8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Oceania / Melanesia

Born in Papua New Guinea

About 1 in 517 people born in 2023 started life in Papua New Guinea. A boy can expect to live 64 years and a girl 69, up from 37 and 42 in 1950. Fewer than half of people live in cities, and 52% have basic drinking water.

1 in 517
odds of being born here
255,300 births · Ranked 79th of 230
64 / 69
years of life, boys / girls
Was 37 / 42 in 1950
$1,758
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 178th of 203 · extrapolated
15%
live in a city
Most live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 27 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 266 in every 1,000 births to 40.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

020406080195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0100200300195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth63.7 years for boys, 69.1 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 539.8 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year68,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people0.1World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles52%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV1.4%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year647 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year147 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 5.7 children on average in 1950. Now it is 3.1.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman3.10UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth29.3 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 47 and the poorest fifth 5.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2009
5%Poorest fifth
10%Second
15%Middle
22%Fourth
47%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $1,758 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth47% / 5% (2009)World Bank PIP
Unemployment2.6% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises2.3% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person1.9% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming38% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed79% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment52% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Port Moresby, with 283,733 people.

15%
live in cities
21%
have electricity at home
52%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Port Moresby283,733
Lae76,255
Arawa40,266
Mount Hagen33,623
Popondetta28,198
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Tok Pisin71%
English50%
Hiri Motu2%
Tok Pisin, English, Hiri Motu is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

National Capital283,733
Morobe Province92,297
Bougainville40,266
Western Highlands Province33,623
Oro Province28,198
Madang Province27,419
East New Britain Province26,273
Southern Highlands Province26,252
West New Britain Province18,847
Eastern Highlands Province18,503

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

All 12 regions
  • National Capital283,733
  • Morobe Province92,297
  • Bougainville40,266
  • Western Highlands Province33,623
  • Oro Province28,198
  • Madang Province27,419
  • East New Britain Province26,273
  • Southern Highlands Province26,252
  • West New Britain Province18,847
  • Eastern Highlands Province18,503
  • East Sepik Province18,230
  • Western Province15,214

People on the move

About 0.3% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Australia, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Australia34,316
Solomon Islands538
Vanuatu69
Residents born abroad0.3% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 0.3% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostAustralia (34,316), Solomon Islands (538), Vanuatu (69)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $3.9 million a year (2024)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

2% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

2%
of older people receive a pension (2022)
0%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2020)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 2024700Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 195022; the deadliest, in 2018, killed about 145 people (magnitude 7.5)NOAA NCEI
Deaths in organized violence890 between 1990 and 2024UCDP

Now live it.

Born in Papua New Guinea, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Papua New Guinea

Elsewhere in Oceania

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences