Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is a resource-rich but largely underdeveloped economy, with a small modern sector based on mining and energy coexisting alongside a vast subsistence economy in which most of the population still lives.

Mineral and gas exports, including a major liquefied-natural-gas project, drive the formal economy, but rugged terrain, weak infrastructure, and law-and-order problems constrain broader development.

Key Sectors

The economy is led by mining (gold and copper) and liquefied natural gas, alongside agriculture (coffee, palm oil, cocoa) and forestry, while most people farm at subsistence level.