Rural population in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: Rural population was 9.06 million in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Rural population in Papua New Guinea, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
Papua New Guinea recorded 9.06 million for rural population in 2025. That is the highest value across all 66 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.3% on the previous year and up 19.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in Papua New Guinea peaked at 9.06 million in 2025 and was at its lowest, 1.93 million, in 1960.
That places Papua New Guinea 62nd out of 215 countries with data for 2025, 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
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 2.09 million | 1.93 million | 2.23 million | 10 |
| 1970s | 2.44 million | 2.25 million | 2.67 million | 10 |
| 1980s | 2.96 million | 2.72 million | 3.22 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 3.93 million | 3.30 million | 4.64 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 5.60 million | 4.80 million | 6.44 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 7.48 million | 6.64 million | 8.27 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 8.75 million | 8.42 million | 9.06 million | 6 |
Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea
More agriculture & rural data for Papua New Guinea
- Agricultural raw materials exports 2.6% (2023)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.5% (2023)
- Rural population 84.2% (2025)
- Rural population growth 1.3% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 17.0% (2024)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 5.24 billion current US$ (2024)
- Land under cereal production 3,910 hectares (2023)
- Cereal yield 4,787 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal production 18,720 metric tons (2023)
- Fertilizer consumption 123.66 kilograms per hectare of arable land (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in Papua New Guinea?
- Rural population in Papua New Guinea was 9.06 million in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The highest recorded value was 9.06 million in 2025.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.93 million in 1960.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank for rural population?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 62nd out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 19.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- 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. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 66 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
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. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.