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Exporting guide to

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is in the southwestern Pacific and includes the eastern half of New Guinea and its offshore islands. The PNG mainland has around 600 islands with a total land area of 452,860 square kilometers. Over 800 languages are spoken. It has a population of approximately 8.4 million giving UK companies access to a good consumer market. Papua New Guinea is largely underdeveloped. It is dominated by the agricultural, forestry, and fishing sector and the minerals and energy extraction sector.

£24.0 million total UK exports to Papua New Guinea for the four quarters to the end of Q4 2022

(Source: ONS UK total trade: all countries, seasonally adjusted
Last updated: April 2023)

174th largest UK export market

(Source: ONS UK total trade: all countries, seasonally adjusted
Last updated: April 2023)

less than 0.1% of total UK exports for the four quarters to the end of Q4 2022

(Source: ONS UK total trade: all countries, seasonally adjusted
Last updated: April 2023)

Related services

Strong service market

Papua New Guinea has a strong services market the top goods imported into the country from the rest of the world are business services, transport, travel, construction, insurance and pension services.

Top five UK goods exported to Papua New Guinea, in the four quarters to the end of Q4 2022

Value (£million)
Mechanical power generators (intermediate) 2.0
General industrial machinery (intermediate) 1.3
Miscellaneous metal manufactures 1.1
General industrial machinery (capital) 0.6
Telecoms & sound equipment (capital) 0.4

Source: ONS Trade in goods: country-by-commodity exports
Last updated: April 2023
Download the latest trade and investment factsheet for Papua New Guinea.

Total import value (into the UK from Papua New Guinea) and export value (from the UK into Papua New Guinea) over time

Year Imports (£million) Exports (£million) Total trade (£million)
2016 110.0 71.0 181.0
2017 134.0 54.0 188.0
2018 107.0 35.0 142.0
2019 128.0 35.0 163.0
2020 117.0 20.0 137.0
2021 126.0 35.0 161.0
2022 205.0 24.0 229.0

Source: ONS UK total trade: all countries, seasonally adjusted
Last updated: April 2023
Total trade is the sum of all exports and imports over the same time period.
Download the latest trade and investment factsheet for Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea: at a glance

Economic growth

4.5%

Actual figure (IMF, 2019)
The UK is 1.7% (IMF, 2019, actual figure)

GDP per capita

$2,878

Actual figure (IMF, 2019)
The UK is $43,121 (IMF, 2019, actual figure)

Currency

Papua New Guinean kina

Business language

English is widely spoken

Time zone

GMT +10

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