🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea Population 2026

As of 2026, the population of Papua New Guinea is 10,947,848, ranking #89 in the world (0.13% of the global population), based on UN World Population Prospects 2024. The population is growing at 1.68% per year. The biggest city is Port Moresby with 283,733 inhabitants.

Live estimate

10,951,038

Growth rate

1.68%

Density

people / km² (63 / mi²)

Median age

23.0

Fertility rate

2.99

births per woman

Life expectancy

66.5

years

Papua New Guinea population 1950–2100

Population of Papua New Guinea, 1950–2100 — solid: UN estimates, dashed: UN medium-variant projection.

By 2050, the population of Papua New Guinea is projected to reach 14,906,590, and 18,640,541 by 2100.

Papua New Guinea population by year

Year	Population	Growth	Density /km²	Median age
2026	10,947,848	1.68%	24.2	23.0
2025	10,762,817	1.73%	23.8	22.8
2024	10,576,502	1.77%	23.4	22.6
2023	10,389,635	1.80%	22.9	22.3
2022	10,203,170	1.82%	22.5	22.1
2021	10,012,896	1.94%	22.1	21.9
2020	9,815,746	2.04%	21.7	21.7
2019	9,609,010	2.22%	21.2	21.5
2018	9,394,513	2.29%	20.7	21.4
2017	9,178,714	2.36%	20.3	21.2
2016	8,961,718	2.43%	19.8	21.0
2015	8,743,246	2.51%	19.3	20.8
2014	8,523,441	2.59%	18.8	20.6
2013	8,302,698	2.66%	18.3	20.5
2012	8,081,390	2.74%	17.8	20.3
2011	7,859,346	2.83%	17.4	20.1
2010	7,633,523	3.00%	16.9	20.0
2009	7,406,438	3.04%	16.4	19.8
2008	7,183,002	3.09%	15.9	19.7
2007	6,963,344	3.12%	15.4	19.5
2006	6,747,720	3.17%	14.9	19.4
2005	6,535,905	3.21%	14.4	19.3
2004	6,328,041	3.25%	14.0	19.2
2003	6,123,997	3.30%	13.5	19.0
2002	5,924,004	3.34%	13.1	18.9
2001	5,728,435	3.38%	12.6	18.8
2000	5,537,064	3.42%	12.2	18.8
1999	5,349,333	3.48%	11.8	18.7
1998	5,166,390	3.48%	11.4	18.5
1997	4,987,884	3.55%	11.0	18.4
1996	4,813,362	3.57%	10.6	18.3
1995	4,644,278	3.58%	10.3	18.2
1994	4,480,208	3.61%	9.9	18.1
1993	4,320,872	3.63%	9.5	18.0
1992	4,166,700	3.63%	9.2	17.8
1991	4,021,837	3.44%	8.9	17.7
1990	3,896,480	2.89%	8.6	17.6
1989	3,796,078	2.33%	8.4	17.6
1988	3,711,880	2.16%	8.2	17.5
1987	3,632,542	2.17%	8.0	17.5
1986	3,554,793	2.16%	7.8	17.4
1985	3,478,936	2.15%	7.7	17.3
1984	3,405,198	2.13%	7.5	17.3
1983	3,333,633	2.12%	7.4	17.2
1982	3,264,291	2.09%	7.2	17.1
1981	3,197,019	2.08%	7.1	17.0
1980	3,131,512	2.06%	6.9	16.9
1979	3,067,342	2.08%	6.8	16.7
1978	3,003,714	2.12%	6.6	16.5
1977	2,940,327	2.15%	6.5	16.4
1976	2,877,327	2.18%	6.4	16.2
1975	2,814,820	2.21%	6.2	16.1
1974	2,752,671	2.25%	6.1	16.1
1973	2,690,629	2.31%	5.9	16.0
1972	2,628,432	2.37%	5.8	16.0
1971	2,566,422	2.40%	5.7	16.1
1970	2,505,628	2.39%	5.5	16.2
1969	2,446,926	2.35%	5.4	16.3
1968	2,390,804	2.29%	5.3	16.4
1967	2,337,532	2.21%	5.2	16.6
1966	2,285,774	2.26%	5.0	16.7
1965	2,235,820	2.15%	4.9	16.8
1964	2,188,326	2.14%	4.8	16.9
1963	2,141,376	2.20%	4.7	17.1
1962	2,093,919	2.29%	4.6	17.2
1961	2,046,127	2.33%	4.5	17.3
1960	1,995,110	2.72%	4.4	17.4
1959	1,941,504	2.73%	4.3	17.6
1958	1,888,964	2.76%	4.2	17.7
1957	1,837,503	2.76%	4.1	17.7
1956	1,787,439	2.76%	3.9	17.8
1955	1,739,219	2.71%	3.8	17.8
1954	1,693,504	2.62%	3.7	17.8
1953	1,650,228	2.56%	3.6	17.7
1952	1,609,537	2.43%	3.6	17.6
1951	1,574,922	1.91%	3.5	17.5
1950	1,543,429	2.13%	3.4	17.3

