth dependency ratio: 57.4

elderly dependency ratio: 5.8

potential support ratio: 17.2 (2020 est.)

Median age

total: 24 years

male: 24 years

female: 24 years (2020 est.)

Population growth rate

1.61% (2021 est.)

Birth rate

22.08 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)

Death rate

5.97 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)

Population distribution

population concentrated in the highlands and eastern coastal areas on the island of New Guinea; predominantly a rural distribution with only about one-fifth of the population residing in urban areas

Urbanization

urban population: 13.5% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: 2.91% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Major urban areas - population

391,000 PORT MORESBY (capital) (2021)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.04 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 1.03 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 1.07 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.96 male(s)/female

total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2020 est.)

Maternal mortality rate

145 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 40.33 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 45.32 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 35.09 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 69.86 years

male: 67.37 years

female: 72.48 years (2021 est.)

Total fertility rate

2.79 children born/woman (2021 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

36.7% (2016/18)

Drinking water source

improved: urban: 89.4% of population

rural: 36.1% of population

total: 43% of population

unimproved: urban: 10.6% of population

rural: 63.9% of population

total: 57% of population (2017 est.)

Current Health Expenditure

2.4% (2018)

Physicians density

0.07 physicians/1,000 population (2018)

Sanitation facility access

improved: urban: 55.5% of population

rural: 9.1% of population

total: 15.2% of population

unimproved: urban: 44.5% of population

rural: 90.9% of population

total: 84.8% of population (2017 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

0.9% (2020 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

55,000 (2020 est.)

note: estimate does not include children

HIV/AIDS - deaths

note: estimate does not include children

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: very high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria

Obesity - adult prevalence rate

21.3% (2016)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

27.8% (2009/11)

Education expenditures

1.9% of GDP (2018)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 64.2%

male: 65.6%

female: 62.8% (2015)

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24

total: 3.6%

male: 4.3%

female: 3% (2010 est.)

People - note

the indigenous population of Papua New Guinea (PNG) is one of the most heterogeneous in the world; PNG has several thousand separate communities, most with only a few hundred people; divided by language, customs, and tradition, some of these communities have engaged in low-scale tribal conflict with their neighbors for millennia; the advent of modern weapons and modern migrants into urban areas has greatly magnified the impact of this lawlessness

Mother's mean age at first birth

note: median age a first birth among women 25-49