World Factbook
Papua New Guinea
Independent State of Papua New Guinea
Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)
Literacy
male
78.4% (2017 est.)
female
61.6% (2017 est.)
total population
70.1% (2017 est.)
Languages
Tok Pisin (official), English (official), Hiri Motu (official), some 839 living indigenous languages are spoken (about 12% of the world's total)
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%
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
total population
1.03 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
65 years and over
0.97 male(s)/female
Birth rate
27.57 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Death rate
5.36 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Median age
male
21.6 years
total
21.9 years (2025 est.)
female
21.9 years
Population
male
5,206,211
total
10,273,996 (2025 est.)
female
5,067,785
Nationality
noun
Papua New Guinean(s)
adjective
Papua New Guinean
Tobacco use
male
53.4% (2025 est.)
total
38.9% (2025 est.)
female
23.8% (2025 est.)
Urbanization
urban population
13.7% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization
2.91% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Age structure
0-14 years
37.1% (male 1,902,272/female 1,825,471)
15-64 years
58.9% (male 2,991,479/female 2,923,410)
65 years and over
4% (2024 est.) (male 198,511/female 205,090)
Ethnic groups
Melanesian, Papuan, Negrito, Micronesian, Polynesian
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
Child marriage
men married by age 18
3.7% (2018)
women married by age 15
8% (2018)
women married by age 18
27.3% (2018)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio
69.4 (2025 est.)
youth dependency ratio
62.4 (2025 est.)
potential support ratio
14.2 (2025 est.)
elderly dependency ratio
7 (2025 est.)
Physician density
0.06 physicians/1,000 population (2023)
Health expenditure
Health expenditure (as % of GDP)
2.3% of GDP (2021)
Health expenditure (as % of national budget)
7% of national budget (2022 est.)
Net migration rate
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Hospital bed density
0.2 beds/1,000 population (2019 est.)
Total fertility rate
3.72 children born/woman (2025 est.)
Drinking water source
improved: rural
rural: 44.5% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 50.2% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 86.9% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 55.5% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 49.8% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 13.1% of population (2022 est.)
Education expenditure
Education expenditure (% GDP)
0.8% of GDP (2023 est.)
Education expenditure (% national budget)
3.5% national budget (2023 est.)
Infant mortality rate
male
35.3 deaths/1,000 live births
total
31.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)
female
28.6 deaths/1,000 live births
Population growth rate
2.22% (2025 est.)
Gross reproduction rate
1.82 (2025 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
Life expectancy at birth
male
68.3 years
female
71.9 years
total population
70.1 years (2024 est.)
Maternal mortality ratio
189 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Sanitation facility access
improved: rural
rural: 18.2% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 23.6% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 57.8% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 81.8% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 76.4% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 42.2% of population (2022 est.)
Alcohol consumption per capita
beer
0.6 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine
0.06 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total
1.26 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits
0.6 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols
0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Major urban areas - population
410,000 PORT MORESBY (capital) (2023)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
21.3% (2016)
Mother's mean age at first birth
21.9 years (2016/18)
note: data represents median age a first birth among women 25-49
Currently married women (ages 15-49)
66.9% (2018 est.)