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Papua New Guinea

Updated: July 2026

Key Insights
The resources applied by the Papua New Guinean government to collect, compile, and publish national accounts data are severely inadequate.

The national statistical agency, the National Statistical Office (NSO), operates under severe structural, operational, and financial constraints:
  • Geographical and Infrastructure Barriers: Papua New Guinea's rugged topography-comprising mountainous highlands, dense rainforests, and isolated island provinces-makes physical field data collection logistically difficult and expensive. Transport links across many provinces remain poor, resulting in persistent gaps in local survey coverage.
  • Large Rural and Informal Economy: The vast majority of the population relies on subsistence agriculture, informal trade, and small-scale cash cropping. Accurately measuring non-monetised rural production and informal economic activity requires frequent, resource-intensive household and agricultural surveys that state budgets cannot sustain.
  • Severe Budgetary and Capacity Shortfalls: The NSO faces chronic underfunding, which directly limits its ability to recruit and retain specialized technical staff, update administrative business registries, and modernise digital data processing systems.
  • Significant Release Lags: Delays in conducting baseline surveys-such as the national population census, household income and expenditure surveys, and economic censuses-mean national accounts frequently rely on outdated baselines, causing substantial time lags in official macroeconomic publications.
  • Heavy Reliance on External Technical Support: Major statistical operations and capacity-strengthening projects rely heavily on financial and technical assistance from foreign development partners, such as the Australian Government (DFAT), the World Bank, and UN agencies.
QUICK LINKS
Economics:   
GDP DATA QUALITY   /   GDP SIZE   /   GDP GROWTH   /   WEALTH   /   INEQUALITY   /   DEBT
Demographics:   
DATA QUALITY    /    POPULATION PROFILE

E.S.G.:   
ENVIRONMENTAL    /    SOCIAL    /    GOVERNANCE

 
ECONOMICS
DEMOGRAPHICS
E.S.G.
Economics sections:    GDP DATA QUALITY   /   GDP SIZE   /   GDP GROWTH   /   WEALTH   /   INEQUALITY   /   DEBT

 
GDP DATA QUALITY

Data Quality Ratings are derived from scores in five areas: Base year recency; System of National Accounts framework version; Informal economy size; Statistical resources available; and likelihood of Government interference. Scores are based on a 0-100 scale. Read more...


GDP Data Quality Ratings
Index: 0 = Extremely poor quality, 100 = Good as it gets
Ranked by Data Quality Index
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Country
 Rank
Order		 World Economics
Data Quality
(Index, 0-100)		 World Economics
Data Quality
(Rating, A-E)		 Base
Year
Chained/Year		 SNA
Framework
Version		 Informal
Economy
% of GDP		 Statistical
Resources
Index (0-100)		 Governance
Levels
Index (0-100)





Tajikistan 130 54.8 D Chained 1993 38.3 57.1 12.7
Bolivia 131 52.5 E 2017 1993 47.2 57.8 40.9
Liberia 132 51.9 E 2016 1993 41.5 43.8 45.9
Nepal 133 51.9 E 2010 1993 31.1 49.3 46.2
Angola 134 51.1 E 2002 2008 37.7 49.7 29.3
Haiti 135 51.0 E 2015 2008 48.7 28.3 19.8
Mali 136 50.5 E 2015 1993 34.8 52.5 23.6
Honduras 137 49.9 E 2015 1993 41.0 43.4 30.2
Papua New Guinea 138 49.4 E 2013 1993 32.7 31.1 41.8
Bhutan 139 49.3 E 2000 1993 27.4 48.4 62.6
Laos 140 49.1 E 2012 1993 28.1 47.7 21.8
Ethiopia 141 48.4 E 2015 1993 37.2 40.6 28.4
Gabon 142 47.6 E 2015 1993 42.3 38.4 33.8
Guinea-Bissau 143 46.4 E 2015 1993 37.0 35.1 22.7
Burundi 144 46.0 E 2015 1993 39.6 41.4 17.8
Chad 145 44.9 E 2015 1993 41.2 35.8 20.6
Guinea 146 44.4 E 2010 1993 36.1 39.6 24.8

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Data Notes
Data Quality Index numbers shown on a scale of 0-100.
         0 = Poor, 100 = Excellent.

Rating definitions:
         A: As good as it gets
         B: Good
         C: Use with caution
         D: Poor
         E: Extremely poor quality

The index calculations and displayed data are derived from the most current and up-to-date source data available.
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GDP SIZE

GDP Size data is shown in Purchasing Power Parity terms with added estimates for the size of the informal economy and adjustments for out-of-date GDP base year data. Read more...


Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Ranked by GDP: 2025
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Country Rank
Order		 World Economics
Data Quality
(Rating, A-E)		 2025
Estimate
Billions, PPP Int$		 2030
Estimate
Billions, PPP Int$		 Share of
Global GDP
%, 2025




Mongolia 117 B $84 $106 0.0%
Gabon 118 E $82 $93 0.0%
Nicaragua 119 D $80 $103 0.0%
Lebanon 120 C $79 $67 0.0%
Congo, Rep. 121 E $77 $84 0.0%
Rwanda 122 C $74 $110 0.0%
Tajikistan 123 D $73 $107 0.0%
Botswana 124 C $72 $89 0.0%
Papua New Guinea 125 E $71 $82 0.0%
Kyrgyzstan 126 C $70 $96 0.0%
Albania 127 C $69 $87 0.0%
Estonia 128 A $68 $72 0.0%
Cyprus 129 B $63 $82 0.0%
North Macedonia 130 B $61 $70 0.0%
Yemen, Rep. 131 E $60 $60 0.0%
Trinidad and Tobago 132 C $60 $63 0.0%
Malawi 133 C $56 $64 0.0%

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Data Notes
Data Quality Index numbers shown on a scale of 0-100.
         0 = Poor, 100 = Excellent.

Grade definitions:
         A: As good as it gets
         B: Good
         C: Use with caution
         D: Poor
         E: Extremely poor quality


GDP in Purchasing Power Parity terms with added estimates for the size of the informal economy and adjustments for out-of-date GDP base year data.

Share of Global GDP expressed as a percentage of the sum of GDP for all countries in the World Economics database.

Projections for 2030 are made by applying IMF growth rates for 2025 and 2026, with the 5-Year Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) applied thereafter to extrapolate the data to 2030.
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GDP GROWTH

Compound Annual Growth Rates (CAGR) are derived from GDP Data in Purchasing Power Parity terms with added estimates for the size of the informal economy and adjustments for out-of-date GDP base year data.


Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over the last 10-years
Ranked by CAGR: 10-Year
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Country Rank
Order		 World Economics
Data Quality
(Rating, A-E)		 CAGR
10 Year
2015-2025		 CAGR
5 Year
2020-2025		 CAGR
3 Year
2022-2025		 Share of
Global Growth
Percentage




Slovenia 72 A 2.9% 3.5% 2.2% 0.1%
Bulgaria 73 B 2.8% 3.9% 2.5% 0.1%
Paraguay 74 C 2.8% 3.4% 4.3% 0.1%
Bahrain 75 C 2.7% 4.0% 3.2% 0.1%
Chad 76 E 2.7% 3.3% 4.0% 0.0%
Comoros 77 C 2.7% 3.0% 3.5% 0.0%
Hungary 78 B 2.6% 2.8% 0.9% 0.2%
Nicaragua 79 D 2.6% 5.1% 3.9% 0.0%
Papua New Guinea 80 E 2.6% 3.3% 3.8% 0.0%
El Salvador 81 C 2.5% 4.7% 3.0% 0.0%
Eswatini 82 D 2.5% 3.1% 3.6% 0.0%
Morocco 83 B 2.5% 4.2% 3.7% 0.2%
New Zealand 84 A 2.5% 2.5% 1.5% 0.1%
Zimbabwe 85 D 2.5% 4.5% 5.4% 0.1%
Botswana 86 C 2.4% 4.5% 1.8% 0.0%
Central African Republic 87 E 2.4% 1.3% 1.7% 0.0%
Colombia 88 B 2.4% 4.5% 1.6% 0.5%

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Data Notes
Data Quality Index numbers shown on a scale of 0-100.
         0 = Poor, 100 = Excellent.

Grade definitions:
         A: As good as it gets
         B: Good
         C: Use with caution
         D: Poor
         E: Extremely poor quality


GDP in Purchasing Power Parity terms with added estimates for the size of the informal economy and adjustments for out-of-date GDP base year data.

Share of Global GDP Growth expressed as a percentage of the sum of GDP for all countries in the World Economics database.
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WEALTH

Wealth is notoriously difficult to measure. The table below shows two measures: Income per Capita (proxied by GDP per capita) and Asset Wealth per Capita (proxied by data derived from the Credit Suisse Wealth Report). Population data is sourced from the United Nations Population Prospects database.


