Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is a nation in the South Pacific that comprises of the eastern half of the island of New Guinea some 2,538 km northwest of Brisbane, Australia, with a total population of approximately 7,259,456 inhabitants.

The nation covers an area of 462,840 sq. km, of which 452,860 sq. km or 97.84% is land while the remaining 9,980 sq. km or 2.16% is water, averaging 16 persons per sq. km. Of the total land available 0.7% or 3239.88 sq. km is arable. Almost 63.1% of the total land available or 292,052 sq. km is covered with forests.

The nation’s total GDP is valued at 19.82 billion. The industrial sector is the nation’s largest GDP contributor accounting for 42.9% of total GDP or 8.50 billion. The industrial sector is followed by the services sector which accounts for 35% or 6.94 billion of total GDP and agriculture which accounts for 22.1% or 4.38 billion of total GDP.

The nation’s total labor force is estimated at 3,681,000 or 50.71% of the total population. Of the total labor force available 85% or 3,128,850 are employed in the agricultural sector.

Papua New Guinea’s main industries include copra crushing, palm oil processing, plywood production, wood chip production; mining i.e. gold, silver, copper; crude oil and petroleum related products; construction, tourism, livestock i.e. pork, poultry, cattle, dairy products, spice products i.e. turmeric, vanilla, ginger, cardamom, chili, pepper, citronella, and nutmeg, and fish and fish based products.

The nation’s main agricultural produce include coffee, cocoa, copra, palm kernels, tea, sugar, rubber, sweet potatoes, fruit, vegetables, vanilla; poultry, pork; and shellfish.

The nation’s primary exports are liquefied natural gas, oil, gold, copper ore, nickel, cobalt logs, palm oil, coffee, cocoa, copra, spices i.e. turmeric, vanilla, ginger, and cardamom, crayfish, prawns, tuna, and sea cucumbers.

Papua New Guinea’s major export partners are Australia 18.9%, Singapore 17.5%, Japan 13.8%, China 12.7%, the Philippines 4.7%, Netherlands 4.2%, and India 4.2%. Its main import partners include Australia 30.1%, China 17.3%, Singapore 10.2%, Malaysia 8.2%, and Indonesia 4%.