Statizoid

Population in Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea: Population was 10.39 million people in 2023. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2023)
10.39 million people
Change on year
up 1.8%
World rank
93rd
of 238 countries
All-time high
10.39 million people
in 2023
All-time low
544,050 people
in 1922
Years of data
241
1000–2023

Population in Papua New Guinea, 1000–2023

02.0M4.0M6.0M8.0M10.0M100015112023

Source: HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in people.

Analysis

Papua New Guinea recorded 10.39 million people for population in 2023. That is the highest value across all 241 years on record.

The figure is up 1.8% on the previous year and up 25.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, population in Papua New Guinea peaked at 10.39 million people in 2023 and was at its lowest, 544,050 people, in 1922.

That places Papua New Guinea 93rd out of 238 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1000s 890,178 people 890,178 people 890,178 people 1
1100s 932,567 people 932,567 people 932,567 people 1
1200s 976,975 people 976,975 people 976,975 people 1
1300s 1.02 million people 1.02 million people 1.02 million people 1
1400s 1.07 million people 1.07 million people 1.07 million people 1
1500s 1.12 million people 1.12 million people 1.12 million people 1
1600s 1.18 million people 1.18 million people 1.18 million people 1
1700s 1.23 million people 1.23 million people 1.23 million people 1
1710s 1.24 million people 1.24 million people 1.24 million people 1
1720s 1.24 million people 1.24 million people 1.24 million people 1
1730s 1.25 million people 1.25 million people 1.25 million people 1
1740s 1.25 million people 1.25 million people 1.25 million people 1
1750s 1.25 million people 1.25 million people 1.25 million people 1
1760s 1.26 million people 1.26 million people 1.26 million people 1
1770s 1.26 million people 1.26 million people 1.26 million people 1
1780s 1.27 million people 1.27 million people 1.27 million people 1
1790s 1.27 million people 1.27 million people 1.27 million people 1
1800s 754,894 people 754,894 people 754,894 people 10
1810s 754,900 people 754,894 people 754,951 people 10
1820s 756,202 people 755,065 people 757,465 people 10
1830s 759,041 people 757,751 people 760,332 people 10
1840s 761,913 people 760,619 people 763,209 people 10
1850s 770,443 people 763,498 people 777,400 people 10
1860s 785,943 people 778,950 people 792,948 people 10
1870s 801,549 people 794,509 people 808,603 people 10
1880s 817,263 people 810,174 people 824,365 people 10
1890s 833,084 people 825,947 people 840,234 people 10
1900s 848,203 people 841,827 people 854,609 people 10
1910s 700,377 people 569,561 people 833,850 people 10
1920s 557,264 people 544,050 people 577,957 people 10
1930s 733,782 people 592,614 people 907,052 people 10
1940s 1.21 million people 953,522 people 1.49 million people 10
1950s 1.73 million people 1.54 million people 1.94 million people 10
1960s 2.22 million people 2.00 million people 2.45 million people 10
1970s 2.78 million people 2.51 million people 3.07 million people 10
1980s 3.45 million people 3.13 million people 3.80 million people 10
1990s 4.58 million people 3.90 million people 5.35 million people 10
2000s 6.45 million people 5.54 million people 7.41 million people 10
2010s 8.63 million people 7.63 million people 9.61 million people 10
2020s 10.11 million people 9.82 million people 10.39 million people 4

Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea

  1. 90 Sweden 10.55 million people compare
  2. 91 Portugal 10.43 million people compare
  3. 92 Tajikistan 10.39 million people compare
  4. 94 Azerbaijan 10.32 million people compare
  5. 95 Greece 10.24 million people compare
  6. 96 Hungary 9.69 million people compare

See the full ranking of 239 places →

More population data for Papua New Guinea

All data for Papua New Guinea →

Frequently asked questions

What is population in Papua New Guinea?
Population in Papua New Guinea was 10.39 million people in 2023, according to HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest population recorded in Papua New Guinea?
The highest recorded value was 10.39 million people in 2023.
What is the lowest population recorded in Papua New Guinea?
The lowest recorded value was 544,050 people in 1922.
How does Papua New Guinea rank for population?
Papua New Guinea ranks 93rd out of 238 countries with data for 2023.
Is population rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
Over the last ten years it is up 25.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Papua New Guinea data come from?
The figures come from HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Population. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 241 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Population
Unit
people
Source
HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
239 places, 51,002 data points, 1000–2023
Last refreshed

Population by country, available from 10,000 BCE to 2023, based on data and estimates from different sources.