Income and Asset Wealth Per Capita
Indexes: 0 = Extremely poor, 100 = Good as it gets.
Data ranked by Income per Capita
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Country Income
per Capita
(2025, Int$)		 Asset Wealth
per Capita
(2024, Int$)




Myanmar $8.7K $5.2K
Pakistan $8.2K $2.8K
Nepal $8.2K $2.9K
Senegal $7.8K $2.4K
Cameroon $7.7K $1.5K
Guinea $7.2K $3.0K
Tajikistan $6.8K $2.5K
Zambia $6.7K $1.7K
Papua New Guinea $6.6K $4.4K
Tanzania $6.1K $2.2K
Benin $6.1K $1.3K
Gambia $5.5K $1.4K
Sierra Leone $5.2K $0.3K
Rwanda $5.1K $2.8K
Comoros $5.0K $2.3K
Ethiopia $4.9K $2.4K
Mali $4.7K $1.1K

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Data Notes
Income Wealth uses GDP per capita derived from World Economics GDP data for 2025 measured in PPP Int$ terms, with added estimates for the Informal economy and adjustments for Base Year age.

Asset Wealth uses the Credit Suisse Mean Net Wealth per country data converted into per capita terms using population data from the United Nations Population Prospects database.
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INEQUALITY

The Inequality Index shown below is derived from the Gini Inequality Coefficient. Gini Country data varies considerably by date. These variations are recorded in the World Economics database.

The World Economics Inequality Index ranks each country onto a scale of 0-100, a high value indicates a more egalitarian society - and a low value suggests a lot of the national income is in the hands of very few depending upon the unit of measurement. Read more...


Inequality Rankings
Index: 0-100, 0 = High Inequality; 100 = High Equality
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Country Rank
Order		 World Economics
Inequality Index
(0-100)		 World Economics
Inequality Rating
(A-E)		 Gini
Coefficient
(%)		 Gini
Data
(Year)




Burkina Faso 91 49.8 C 54.8 2019
Sudan 92 49.7 C 45.0 2019
Cambodia 93 48.9 C 45.4 2019
Mexico 94 48.9 C 45.4 2020
Ethiopia 95 48.7 C 45.5 2019
Uzbekistan 96 48.6 C 45.5 2019
Ecuador 97 48.0 C 45.8 2021
Burundi 98 47.3 C 48.4 2019
Papua New Guinea 99 46.9 C 46.3 2019
Guinea-Bissau 100 46.8 C 46.3 2019
Chad 101 45.8 C 46.7 2019
Benin 102 45.4 C 46.9 2019
Sierra Leone 103 45.2 C 47.0 2019
Mauritius 104 44.3 D 47.4 2019
Israel 105 43.4 D 47.8 2019
Senegal 106 43.4 D 47.8 2019
Hong Kong 107 42.5 D 48.2 2019

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Data Notes
The Index is on a scale of 0-100, a high value indicates a more egalitarian society - and a low value suggests a lot of the national income is in the hands of very few depending upon the unit of measurement.

Rating definitions:
         A: Very good
         B: Good
         C: Average
         D: Poor
         E: Very poor


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DEBT

The debt-to-GDP ratio is the ratio between a country's offical government debt and its gross domestic product (GDP), the later measured in Purchasing Power Parity terms with added estimates for out-of-date adjustments for out-of-date GDP base years and the size of informal economic activity.


Debt-to-GDP Ratio
Ranked by debt as a percentage of GDP
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Country Rank
Order		 Debt
% of GDP		 Debt
Billions, Int$



Chile 88 36.9% $266.98
Ghana 89 34.2% $141.99
Uganda 90 34.2% $81.91
Liberia 91 34.1% $5.44
Cote d'Ivoire 92 34.0% $124.14
Switzerland 93 34.0% $271.00
Benin 94 33.3% $29.83
Lesotho 95 33.2% $3.42
Papua New Guinea 96 33.2% $23.53
Angola 97 32.8% $219.38
Nepal 98 32.5% $78.38
Sweden 99 32.2% $242.27
Qatar 100 31.5% $125.23
Burkina Faso 101 30.6% $32.76
Mali 102 30.2% $35.72
Serbia 103 30.2% $81.50
Botswana 104 29.8% $21.46

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Data Notes
GDP is presented it in Purchasing Power Parity terms with added estimates for the size of the informal economy and adjustments for out-of-date GDP base year data.

Debt-to-GDP ratio expressed in percentage terms.
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