01Key Takeaways
- Papua New Guinea exported $9.93 billion worth of goods in 2023, down 9.1% from $10.93 billion in 2022.
- Mineral fuels, driven by liquefied natural gas, led every export category at 42.6% of the total ($4.24 billion).
- Precious metals, pearls and stones, dominated by gold, ranked second among export categories at 19.9% ($1.97 billion).
- Australia was the top export partner at 22.0% ($2.19 billion), narrowly ahead of Japan at 20.8% and China at 19.5%, with the top three together making up 62.3% of total export value.
025-Year Trend
| Year | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $10.2B | $10.4B | $9.7B | $10.9B | $9.9B |
03Top Export Markets (2023)
| Rank | Partner | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia | $2.2B | 22.0% |
| 2 | Japan | $2.1B | 20.8% |
| 3 | China | $1.9B | 19.5% |
| 4 | Other Asia, nes | $730.8M | 7.4% |
| 5 | North Korea | $431.9M | 4.3% |
| 6 | Singapore | $337.5M | 3.4% |
| 7 | United Kingdom | $254.4M | 2.6% |
| 8 | India | $250.5M | 2.5% |
| 9 | Netherlands | $240.2M | 2.4% |
| 10 | Malaysia | $217.8M | 2.2% |
04Top Export Categories (2023)
| Rank | Category | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mineral Fuels, Mineral Oils and Products of their Distillation; Bituminous Substances; Mineral Waxes | $4.2B | 42.6% |
| 2 | Natural or Cultured Pearls, Precious or Semi-Precious Stones, Precious Metals, Metals Clad with Precious Metal, and Articles thereof; Imitation Jewellery; Coin | $2.0B | 19.9% |
| 3 | Ores, Slag and Ash | $957.4M | 9.6% |
| 4 | Animal or Vegetable Fats and Oils and their Cleavage Products; Prepared Edible Fats; Animal or Vegetable Waxes | $915.8M | 9.2% |
| 5 | Fish and Crustaceans, Molluscs and other Aquatic Invertebrates | $460.0M | 4.6% |
| 6 | Nickel and Articles thereof | $309.8M | 3.1% |
| 7 | Wood and Articles of Wood; Wood Charcoal | $272.4M | 2.7% |
| 8 | Coffee, Tea, Mate and Spices | $238.4M | 2.4% |
| 9 | Preparations of Meat, of Fish or of Crustaceans, Molluscs or other Aquatic Invertebrates | $184.6M | 1.9% |
| 10 | Cocoa and Cocoa Preparations | $121.4M | 1.2% |
05Trade Partner Map
06Analysis
Exports Pulled Back After a 2022 Peak
Papua New Guinea exported $9.93 billion worth of goods in 2023, down 9.1% from $10.93 billion in 2022. That 2022 total was the high point of the past five years, and the pullback that followed brought the total roughly back in line with where it stood earlier in the decade.
Exports held remarkably steady through the first two years of this dataset, moving from $10.20 billion in 2019 to $10.37 billion in 2020, a period when many exporting economies saw sharp declines instead. The total then eased to $9.65 billion in 2021 before jumping to the $10.93 billion peak in 2022 and settling back to $9.93 billion in 2023. Compared to some of the more volatile countries in this dataset, Papua New Guinea's export swings look relatively contained, staying within a fairly narrow band across five years. A resource economy built on long-term LNG supply contracts and established mining operations tends to move that way. Output and shipping schedules for gas and gold change gradually, not overnight, which limits how sharply a single year can swing in either direction compared with commodities that trade on shorter cycles.
LNG and Gold Anchor a Resource-Heavy Export Economy
Mineral fuels led every export category in 2023, worth $4.24 billion, or 42.6% of the total. PNG LNG began shipping liquefied natural gas in 2014, and the project has grown into the backbone of the country's energy export earnings since. Precious metals, pearls and stones, a category dominated in practice by gold, ranked second at 19.9% ($1.97 billion). The Porgera mine alone ranks among the world's top ten producing gold mines, and it operates alongside other large-scale gold operations elsewhere in the country.
Ores, slag and ash, largely copper concentrate, added 9.6% ($957.37 million), and animal, vegetable and microbial fats and oils, palm oil chief among them, contributed 9.2% ($915.78 million). Fish and crustaceans brought in 4.6% ($460.05 million), and nickel and articles thereof added 3.1% ($309.76 million). Wood and articles of wood contributed 2.7% ($272.42 million), and coffee, tea and spices added 2.4% ($238.40 million). Meat, fish and related preparations brought in 1.9% ($184.62 million), and cocoa closed out the top ten at 1.2% ($121.38 million).
Four extractive categories, fuel, precious metals, ores and nickel, together dominate this list, alongside a smaller but genuine agricultural export base built around palm oil, fish, coffee and cocoa. Few economies in this dataset draw so much export value from what comes directly out of the ground or the sea. The agricultural categories, palm oil, coffee and cocoa among them, still represent real income for growers and processors across the country, even if their combined share looks modest next to a single LNG project or a top-tier gold mine.
Australia, Japan and China Each Buy About a Fifth of PNG's Exports
Australia was the top export destination in 2023, absorbing 22.0% of the total ($2.19 billion). Japan followed closely at 20.8% ($2.07 billion), and China took 19.5% ($1.94 billion). Those three buyers, remarkably close to each other in size, made up 62.3% of total export value between them.
A regional catch-all category covering smaller Asian markets not tracked individually added 7.4% ($730.82 million). The Dem. People's Rep. of Korea ranked fifth at 4.3% ($431.89 million). Singapore followed at 3.4% ($337.54 million), and the United Kingdom added 2.6% ($254.44 million). India contributed 2.5% ($250.53 million), and the Netherlands added 2.4% ($240.22 million). Malaysia closed out the top ten at 2.2% ($217.78 million).
Unlike many single-buyer-dominated countries elsewhere in this dataset, Papua New Guinea's top three markets sit within a few percentage points of each other. That balance likely reflects the mix of products on offer as much as anything else. LNG cargoes, gold shipments and mineral concentrates each tend to follow their own separate set of buyers, spreading the country's exports across multiple large economies instead of concentrating around any single one. That structure gives Papua New Guinea a measure of insurance that more concentrated exporters elsewhere in this dataset do not have. A downturn in demand from any single buyer is less likely to move the country's total export figure by itself.
Taken together, Papua New Guinea's 2023 export data describes a resource economy anchored by LNG and gold, selling to a genuinely diversified set of major Asian and Pacific buyers rather than depending heavily on any one of them.