An overview of trade in Papua New Guinea, including its key imports and exports and major trading partners.

Papau New Guinea is a member of the Word Trade Organisation (WTO) and Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). It is also a signatory to a number of trade agreements, including the Pacific Islands Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA), an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between PNG and the European union (EU) and the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) free trade agreement.

Exports

PNG is the Pacific’s largest exporter. According to the Bank of Papua New Guinea, the estimated value of PNG’s exports rose from US$34.566 billion in 2018 to US$38.52 billion in 2019.

According to the PNG Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the extractive industries accounted for 89 per cent of PNG’s exports in 2018 and 94 per cent in 2019.

The biggest exports in 2019 came from liquefied natural gas (K14 billion), gold (K10.4 billion), copper (K2.24 billion) and agricultural products (K3.4 billion). The biggest agricultural export is palm oil (K581 million).

According to the Bank of PNG, PNG’s trade account recorded a surplus of K14.3 billion over the year to September 2019, compared to a deficit of K9.2 billion over the same period in 2018 (when earthquakes caused considerable economic harm).

According to figures from the Bank of PNG, in 2019 three countries dominated exports: China (23 per cent), Japan (23 per cent) and Australia (21 per cent). Singapore accounted for 12 per cent.

Imports

According to provisional Bank of Papua New Guinea figures, in 2019 the value of PNG’s imports was K12.4 billion kina, an increase of 6.8 per cent on the previous year.

In 2010, PNG’s largest import market was Australia, which provided 50 per cent of all PNG’s imports, followed by Singapore (13 per cent), China (8 per cent) and the United States (7.7 per cent).

The four largest categories of imports in 2015 were miscellaneous manufactured articles (28.6 per cent of total import value), machinery and transport equipment (16.5 per cent), manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials (11.8 per cent) and food and live animals (12.4 per cent).