| 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 cities - 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.) |
| Mother's mean age at first birth | note: median age a first birth among women 25-49 |
| 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.) |
| Health expenditures | 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 | <500 (2020 est.) 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) |
| 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 |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021
