01Key Takeaways
- Papua New Guinea imported $6.17 billion worth of goods in 2023, up 6.1% from $5.82 billion in 2022, the fourth straight year of growth.
- Australia supplied 29.9% of imports ($1.84 billion), the same country that ranks as PNG's top export destination too, a relationship built on decades of formal trade agreements.
- Mineral fuels topped import categories at 17.0% ($1.05 billion), narrowly ahead of machinery at 16.2% ($997.41 million).
- Ships, boats and floating structures made the top ten import categories at 3.2% ($198.41 million), part of a broader machinery-and-equipment mix tied to PNG's resource sector.
025-Year Trend
| Year | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $5.0B | $4.1B | $4.5B | $5.8B | $6.2B |
03Top Import Markets (2023)
| Rank | Partner | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia | $1.8B | 29.9% |
| 2 | China | $1.2B | 18.7% |
| 3 | Singapore | $992.9M | 16.1% |
| 4 | Malaysia | $439.5M | 7.1% |
| 5 | Indonesia | $248.6M | 4.0% |
| 6 | Japan | $224.6M | 3.6% |
| 7 | Thailand | $174.8M | 2.8% |
| 8 | North Korea | $144.7M | 2.3% |
| 9 | Other Asia, nes | $133.8M | 2.2% |
| 10 | New Zealand | $126.4M | 2.0% |
04Top Import Categories (2023)
| Rank | Category | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mineral Fuels, Mineral Oils and Products of their Distillation; Bituminous Substances; Mineral Waxes | $1.1B | 17.0% |
| 2 | Nuclear Reactors, Boilers, Machinery and Mechanical Appliances; Parts thereof | $997.4M | 16.2% |
| 3 | Electrical Machinery and Equipment and parts thereof; Sound Recorders and Reproducers, Television Image and Sound Recorders and Reproducers, and Parts and Accessories of such Articles | $492.0M | 8.0% |
| 4 | Vehicles other than Railway or Tramway Rolling-Stock, and parts and accessories thereof | $446.9M | 7.2% |
| 5 | Cereals | $328.8M | 5.3% |
| 6 | Articles of Iron or Steel | $269.7M | 4.4% |
| 7 | Ships, Boats and Floating Structures | $198.4M | 3.2% |
| 8 | Meat and Edible Meat Offal | $179.4M | 2.9% |
| 9 | Plastics and Articles thereof | $150.1M | 2.4% |
| 10 | Miscellaneous Edible Preparations | $117.2M | 1.9% |
05Trade Partner Map
06Analysis
Imports Have Climbed for Four Straight Years
Papua New Guinea imported $6.17 billion worth of goods in 2023, up 6.1% from $5.82 billion in 2022. That marks the fourth consecutive year of growth and the highest total anywhere in this five-year dataset for the country.
Imports stood at $4.97 billion in 2019, then fell to $4.09 billion in 2020 as the pandemic disrupted global trade. Recovery began the following year, with the total climbing to $4.50 billion in 2021, then $5.82 billion in 2022 and $6.17 billion in 2023. Unlike the export side of Papua New Guinea's trade, which peaked in 2022 and pulled back the year after, imports have kept rising in every year since the pandemic low. That is an unusual pattern within this dataset. Export and import totals for the same country often move together, rising and falling on the same broad economic cycle. Here they have diverged, with imports still climbing well after exports topped out.
Australia Is PNG's Largest Supplier, Just as It Is the Largest Buyer
Australia supplied 29.9% of Papua New Guinea's imports in 2023, worth $1.84 billion, comfortably ahead of every other partner. That is the same country that ranks as PNG's top export destination as well, covered in the companion export data for this country. Australia administered Papua New Guinea as a territory until independence in 1975. The two countries built formal trade agreements afterward, including a free trade arrangement in 1977 and an expanded economic partnership signed in 2020. That decades-long relationship shows up clearly on both sides of PNG's trade ledger. Few countries in this dataset show such a close mirror between their top export partner and their top import partner. The underlying reason here is straightforward. Proximity, shared history and decades of institutional ties tend to keep trade flowing in both directions between the same two countries, year after year.
China ranked second at 18.7% ($1.16 billion), and Singapore followed at 16.1% ($992.92 million), a share that likely reflects Singapore's position as a major regional shipping and trans-shipment hub rather than goods made in Singapore itself. Together, those three suppliers made up 64.7% of total import value. Malaysia added 7.1% ($439.55 million), and Indonesia contributed 4.0% ($248.58 million). Japan added 3.6% ($224.63 million), and Thailand contributed 2.8% ($174.79 million). The Dem. People's Rep. of Korea ranked eighth at 2.3% ($144.68 million). A regional catch-all category covering smaller Asian markets not tracked individually added 2.2% ($133.83 million), and New Zealand closed out the top ten at 2.0% ($126.40 million).
Fuel and Machinery Top an Investment-Heavy Import List
Mineral fuels led every import category in 2023, worth $1.05 billion, or 17.0% of the total. Machinery and mechanical appliances followed closely at 16.2% ($997.41 million), and electrical machinery added 8.0% ($492.00 million). Vehicles contributed 7.2% ($446.94 million), and cereals brought in 5.3% ($328.77 million). Iron and steel articles added 4.4% ($269.72 million), and ships, boats and floating structures contributed 3.2% ($198.41 million). Meat added 2.9% ($179.36 million), plastics contributed 2.4% ($150.12 million), and miscellaneous edible preparations closed out the top ten at 1.9% ($117.16 million).
Machinery, electrical equipment, vehicles, iron and steel articles and ships together cover a substantial share of this list, a combination that points toward continued capital investment rather than simple household consumption. Heavy equipment of this kind typically feeds construction, mining and energy projects, the same sectors that dominate the export side of Papua New Guinea's trade. Cereals and meat, by contrast, reflect a more basic reality: staple foods that the country does not produce enough of on its own to meet demand. That split between capital goods and food staples is common among resource-driven economies. Export earnings from gas and gold fund the equipment needed to keep those projects running, while a smaller but steady stream of imported food fills gaps that local agriculture cannot cover on its own.
Taken together, Papua New Guinea's 2023 import data describes a country still investing heavily in its resource and infrastructure base, leaning on Australia above all else for supply, with regional logistics hubs like Singapore filling in a meaningful share of the rest. Read alongside the export data for the same country, the two pages describe a single economy. It ships gas and gold out through a handful of major partners, and brings the equipment and staples needed to keep running back in through many of those same partners.