🇵🇬Average income in Papua New Guinea

Key numbers

Papua New Guinea among its neighbours

What this number is, and is not

GNI per capita is Papua New Guinea's gross national income divided by its population. National income is everything residents earn in a year: wages, company profits, rent, interest, plus net income from abroad. Dividing by every resident, including children and pensioners, gives $4,840. The PPP conversion prices it in international dollars, so a dollar here buys roughly what a dollar buys in the United States.

It is not a median salary, and it is not take-home pay. It is before tax, it includes income that never reaches a payslip, and it is an average, which the highest earners pull upwards. The typical worker in Papua New Guinea earns less than $4,840. How much less depends on inequality and on how many residents are of working age, neither of which this one number shows.

Papua New Guinea is below the world figure of $25,517 and has 4% of the income per person of Singapore, the top of our list at $135,750.

Questions

What is the average income in Papua New Guinea?

$4,840 per person per year, measured as GNI per capita at purchasing power parity (World Bank, 2025). Spread over twelve months that is about $403. It is the country's total income divided by every resident, including children and retirees, so it is a national average rather than a wage.

Is $4,840 what a typical worker in Papua New Guinea earns?

No. The figure is before tax, counts company profits and rents as well as wages, and is averaged over the whole population. The median worker takes home less than this in every country, because a small number of high earners pull the average up. For an individual's position in Papua New Guinea's income distribution, use the income test on this site.

How does Papua New Guinea compare to Vanuatu?

Vanuatu ranks 153rd at $4,970, $130 more per person than Papua New Guinea. Against the world figure of $25,517, Papua New Guinea is 0.2 times it and Vanuatu is 0.2 times it.