Overview: Papua New Guinea is richly endowed with natural resources, but exploitation has been hampered by the rugged terrain and the high cost of developing an infrastructure. The economy is based on agriculture and mining. Agriculture provides a subsistence livelihood for more than half the population. Mining of numerous deposits, including copper and gold, accounted for about 60% of export earnings in 1987.

GDP: $2.93 billion, per capita $745; real growth rate 2.9% (1987 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5% (1988 est.)

Unemployment rate: 5% (1988)

Budget: revenues $962 million; expenditures $998 million, including capital expenditures of $169 million (1988)

Exports: $1.17 billion (f.o.b., 1987); @m5commodities--gold, copper ore, coffee, copra, palm oil, timber, lobster; @m5partners--FRG, Japan, Australia, UK, Spain, US

Imports: $1.10 billion (f.o.b., 1987); @m5commodities--machinery and transport equipment, fuels, food, chemicals, consumer goods; @m5partners--Australia, Singapore, Japan, US, New Zealand, UK

External debt: $2.5 billion (December 1988)

Industrial production: growth rate NA%

Electricity: 364,000 kW capacity; 1,300 million kWh produced, 360 kWh per capita (1988)

Industries: copra crushing, oil palm processing, plywood processing, wood chip production, gold, silver, copper, construction, tourism

Agriculture: copra, cocoa, coffee, rubber, oil palm, tea

Aid: Australia, commitments (1970-85) $4.5 billion; US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-87), $222 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-85) $6 million

Currency: kina (plural--kina); 1 kina (K) = 100 toea

Exchange rates: kina (K) per US$1--0.8235 (January 1989), 0.8667 (1988), 0.9081 (1987), 0.9713 (1986), 1.0000 (1985)

Fiscal year: calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Papua New Guinea on this page is re-published from the 1989 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Papua New Guinea Economy 1989 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Papua New Guinea Economy 1989 should be addressed to the CIA.