Year	Population	Growth	Density /km²	Median age
2027	11,131,272	1.64%	24.6	23.2
2028	11,312,894	1.60%	25.0	23.5
2029	11,492,804	1.56%	25.4	23.7
2030	11,671,424	1.53%	25.8	23.9
2031	11,848,222	1.48%	26.2	24.2
2032	12,023,128	1.45%	26.5	24.4
2033	12,196,646	1.42%	26.9	24.6
2034	12,369,256	1.40%	27.3	24.9
2035	12,540,603	1.36%	27.7	25.1
2036	12,710,682	1.34%	28.1	25.3
2037	12,879,740	1.30%	28.4	25.6
2038	13,047,124	1.28%	28.8	25.8
2039	13,212,670	1.25%	29.2	26.0
2040	13,376,160	1.22%	29.5	26.3
2041	13,537,371	1.18%	29.9	26.5
2042	13,696,147	1.15%	30.2	26.7
2043	13,853,418	1.13%	30.6	27.0
2044	14,009,933	1.11%	30.9	27.2
2045	14,165,588	1.09%	31.3	27.4
2046	14,318,892	1.06%	31.6	27.6
2047	14,469,222	1.03%	32.0	27.9
2048	14,617,371	1.01%	32.3	28.1
2049	14,763,603	0.98%	32.6	28.3
2050	14,906,590	0.94%	32.9	28.5
2051	15,046,436	0.92%	33.2	28.8
2052	15,184,632	0.90%	33.5	29.0
2053	15,319,642	0.87%	33.8	29.2
2054	15,452,110	0.86%	34.1	29.4
2055	15,581,644	0.81%	34.4	29.6
2056	15,707,079	0.79%	34.7	29.8
2057	15,830,065	0.77%	35.0	30.0
2058	15,950,474	0.74%	35.2	30.2
2059	16,068,350	0.73%	35.5	30.4
2060	16,184,460	0.71%	35.7	30.6
2061	16,296,837	0.67%	36.0	30.8
2062	16,404,572	0.65%	36.2	30.9
2063	16,509,326	0.63%	36.5	31.1
2064	16,612,730	0.62%	36.7	31.3
2065	16,715,200	0.61%	36.9	31.5
2066	16,815,379	0.59%	37.1	31.7
2067	16,912,869	0.57%	37.3	31.8
2068	17,007,234	0.54%	37.6	32.0
2069	17,097,902	0.52%	37.8	32.2
2070	17,185,172	0.50%	37.9	32.4
2071	17,270,186	0.49%	38.1	32.5
2072	17,352,715	0.47%	38.3	32.7
2073	17,431,213	0.44%	38.5	32.9
2074	17,506,195	0.42%	38.7	33.0
2075	17,578,920	0.41%	38.8	33.2
2076	17,648,972	0.39%	39.0	33.4
2077	17,716,806	0.38%	39.1	33.5
2078	17,783,709	0.37%	39.3	33.7
2079	17,848,303	0.35%	39.4	33.9
2080	17,911,988	0.36%	39.6	34.0
2081	17,973,524	0.33%	39.7	34.2
2082	18,030,231	0.30%	39.8	34.4
2083	18,085,347	0.30%	39.9	34.5
2084	18,138,341	0.28%	40.1	34.7
2085	18,188,717	0.28%	40.2	34.9
2086	18,237,649	0.26%	40.3	35.0
2087	18,283,631	0.24%	40.4	35.2
2088	18,326,294	0.23%	40.5	35.3
2089	18,366,274	0.21%	40.6	35.5
2090	18,405,692	0.22%	40.6	35.6
2091	18,443,490	0.19%	40.7	35.8
2092	18,477,305	0.17%	40.8	36.0
2093	18,507,776	0.15%	40.9	36.1
2094	18,535,522	0.14%	40.9	36.3
2095	18,560,524	0.13%	41.0	36.4
2096	18,582,665	0.11%	41.0	36.6
2097	18,601,774	0.09%	41.1	36.7
2098	18,617,208	0.07%	41.1	36.9
2099	18,630,031	0.06%	41.1	37.0
2100	18,640,541	0.05%	41.2	37.2

States & provinces of Papua New Guinea by population

#	State / province	Population	Share
1	Morobe	674,810	6.2%
2	Eastern Highlands	579,825	5.3%
3	Southern Highlands	510,245	4.7%
4	Madang	493,906	4.5%
5	East Sepik	450,530	4.1%
6	Enga	432,045	3.9%
7	Western Highlands	362,580	3.3%
8	East New Britain	328,369	3.0%
9	National Capital District	307,643	2.8%
10	Chimbu	291,848	2.7%
11	Milne Bay	276,512	2.5%
12	West New Britain	264,264	2.4%
13	Western	201,351	1.8%
14	New Ireland	194,067	1.8%
15	Northern	186,309	1.7%
16	Sandaun	185,741	1.7%
17	Central	183,983	1.7%
18	Gulf	158,197	1.4%
19	North Solomons	132,886	1.2%
20	Manus	60,485	0.6%

State populations: GeoNames (latest official figures, reference dates vary by country).

Biggest cities in Papua New Guinea

#	City	Region	Population
1	Port Moresby capital	National Capital	283,733
2	Lae	Morobe Province	76,255
3	Arawa	Bougainville	40,266
4	Mount Hagen	Western Highlands Province	33,623
5	Popondetta	Oro Province	28,198
6	Madang	Madang Province	27,419
7	Kokopo	East New Britain Province	26,273
8	Mendi	Southern Highlands Province	26,252
9	Kimbe	West New Britain Province	18,847
10	Goroka	Eastern Highlands Province	18,503
11	Wewak	East Sepik Province	18,230
12	Bulolo	Morobe Province	16,042
13	Daru	Western Province	15,214

FAQ

What is the population of Papua New Guinea in 2026?

The population of Papua New Guinea is 10,947,848 in 2026, according to UN World Population Prospects 2024 (medium variant).

What is the biggest city in Papua New Guinea?

Port Moresby is the biggest city in Papua New Guinea with 283,733 inhabitants and it is also the capital.

Is the population of Papua New Guinea growing or shrinking?

The population of Papua New Guinea is growing at 1.68% per year.

Neighboring countries

🇮🇩 Indonesia

Sources

Country data: United Nations World Population Prospects 2024, medium variant (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Retrieved 2026-07-06.
City and state data: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Retrieved 2026-07-06.

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