How many people live in Papua New Guinea right now?
Right now, according to UN estimates
11,005,600
| Today | In 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Births | · | · |
| Deaths | · | · |
| Growth | · | · |
2026 figures
- Rank by population
- 89 of 237
- Share of world population
- 0.13%
- Median age
- 23.0 years
- Children per woman
- 2.99
- Life expectancy
- 66.5 years
- People per km²
- 24
According to UN estimates, about 11.0 million people live in Papua New Guinea right now. It ranks 89th out of 237 countries and territories by population, between Tajikistan and Cuba, and it is home to one in every 756 people on the planet.
Every day, about 700 people are born there and about 200 die. Overall, the population grows by about 500 people a day (1.68% a year).
In 1950, about 1.5 million people lived there. Today there are 7.1 times as many. The UN expects it to keep growing for the rest of the century. By 2050 it is projected to have about 14.9 million people (35% more than today), and by 2100 about 18.6 million.
Half of its people are younger than 23 (worldwide, 31). Women have an average of 2.99 children each, above the 2.1 needed for each generation to replace the one before, and life expectancy at birth is 67 years (worldwide, 74). There are 24 people per square kilometer.
UN estimates up to today and projections (medium variant) from today onward.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the population of Papua New Guinea in 2026?
- Papua New Guinea has about 11.0 million people right now, according to the UN's World Population Prospects 2024. On July 1, 2026, there were 10,947,848.
- How many people are born each day in Papua New Guinea?
- About 700 a day (257,000 a year). About 200 people die each day (72,700 a year).
- Is the population of Papua New Guinea growing?
- Yes: it grows by 1.68% a year, or about 184,000 people.
- What will the population of Papua New Guinea be in 2050?
- According to the UN projection (medium variant), about 14.9 million.
- Why doesn't this figure match the country's official statistics?
- The UN estimates the population of every country with the same method, based on censuses, surveys and registers, and projects it year by year. Each national statistics office uses its own censuses and registers, which may be more up to date or count foreign residents differently. That is why the figures can differ slightly.
Countries with a similar population
- United Arab Emirates 11,631,665
- Honduras 11,240,655
- Tajikistan 11,038,344
- Cuba 10,878,086
- Sweden 10,713,760
- Czechia 10,520,787
More countries in Oceania
- Australia 27,305,123
- New Zealand 5,298,030
- Fiji 938,561
- Solomon Islands 864,514
- Vanuatu 344,891
- New Caledonia 298,674
- French Polynesia 283,264
- Samoa 220,922
- Guam 170,550
- Kiribati 139,061
- Micronesia 114,346
- Tonga 103,166
All countries and territories →
Where these figures come from
The figures are estimates from the United Nations Population Division, published in World Population Prospects 2024 (medium variant): the reference used by international organizations and by most population counters. The UN estimates how many people there are on July 1 of each year and how many are born, die and migrate; between one date and the next, this counter spreads the change continuously, second by second.
It is not a real-time headcount: nobody can count every person in a country at once. It is the best available estimate, and it may differ slightly from the figures of each country's statistics office, which use their own censuses and population registers.