Papua New Guinea Economy - 2024

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

Real GDP growth rate

0.3% (2021 est.)
-3.17% (2020 est.)
4.48% (2019 est.)

Real GDP per capita

$3,700 (2021 est.)
$3,700 (2020 est.)
$3,900 (2019 est.)

note: data are in 2017 dollars

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.)

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.)

Labor force

3.073 million (2021 est.)

Unemployment rate

2.75% (2021 est.)
2.6% (2020 est.)
2.45% (2019 est.)

Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)

total: 5.3% (2021 est.)

male: 6.3%

female: 4.2%

Population below poverty line

37% (2002 est.)

Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income

41.9 (2009 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: 1.7%

highest 10%: 40.5% (1996)

Remittances

0.01% of GDP (2020 est.)
0.01% of GDP (2019 est.)
0.02% of GDP (2018 est.)

Budget

revenues: $4.039 billion (2019 est.)

expenditures: $5.135 billion (2019 est.)

Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)

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

Public debt

48.68% of GDP (2020 est.)
40.15% of GDP (2019 est.)
36.67% of GDP (2018 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

11.88% (of GDP) (2020 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Current account balance

$5.451 billion (2018 est.)
$5.348 billion (2017 est.)
$5.175 billion (2016 est.)

Exports

$11 billion (2021 est.)
$9.36 billion (2020 est.)
$11 billion (2019 est.)

note: data are in current year dollars

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

$4.25 billion (2021 est.)
$3.77 billion (2020 est.)
$4.14 billion (2019 est.)

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.)

Debt - external

$17.94 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
$18.28 billion (31 December 2016 est.)

Exchange rates

kina (PGK) per US dollar -

Exchange rates:
3.509 (2021 est.)
3.46 (2020 est.)
3.388 (2019 est.)
3.293 (2018 est.)
3.189 (2017 est.)