International tourism, number of arrivals in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: International tourism, number of arrivals was 39,000 in 2020. ▲ Rising
International tourism, number of arrivals in Papua New Guinea, 2008–2020
Source: Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism.
Analysis
In 2020, international tourism, number of arrivals in Papua New Guinea stood at 39,000. That is the lowest value across all 13 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 81.5% on the previous year and down 73.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, international tourism, number of arrivals in Papua New Guinea peaked at 211,000 in 2019 and was at its lowest, 39,000, in 2020.
That places Papua New Guinea 187th out of 201 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 13 years of available data.
International tourism, number of arrivals in Papua New Guinea, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 120,000 | — |
| 2009 | 126,000 | +5.0% |
| 2010 | 146,000 | +15.9% |
| 2011 | 165,000 | +13.0% |
| 2012 | 175,000 | +6.1% |
| 2013 | 182,000 | +4.0% |
| 2014 | 191,000 | +4.9% |
| 2015 | 199,000 | +4.2% |
| 2016 | 198,000 | -0.5% |
| 2017 | 182,000 | -8.1% |
| 2018 | 195,000 | +7.1% |
| 2019 | 211,000 | +8.2% |
| 2020 | 39,000 | -81.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 123,000 | 120,000 | 126,000 | 2 |
| 2010s | 184,400 | 146,000 | 211,000 | 10 |
| 2020s | 39,000 | 39,000 | 39,000 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea
- 184 Liechtenstein 58,400 compare
- 185 Guinea-Bissau 52,400 compare
- 186 Bermuda 51,400 compare
- 188 Sao Tome and Principe 33,400 compare
- 189 New Caledonia 31,000 compare
- 190 Bhutan 29,800 compare
More private sector data for Papua New Guinea
- Merchandise trade 62.0% (2025)
- Food imports 16.5% (2023)
- Manufactures imports 64.7% (2023)
- Merchandise imports 4.62 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 19.7% (2023)
- Manufactures exports 1.8% (2023)
- Merchandise exports 15.54 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 1,444 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.4782 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 11.21 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is international tourism, number of arrivals in Papua New Guinea?
- International tourism, number of arrivals in Papua New Guinea was 39,000 in 2020, according to Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism.
- What is the highest international tourism, number of arrivals recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The highest recorded value was 211,000 in 2019.
- What is the lowest international tourism, number of arrivals recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The lowest recorded value was 39,000 in 2020.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank for international tourism, number of arrivals?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 187th out of 201 countries with data for 2020.
- Is international tourism, number of arrivals rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 73.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Papua New Guinea data come from?
- The figures come from Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism, published as part of International tourism, number of arrivals. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 13 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
International inbound tourists (overnight visitors) are the number of tourists who travel to a country other than that in which they have their usual residence, but outside their usual environment, for a period not exceeding 12 months and whose main purpose in visiting is other than an activity remunerated from within the country visited. When data on number of tourists are not available, the number of visitors, which includes tourists, same-day visitors, cruise passengers, and crew members, is shown instead. Sources and collection methods for arrivals differ across countries. In some cases data are from border statistics (police, immigration, and the like) and supplemented by border surveys. In other cases data are from tourism accommodation establishments. For some countries number of arrivals is limited to arrivals by air and for others to arrivals staying in hotels. Some countries include arrivals of nationals residing abroad while others do not. Caution should thus be used in comparing arrivals across countries. The data on inbound tourists refer to the number of arrivals, not to the number of people traveling. Thus a person who makes several trips to a country during a given period is counted each time as a new arrival.