Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region was 29.8% in 2023. ◆ Volatile
Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region in Papua New Guinea, 1969–2023
Source: Staff estimates, World Bank (WB). Measured in % of total merchandise exports.
Analysis
The most recent figure for merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region in Papua New Guinea is 29.8%, measured in 2023.
That represents a change of up 0.4% on the previous year and up 29.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region in Papua New Guinea peaked at 32.3% in 2019 and was at its lowest, 0.4%, in 1969.
That places Papua New Guinea 55th out of 203 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region in Papua New Guinea, year by year
| Year | % of total merchandise exports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1969 | 0.4% | — |
| 1970 | 0.6% | +61.2% |
| 1971 | 1.0% | +61.7% |
| 1972 | 1.0% | +0.7% |
| 1973 | 0.4% | -55.1% |
| 1974 | 0.4% | -1.5% |
| 1975 | 1.2% | +182.9% |
| 1976 | 2.0% | +56.9% |
| 1977 | 2.4% | +20.5% |
| 1978 | 3.4% | +45.1% |
| 1979 | 3.0% | -13.8% |
| 1980 | 2.4% | -17.1% |
| 1981 | 2.7% | +11.4% |
| 1982 | 4.7% | +70.8% |
| 1983 | 5.5% | +18.0% |
| 1984 | 4.6% | -15.8% |
| 1985 | 3.0% | -34.1% |
| 1986 | 2.3% | -25.4% |
| 1987 | 5.2% | +128.5% |
| 1988 | 6.6% | +26.7% |
| 1989 | 3.1% | -52.2% |
| 1990 | 5.2% | +66.0% |
| 1991 | 6.5% | +24.7% |
| 1992 | 4.8% | -26.0% |
| 1993 | 12.7% | +164.5% |
| 1994 | 10.1% | -20.8% |
| 1995 | 7.7% | -23.5% |
| 1996 | 10.8% | +40.1% |
| 1997 | 11.2% | +3.3% |
| 1998 | 12.8% | +14.9% |
| 1999 | 11.2% | -12.5% |
| 2000 | 5.2% | -53.5% |
| 2001 | 10.5% | +100.3% |
| 2002 | 9.5% | -9.7% |
| 2003 | 12.3% | +29.5% |
| 2004 | 15.1% | +23.3% |
| 2005 | 15.4% | +1.7% |
| 2006 | 15.1% | -1.9% |
| 2007 | 14.9% | -1.5% |
| 2008 | 14.6% | -1.9% |
| 2009 | 14.9% | +2.1% |
| 2010 | 14.7% | -1.3% |
| 2011 | 14.1% | -3.8% |
| 2012 | 18.2% | +28.9% |
| 2013 | 23.1% | +26.7% |
| 2014 | 22.0% | -4.6% |
| 2015 | 21.9% | -0.3% |
| 2016 | 21.2% | -3.6% |
| 2017 | 20.7% | -2.3% |
| 2018 | 25.7% | +24.5% |
| 2019 | 32.3% | +25.5% |
| 2020 | 27.9% | -13.6% |
| 2021 | 29.2% | +4.5% |
| 2022 | 29.7% | +1.8% |
| 2023 | 29.8% | +0.4% |
Papua New Guinea compared with similar countries
- Papua New Guinea's 29.8% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 26.9%, 1.1× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Papua New Guinea's 29.8% is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 35.9%, 83% of the median. (36 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region in Papua New Guinea changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | +182.9% | 0.4% | 1.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 1 |
| 1970s | 1.5% | 0.4% | 3.4% | 10 |
| 1980s | 4.0% | 2.3% | 6.6% | 10 |
| 1990s | 9.3% | 4.8% | 12.8% | 10 |
| 2000s | 12.7% | 5.2% | 15.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 21.4% | 14.1% | 32.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 29.2% | 27.9% | 29.8% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea
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 merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region in Papua New Guinea?
- Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region in Papua New Guinea was 29.8% in 2023, according to Staff estimates, World Bank (WB).
- What is the highest merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The highest recorded value was 32.3% in 2019.
- What is the lowest merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.4% in 1969.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank for merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 55th out of 203 countries with data for 2023.
- Is merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 29.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Papua New Guinea data come from?
- The figures come from Staff estimates, World Bank (WB), published as part of Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region (% of total merchandise exports). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 55 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Merchandise exports to low- and middle-income economies within region are the sum of merchandise exports from the reporting economy to other low- and middle-income economies in the same World Bank region as a percentage of total merchandise exports by the economy. Data are computed only if at least half of the economies in the partner country group had non-missing data. No figures are shown for high-income economies, because they are a separate category in the World Bank classification of economies.