Papua New Guinea’s population has
surpassed the 10 million mark, according to the final
figures from the 2024 Population Census released by the
country’s statistics office.
The PNG census began on
16 June 2024 and concluded in late October, more than three
months after its original deadline. The process was marred
by a host of administrative and logistical issues.
A
PNG academic said in October 2024 that the 2024 Census,
which included only six questions, failed to meet the United
Nations benchmark standards for reliable census
data.
“Without timely and accurate census data, it
will be impossible to create a reliable common roll or
implement the planned biometric voting system by 2027 for
the national election, which will require even greater
coordination and efficiency,” Michael Kabuni, a PhD student
at the Australian National University and a former lecturer
at the University of PNG wrote at the time.
The PNG
National Statistical Office reported that there were
10,185,363 people in the country on census
night.
According to the 2024 National Population
Census Final Figures booklet, this represents a 40
percent increase compared with the previous population count
in 2011, when the population was 7,275,324.
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The report
stated the average population annual growth rate since the
2011 Census was 2.6 percent.
“Annual growth rate since
the 2011 Census is higher (3.1 percent) but is likely to be
artificially inflated because of non-demographic factors
such as higher undercounting in 2000 and improvements to the
2011 and 2024 Census coverage methods.”
The census
figures also reveal that there are more males (5,336,546)
than females (4,848,546), representing approximately 110
males for every 100 females.
The average household in
PNG was five people.
“Since the first official census
in 1980, five years after independence, there have been an
additional 7.2 million people added from 3.0 million in the
last 44 years.”
The census found that, of the 22
provinces that make up PNG, Morobe recorded the highest
population with almost a million people, followed by the
Eastern Highlands province with 800,072 people.
Of
PNG’s four regions, Highlands account for 35.7 percent of
the total population, followed by Momase (27 percent), then
the Southern and Islands
regions.
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