Papua New Guinea Demographics Profile 2009

Population

6,057,263 (July 2009 est.)

Age structure

0-14 years: 36.9% (male 1,137,796/female 1,099,365)
15-64 years: 59% (male 1,836,272/female 1,735,298)
65 years and over: 4.1% (male 114,789/female 133,743) (2009 est.)

Median age

total: 21.7 years
male: 21.8 years
female: 21.6 years (2009 est.)

Population growth rate

2.069% (2009 est.)

Birth rate

27.55 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Death rate

6.86 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)

Net migration rate

NA (2009 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 12% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 1.9% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female
total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 45.23 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 49.17 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 41.09 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 66.34 years
male: 64.08 years
female: 68.72 years (2009 est.)

Total fertility rate

3.62 children born/woman (2009 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

1.5% (2007 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

54,000 (2007 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths

fewer than 1,000 (2007 est.)

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria (2009)

Nationality

noun: Papua New Guinean(s)
adjective: Papua New Guinean

Ethnic groups

Melanesian, Papuan, Negrito, Micronesian, Polynesian

Religions

Roman Catholic 27%, Evangelical Lutheran 19.5%, United Church 11.5%, Seventh-Day Adventist 10%, Pentecostal 8.6%, Evangelical Alliance 5.2%, Anglican 3.2%, Baptist 2.5%, other Protestant 8.9%, Bahai 0.3%, indigenous beliefs and other 3.3% (2000 census)

Languages

Tok Pisin, English, and Hiri Motu are official languages; some 860 indigenous languages spoken (over one-tenth of the world's total)
note: Tok Pisin, a creole language, is widely used and understood; English is spoken by 1%-2%; Hiri Motu is spoken by less than 2%

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 57.3%
male: 63.4%
female: 50.9% (2000 census)

People - note

the indigenous population of Papua New Guinea is one of the most heterogeneous in the world; PNG has several thousand separate communities, most with only a few hundred people; divided by language, customs, and tradition, some of these communities have engaged in low-scale tribal conflict with their neighbors for millennia; the advent of modern weapons and modern migrants into urban areas has greatly magnified the impact of this lawlessness

Education expenditures

NA