East Asia & Pacific
A life that begins in Papua New Guinea
One in every 513 babies in the world is born here: about 261,440 a year, 0.5 a minute.
- Population
- 10,762,817
- Births a year
- 261,440
- Life expectancy
- 66.5
- Children who die before 5 (per 1,000)
- 39.4
Health and survival
Life expectancy, women (years)
69.2
World: 75.9
Life expectancy, men (years)
63.8
World: 71
Babies who die before 1 (per 1,000)
31.3
World: 27.8
Children who die before 5 (per 1,000)
39.4
World: 37.6
Mothers who die in childbirth (per 100,000 births)
189
World: 189
Adults living with HIV (%)
1.5
World: 0.7
Adults who smoke (%)
39
World: 20
Alcohol per adult (litres a year)
1.1
World: 4.6
Road deaths (per 100,000)
12.6
World: 17
Homicides (per 100,000)
9.3
World: 4.7
Family and school
Children per woman
3.07
World: 2.85
Women married before 18 (%)
27
World: 18
Children in primary school (%)
74
World: 89
Secondary school enrolment (%)
52
World: 81
Higher education enrolment (%)
2
World: 48
Children aged 7–14 who work (%)
≈ 11.5
World: 11.9
Money and work
Income per person (PPP)
$4,456
World: $21,797
Income inequality (Gini, 0–100)
42
World: 34
Living on under $3 a day (%)
52.2
World: 9.9
Unemployment (%)
2.6
World: 5.1
Jobs in farming (%)
37
World: 27
Women in the workforce (%)
51
World: 48
Health costs paid out of pocket (%)
9
World: 37
Home and connection
Living in cities (%)
16
World: 58
Access to electricity (%)
43
World: 92
Safe drinking water (%)
53
World: 91
Internet users (%)
19
World: 72
Peace and wellbeing
Life satisfaction (0–10)
≈ 6.07
World: 5.4
Deaths in armed conflict (per 100,000 a year)
0.62
World: 2.43
Refugees abroad (% of population)
0.01
World: 0.34
≈ Estimated from the region
From 1960 to 2050
How life here has changed, and where UN projections expect it to go. The dashed part is a projection.
1960: 46.1 → 2026: 66.5 → 2050: 69.3
World
1960: 198 → 2026: 38 → 2050: 20
World
1960: 6 → 2026: 3 → 2050: 2.4
World
1960: 3 → 2026: 16 → 2050: 32
World
Nobody chooses where they are born
In the game, the country is drawn by the real share of births: Papua New Guinea comes up about once in every 513 lives.
Be born nowOther countries in East Asia & Pacific
All 178 countries →Sources: World Bank (WDI), UN World Population Prospects, Our World in Data, World Happiness Report, UCDP and PRIO. Updated 2026-10-18.