Papua New Guinea
population: 2024 census (16 Jun 2024) · indicators as of 2026-09-05 · 6 metros tracked
🗺️ Geography6 metros
Papua New Guinea metro footprint, shaded by composite tier.
Hover for rank, click to open the metro page. Boundaries derived from Overture Maps administrative divisions; metros without source coverage are omitted.
🏙️ 6 tracked metros
| Metro | State | Tier | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #881 | Port Moresby★ Capital▲ Largest | National Capital District | 364K | 2.0 | Emerging Metro |
| #2432 | Mount Hagen | Western Highlands | 123K | 0.3 | Local Metro |
| #3371 | Lae | Morobe | 149K | 0.0 | Local Metro |
| #3544 | Madang | Madang | 111K | 0.0 | Local Metro |
| #3559 | Buka | Bougainville | 109K | 0.0 | Local Metro |
| #3737 | Tari | Hela | 79K | 0.0 | Local Metro |
🗂️ Administrative subdivisions
22 entries listed under Papua New Guinea across 3 types. Click any to see its metros and footprint.
Regions (20)
Autonomous Regions (1)
Capital Territories (1)
📋 At a glance
- Official languages
- English, Tok Pisin, Papua New Guinean Sign Language, Hiri Motu
- Currency
- Kina (PGK)
- Legislature
- National Parliament of Papua New Guinea
- Constitution
- 1975, 21 amendment events since
- Demonym
- Papua New Guinean
- Time zones
- UTC+10:00, UTC+11:00
- Driving side
- Left
- Calling code
- +675
- Internet TLD
- .pg
- ISO 3166
- PG
- Established
- 1975
- Highest point
- Mount Wilhelm (4,509 m (14,793 ft))
- National anthem
- O Arise, All You Sons
Facts via Wikidata.
💹 Economy and developmentLower middle income
Ranks are among sovereign countries with data; ★ marks a top-5% finish. Sources: World Bank Open Data and Our World in Data (UNDP, UN WPP, V-Dem, Global Carbon Budget, Ember, Energy Institute; CC BY 4.0). Each card credits its originating body. Renewable share is of electricity generation, not of primary energy. Each figure is the most recent year available.
Alliances & Organisations4 full memberships
Full memberDashed border = Candidate / ApplicantItalic = Dialogue / Observer
🏛️ Leadership History14 leaders · click to expand
marks a leader associated with atrocities or defiance of law, systemic subversion of democratic institutions, or a criminal conviction. Convictions arising from political persecution, and annulled convictions, are excluded. denotes a monarch. These are editorial designations, applied per entry rather than derived automatically.
James Marape✦ Current
2019–PresentPrime Minister
Peter O'Neill
2011–2019Prime Minister
Michael Somare
2002–2011Prime Minister
Mekere Morauta
1999–2002Prime Minister
Bill Skate
1997–1999Prime Minister
Julius Chan
1997–1997Prime Minister
John Giheno
1997–1997Prime Minister
Julius Chan
1994–1997Prime Minister
Paias Wingti
1992–1994Prime Minister
Rabbie Namaliu
1988–1992Prime Minister
Paias Wingti
1985–1988Prime Minister
Michael Somare
1982–1985Prime Minister
Show all 14 leaders
Julius Chan
1980–1982Prime Minister
Michael Somare
1975–1980Prime Minister
| Name | Role | Years |
|---|---|---|
| James Marape✦ Current | Prime Minister | 2019–Present |
| Peter O'Neill | Prime Minister | 2011–2019 |
| Michael Somare | Prime Minister | 2002–2011 |
| Mekere Morauta | Prime Minister | 1999–2002 |
| Bill Skate | Prime Minister | 1997–1999 |
| Julius Chan | Prime Minister | 1997–1997 |
| John Giheno | Prime Minister | 1997–1997 |
| Julius Chan | Prime Minister | 1994–1997 |
| Paias Wingti | Prime Minister | 1992–1994 |
| Rabbie Namaliu | Prime Minister | 1988–1992 |
| Paias Wingti | Prime Minister | 1985–1988 |
| Michael Somare | Prime Minister | 1982–1985 |
| Julius Chan | Prime Minister | 1980–1982 |
| Michael Somare | Prime Minister | 1975–1980 |
📈 Power over timeThe Power Atlas →
The powerline is the headline share of world power, running from the state’s first ranked year (benchmark estimates with wide error bars before 1816). Latent power is material mass a state could mobilise (population, manpower, heavy industry). Recognised power is what the system actually treats it as (military spending, productive economy, reach, and status such as a Security Council seat or nuclear arsenal). When latent runs above recognised, a power is rising or under-rated; when recognised runs higher, it is punching above its weight or coasting on prestige. Material sub-indices run 1816 through 2016.
👥 Population over time
Our World in Data population (CC BY): UN WPP 2024 from 1950, Gapminder v7 1800-1949, HYDE 3.3 earlier; today's borders. Figures above are as of 2023, the last year that is estimated rather than forecast. The dashed tail to 2026 is a UN WPP medium-variant projection. It is drawn because the line should reach the present, and drawn differently because it has not happened yet: no rank, peak or share on this page uses it. Before 1950 the series is reconstruction rather than contemporaneous statistics, which is worth knowing when a country’s peak sits back there. The current population shown elsewhere on this page comes from the workbook and is unchanged by this. Note that people and share of world can move in opposite directions. A country can grow steadily and still become a smaller part of humanity, which is what happened to almost every rich country after 1960.
👥 To 2100
The UN’s probabilistic projection for Papua New Guinea: the median with its 80% and 95% bands, the UN’s own high, low and zero-migration scenarios beside it. Not this site’s model; the site reads it and says what it implies.
Tap or drag across the chart to read any year: the estimate to 2023, then the UN median, its bands and the scenarios.
What drives it
Births, deaths and net migration on the UN medium path, with fertility, life expectancy and median age, every decade from 1950.
Show all 16 decades
Source: United Nations, DESA, Population Division. World Population Prospects 2024. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 IGO. Estimates to 2023; projections 2024 to 2100, medium variant and probabilistic intervals. The UN revises every two years; this is the WPP 2024 revision.
🏆 National Teams
Papua New Guinea on the international stage. Click a card for the full record.