6064515
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
PORT MORESBY (capital) 345,000 (2015)
- Conventional long form
- Independent State of Papua New Guinea
- Conventional short form
- Papua New Guinea
- Local long form
- Local short form
- Papuaniugini
parliamentary democracy (National Parliament) under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
- Name
- Port Moresby
- Geographic coordinates
- 9 27 S, 147 11 E
- Time difference
- UTC+10 (15 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt
Papua New Guinea (PNG) is richly endowed with natural resources, but exploitation has been hampered by rugged terrain, land tenure issues, and the high cost of developing infrastructure. The economy has a small formal sector, focused mainly on the export of those natural resources, and an informal sector, employing the majority of the population. Agriculture provides a subsistence livelihood for 85% of the people. The global financial crisis had little impact because of continued foreign demand for PNG's commodities.
- Inflation
- 6.01%
- External debt stocks
- US$ 20,030,961,000
- Total tax rate (% of commercial profits)
- 39.3%
- Real Interest Rate
- -1.441%
- Manufacturing, value added (% of GDP)
- 5.99%
- Current Account Balance
- US$ 5,689,616,248
- Labor Force, Total
- 3,626,303
- Employment in Agriculture
- 72.34%
- Employment in Industry
- 3.64%
- Employment in Services
- 22.68%
- Unemployment Rate
- 2.49%
- Imports of goods and services
- US$ 7,485,533,590
- Exports of goods and services
- US$ 7,982,866,986
- Total Merchandise Trade
- 78.33%
- FDI, net inflows
- US$ 203,474,074
- Commercial Service Exports
- US$ 109,738,015
coffee, cocoa, copra, palm kernels, tea, sugar, rubber, sweet potatoes, fruit, vegetables, vanilla; poultry, pork; shellfish
copra crushing, palm oil processing, plywood production, wood chip production; mining (gold, silver, copper); crude oil and petroleum products; construction, tourism
- Commodities
- oil, gold, copper ore, logs, palm oil, coffee, cocoa, crayfish, prawns
- Partners
- Japan 17.4%, Australia 15.9%, China 12.1% (2015)
- Commodities
- machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, food, fuels, chemicals
- Partners
- Australia 25.9%, China 20%, Singapore 12.6%, Malaysia 7.2%, US 4.2%, Indonesia 4.1%, South Korea 4% (2015)
- Country Risk Rating
- B
- Political and economic uncertainties and an occasionally difficult business environment can affect corporate payment behavior. Corporate default probability is appreciable.
- Business Climate Rating
- D
- The business environment is very difficult. Corporate financial information is rarely available and when available usually unreliable. The legal system makes debt collection very unpredictable. The institutional framework has very serious weaknesses. Intercompany transactions can thus be very difficult to manage in the highly risky environments rated D.
- Abundant natural resources: minerals (copper, gold, nickel, cobalt), hydrocarbons (oil, gas), and raw materials (wood, coffee, cocoa, palm oil)
- Construction of liquefied natural gas production units
- Foreign investment in raw materials sector
- Financial support of multilateral institutions
- Highly exposed to natural disasters
- Weak infrastructures
- Low literacy rate
- Lack of skilled labor
- Major governance shortcomings
- Private sector external debt rising sharply
After the sharp slowing in 2016 as a result of the fall in raw material prices, with copper, cobalt and liquefied natural gas (LNG) in pole position, activity should stabilise in 2017. Growth will however remain limited because of low mineral and oil and gas prices. As the Exxon Mobil LNG project has reached its production potential, it will no longer be adding further to growth. In addition, the poor performances being recorded by the mining sector will act to discourage further foreign investment in the sector.
The completion of the LNG project and the start of production have helped boost exports and cut imports. The current account balance thus moved into surplus as of 2015. The decline in mining sector export earnings because of falling prices however led to a deterioration in the current account balance in 2016. This situation is likely to continue in 2017. The depreciation of the kina will not benefit exports of manufactured goods which continue to be hindered by the weakness of the country’s infrastructure network. At the same time, imports will remain high with the country dependent on imports for many goods.
The 2012 elections confirmed Peter O’Neill (People’s National Congress) as the Prime Minister. He now has the support of his predecessor, Sir Michael Somare. However, legal proceedings have been started against the Prime Minister, relating to alleged corruption. An arrest warrant has been issued but the validity of this is being contested in the country’s various jurisdictions. In October 2015, the Parliament rejected a procedure for a motion of censure against the Prime Minister and he will now remain in power until the elections in 2017. There are likely to be many more anti-government demonstrations and political stability remains fragile.