The number of foreign workers coming to Papua New Guinea is growing, with an annual net gain of up to 34,000 since 2007. Carmen Voigt-Graf reports that on recent growth rates, the Philippines will soon overtake Australia as the main source of foreign workers.

Partly as a result of PNG’s resources boom, the number of foreign workers has increased greatly in the last 20 years. In all but two years between 1996 and 2013 arrivals have outnumbered departures.

The largest gain was in 2011 (34,806 people), while the latest year for which data is available, 2013, the net gain was 20,000, based on analysing arrival and departure cards released by the National Statistics Office.

The National Research Institute’s Carmen Voigt-Graf

The bulk of arrivals are visitors or temporary entrants, rather than returning residents. Since 2002, the total number of visitors/temporary entrants has more than tripled (from 53,762 to 168,212 in 2013) while the number of returning visitors has only doubled (from 38,572 in 2002 to 77,362 in 2013).

‘Employment has become the most important reason for visitors arriving in PNG, overtaking business arrivals…’

Males make up more than 70% of total arrivals. There is also an age imbalance, with those between 30 and 59 years dominating population flows-indicating men in working age groups are attracted to job opportunities in PNG.

Employment has become the most important reason for visitors arriving in PNG, overtaking business arrivals in 2012. In fact, there was a five-fold increase in the total employment arrivals between 1996 (13,726) and 2013 (70,008).

The enduring links between PNG and Australia are strong. Australia (80,537) was the main source of arrivals in 2013.

But change is afoot.

Asia is becoming a more important source region for visitors to PNG, at the expense not of Australia, but of other regions. And while arrivals from industrialised countries come for business reason, arrivals from Asia come for work.

In 2012, The Philippines had the largest percentage of employment-related visitor arrivals to PNG (82%), followed by India (76%).

The Philippines is the fastest growing source country, which has replaced the US and Japan. More than 22,000 arrivals came from the Philippines in 2013, a six-fold increase over the previous 15 years. That represents 41% of all arrivals from Asia.

Where foreign workers coming to work in PNG are coming from.

In 2012, The Philippines had the largest percentage of employment-related visitor arrivals to PNG (82%), followed by India (76%).

The Philippines was already the second most important source country for arrivals for employment purposes in 2000. It has retained this rank, but at the recent rate of growth, The Philippines will soon overtake Australia as the main source country of new foreign employees.

The number of visitor arrivals from China and Hong Kong grew even more rapidly between 1999 and 2013, recording a more than seven-fold increase, albeit from a much lower base.

Carmen Voigt-Graf is a Fellow at the Development Policy Centre based at the National Research Institute in Port Moresby. Her original research can be found here.