Papua New Guinea Population
Papua New Guinea had an estimated population of 10,762,817 in mid-2025 (World Bank), making it the 91st most populous of 217 countries and territories, with 0.13% of everyone alive. The counter above projects that figure forward at the current growth rate of +1.75% a year.
Papua New Guinea at a glance
How Papua New Guinea's population is changing
Papua New Guinea's population is growing fast: +1.75% a year, which works out to about +187,947 people per year, or +515 a day. Births (24.3 per 1,000) and deaths (6.6 per 1,000) alone would give +1.77% a year; net migration removes about 284 people a year (−0.00%). Roughly one in every 763 people on Earth lives in Papua New Guinea.
Population of Papua New Guinea since 1960
In 1960, Papua New Guinea had 1,995,110 people. By 2025 that was 10,762,817 — 5.4× larger. The fastest growth came between 1991 and 2001, when the population rose by 42%.
| Year | Population | Change vs previous row |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 1,995,110 | — |
| 1970 | 2,505,628 | +25.6% |
| 1980 | 3,131,512 | +25.0% |
| 1990 | 3,896,481 | +24.4% |
| 2000 | 5,537,064 | +42.1% |
| 2010 | 7,633,523 | +37.9% |
| 2020 | 9,815,746 | +28.6% |
| 2025 | 10,762,817 | +9.6% |
Papua New Guinea from 1800 to 2100
Modelled estimates put Papua New Guinea at about 754,894 people in 1800; the UN estimates 10,762,821 in 2025 (14× 1800) and projects 18,640,539 for 2100 in its medium scenario. That is still 73% growth over the rest of this century.
| Year | Population | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| 1800 | 754,894 | modelled estimate |
| 1850 | 763,498 | modelled estimate |
| 1900 | 841,827 | modelled estimate |
| 1950 | 1,543,441 | UN estimate |
| 2000 | 5,537,068 | UN estimate |
| 2025 | 10,762,821 | UN projection |
| 2050 | 14,906,592 | UN projection |
| 2075 | 17,578,922 | UN projection |
| 2100 | 18,640,539 | UN projection |
Country live/base figures use World Bank estimates; this historical/future chart uses a separate UN series and need not match the World Bank base in overlapping years. Before 1950: HYDE 3.3 / Gapminder reconstructions via Our World in Data — historical modelling, not censuses. 1950–2023: UN World Population Prospects 2024. 2024–2100: UN medium projection. Open the time machine to see the whole map in any year.
Largest listed places in Papua New Guinea
10 records sorted by displayed base population. Definitions vary (province/administrative unit, UN urban centre or GeoNames settlement); this is not a harmonised city ranking. Shares use World Bank 2025 country population 10,762,817. Dates and boundaries may differ. Overlapping entities are not summed.
| # | Place | Population | Definition | Share | Source / reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Port Moresby | 413,223 | UN urban centre | 3.84% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 2 | Lae | 121,552 | UN urban centre | 1.13% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 3 | Arawa | 40,266 | GeoNames settlement | 0.37% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 4 | Mount Hagen | 33,623 | GeoNames settlement | 0.31% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 5 | Popondetta | 28,198 | GeoNames settlement | 0.26% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 6 | Madang | 27,419 | GeoNames settlement | 0.25% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 7 | Kokopo | 26,273 | GeoNames settlement | 0.24% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 8 | Mendi | 26,252 | GeoNames settlement | 0.24% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 9 | Kimbe | 18,847 | GeoNames settlement | 0.18% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 10 | Goroka | 18,503 | GeoNames settlement | 0.17% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
How Papua New Guinea compares
Papua New Guinea has almost the same population as Tajikistan (10,786,734).
| Rank | Country | Population | vs Papua New Guinea | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #89 |  Portugal | 10,804,871 | +0% | compare → |
| #90 |  Tajikistan | 10,786,734 | +0% | compare → |
| #92 |  Sweden | 10,596,620 | −2% | compare → |
| #93 |  Greece | 10,413,962 | −3% | compare → |
Compare Papua New Guinea with any country →
Same region (East Asia & Pacific): China, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand.
Explore around Papua New Guinea
Land neighbours (1)
Papua New Guinea's 1 neighbours together hold 285,721,236 people — 26.5× Papua New Guinea's population. The most populous is Indonesia (285,721,236).
In its region
Papua New Guinea is the 13th most populous of the 37 economies in East Asia & Pacific, holding 0.5% of the region's 2,367,527,180 people.
Rankings
Largest countries, fastest-growing, oldest populations, densest — all rankings.
Cities
Port Moresby, Lae, Arawa, Mount Hagen, Popondetta, Madang, Kokopo, Mendi — all Papua New Guinea's cities on the map.
World population history · The world when you were born · Papua New Guinea when you were born · Time machine · Embed this live counter on your site
About these numbers
Population, growth, birth and death rates, migration, density, age structure, life expectancy, fertility and GDP per capita come from the World Bank Indicators API (latest available year shown beside each figure). The live counter applies the annual growth rate continuously from 1 July 2025 — a model, not a measurement. City populations are the latest census or official estimate held by GeoNames and are not projected. Sub-city units are folded into their parent city.
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Read this country carefully
This page is a structured reference entry. Its sources, geographic definition and reference dates determine what the figures mean; it is not independent reporting about the causes of change. Read the accompanying explanation before comparing different places or vintages.