Papua New Guinea People - 2023
SOURCE: 2023 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK
Population
9,819,350 (2023 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 0.4%), Roman Catholic 26%, other Christian 5.3%, non-Christian 1.4%, unspecified 3.1% (2011 est.)
note: data represent only the citizen population; roughly 0.3% of the population are non-citizens, consisting of Christian 52% (predominantly Roman Catholic), other 10.7% , none 37.3%
Age structure
0-14 years: 37.34% (male 1,871,227/female 1,795,700)
15-64 years: 58.75% (male 2,917,668/female 2,851,691)
65 years and over: 3.9% (2023 est.) (male 189,851/female 193,213)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio: 60.5
youth dependency ratio: 55.5
elderly dependency ratio: 5
potential support ratio: 20.1 (2021 est.)
Median age
total: 24 years
male: 24 years
female: 24 years (2020 est.)
Population growth rate
2.31% (2023 est.)
Birth rate
28.54 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Death rate
5.48 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Net migration rate
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 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: 13.7% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 2.91% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Major urban areas - population
410,000 PORT MORESBY (capital) (2023)
Sex ratio
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.98 male(s)/female
total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2023 est.)
Mother's mean age at first birth
21.9 years (2016/18)
note: data represents median age a first birth among women 25-49
Maternal mortality ratio
192 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Infant mortality rate
total: 32.81 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 36.11 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 29.34 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 69.74 years
male: 68.04 years
female: 71.52 years (2023 est.)
Total fertility rate
3.85 children born/woman (2023 est.)
Gross reproduction rate
1.88 (2023 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate
36.7% (2016/18)
Drinking water source
improved: urban: 86.2% of population
rural: 41.5% of population
total: 47.5% of population
unimproved: urban: 13.8% of population
rural: 58.5% of population
total: 52.5% of population (2020 est.)
Current health expenditure
2.5% of GDP (2020)
Physicians density
0.07 physicians/1,000 population (2019)
Sanitation facility access
improved: urban: 57.8% of population
rural: 18.2% of population
total: 23.5% of population
unimproved: urban: 42.2% of population
rural: 81.8% of population
total: 76.5% of population (2020 est.)
Major infectious diseases
degree of risk: very high (2023)
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
21.3% (2016)
Alcohol consumption per capita
total: 1.26 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
beer: 0.6 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine: 0.06 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits: 0.6 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Tobacco use
total: 39.3% (2020 est.)
male: 53.5% (2020 est.)
female: 25.1% (2020 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
27.8% (2009/11)
Currently married women (ages 15-49)
65.5% (2023 est.)
Child marriage
women married by age 15: 8%
women married by age 18: 27.3%
men married by age 18: 3.7% (2018 est.)
Education expenditures
1.4% of GDP (2020 est.)
Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 64.2%
male: 65.6%
female: 62.8% (2015)
Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)
total: 5.3%
male: 6.3%
female: 4.2% (2021 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
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.
This page was last modified 06 Dec 23, Copyright © 2023 ITA all rights reserved.