Rural population growth in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: Rural population growth was 1.3% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Rural population growth in Papua New Guinea, 1961–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in annual %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for rural population growth in Papua New Guinea is 1.3%, measured in 2025.
The figure is down 5.0% on the previous year and down 46.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population growth in Papua New Guinea peaked at 4.0% in 1995 and was at its lowest, 0.9%, in 1969.
Papua New Guinea ranks 42nd of 209 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 65 years of available data.
Rural population growth in Papua New Guinea, year by year
| Year | annual % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 2.2% | — |
| 1962 | 1.9% | -11.2% |
| 1963 | 1.8% | -4.9% |
| 1964 | 1.7% | -5.3% |
| 1965 | 1.7% | -2.6% |
| 1966 | 1.7% | +2.1% |
| 1967 | 1.4% | -16.6% |
| 1968 | 1.0% | -28.6% |
| 1969 | 0.9% | -10.4% |
| 1970 | 1.1% | +15.1% |
| 1971 | 1.4% | +37.1% |
| 1972 | 1.7% | +18.6% |
| 1973 | 1.7% | -0.8% |
| 1974 | 1.7% | +2.3% |
| 1975 | 1.9% | +6.7% |
| 1976 | 2.1% | +10.5% |
| 1977 | 2.2% | +5.9% |
| 1978 | 2.2% | -0.7% |
| 1979 | 2.1% | -1.6% |
| 1980 | 2.1% | -1.8% |
| 1981 | 2.0% | -3.1% |
| 1982 | 1.9% | -6.2% |
| 1983 | 1.8% | -4.6% |
| 1984 | 1.8% | -2.9% |
| 1985 | 1.7% | -1.2% |
| 1986 | 1.7% | +0.5% |
| 1987 | 1.8% | +2.0% |
| 1988 | 1.8% | +3.4% |
| 1989 | 2.0% | +9.9% |
| 1990 | 2.5% | +24.8% |
| 1991 | 3.2% | +27.9% |
| 1992 | 3.7% | +15.1% |
| 1993 | 3.9% | +4.9% |
| 1994 | 3.9% | +1.2% |
| 1995 | 4.0% | +0.2% |
| 1996 | 3.9% | -0.4% |
| 1997 | 3.9% | -1.0% |
| 1998 | 3.8% | -2.5% |
| 1999 | 3.7% | -3.0% |
| 2000 | 3.6% | -3.7% |
| 2001 | 3.4% | -3.3% |
| 2002 | 3.4% | -1.3% |
| 2003 | 3.4% | -1.2% |
| 2004 | 3.3% | -1.4% |
| 2005 | 3.3% | -1.5% |
| 2006 | 3.2% | -1.4% |
| 2007 | 3.2% | -1.5% |
| 2008 | 3.1% | -1.4% |
| 2009 | 3.1% | -1.5% |
| 2010 | 3.0% | -1.6% |
| 2011 | 2.9% | -3.6% |
| 2012 | 2.8% | -5.1% |
| 2013 | 2.7% | -4.3% |
| 2014 | 2.5% | -4.2% |
| 2015 | 2.4% | -4.4% |
| 2016 | 2.3% | -4.6% |
| 2017 | 2.2% | -4.7% |
| 2018 | 2.1% | -4.6% |
| 2019 | 2.0% | -4.7% |
| 2020 | 1.8% | -8.0% |
| 2021 | 1.7% | -9.3% |
| 2022 | 1.5% | -8.3% |
| 2023 | 1.4% | -6.7% |
| 2024 | 1.4% | -4.2% |
| 2025 | 1.3% | -5.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1.6% | 0.9% | 2.2% | 9 |
| 1970s | 1.8% | 1.1% | 2.2% | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.9% | 1.7% | 2.1% | 10 |
| 1990s | 3.7% | 2.5% | 4.0% | 10 |
| 2000s | 3.3% | 3.1% | 3.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.5% | 2.0% | 3.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.5% | 1.3% | 1.8% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea
More agriculture & rural data for Papua New Guinea
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 0.3264 % change on previous year (2024)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.1702 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 495.76 current US$ per person (2024)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 1.31 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0003 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.8422 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 17.0% (2024)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 17.0% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 2.6% (2023)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.5% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population growth in Papua New Guinea?
- Rural population growth in Papua New Guinea was 1.3% in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population growth recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The highest recorded value was 4.0% in 1995.
- What is the lowest rural population growth recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.9% in 1969.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank for rural population growth?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 42nd out of 209 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population growth rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 46.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Papua New Guinea data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Rural population growth (annual %). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 65 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Annual rural population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear rural population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage. Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population.