The latest officially reported population of Papua New Guinea was 10,576,502 in 2024 vs 64,007,187 people in South Africa in 2024. In 2025, based on the adjusted UN estimation, the current Papua New Guinea's population is 10,911,445 people compared to 65,314,246 in South Africa.
Population statistics:
- South Africa's population is 5.99 times bigger than Papua New Guinea's.
- Papua New Guinea is ranked the 90th most populous country in the world, while South Africa is the 24th.
- The countries together account for 0.92% of the world: 0.13% for Papua New Guinea vs 0.79% for South Africa.
- For the last 10 years, Papua New Guinea has had an average growth rate of +2.23% per year vs +1.44% in South Africa.
- Since 2005, the population of Papua New Guinea has increased from 6.54M people to 10.9M (66.9% growth), while South Africa has grown from 49.5M to 65.3M (32% growth).
- Papua New Guinea is projected to reach its peak in 2100 at 18.6M people compared to the peak of 94.3M people in 2100 for South Africa.
Papua New Guinea vs South Africa: live population counter
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Current population |
10911445
|
65314246
|
| Population rank | 90/197 | 24/197 |
| Percent of world population | 0.13% | 0.79% |
| One net population change |
2.81 minutes
|
39.7 seconds
|
| One birth every |
2.06 minutes
|
26.6 seconds
|
| One death every |
7.76 minutes
|
54 seconds
|
| One migration net change every |
12.4 hours
|
3.15 minutes
|
| Annual migration change | -707 | +166,972 |
| Daily growth/decline | +512 | +2,178 |
| Annual growth/decline | +186,867 | +794,803 |
| Annual growth/decline rate | +1.8% | +1.26% |
| Population growth rate rank | 61/197 | 87/197 |
Papua New Guinea and South Africa: population history and growth rate by year chart
| Year | Population | Growth rate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1960 | 1,995,110 | 16,440,172 | - | - |
| 1961 | 2,046,127 | 16,908,035 | 2.56% | 2.85% |
| 1962 | 2,093,919 | 17,418,522 | 2.34% | 3.02% |
| 1963 | 2,141,376 | 17,954,564 | 2.27% | 3.08% |
| 1964 | 2,188,325 | 18,511,361 | 2.19% | 3.1% |
| 1965 | 2,235,820 | 19,089,380 | 2.17% | 3.12% |
| 1966 | 2,285,774 | 19,690,087 | 2.23% | 3.15% |
| 1967 | 2,337,532 | 20,314,066 | 2.26% | 3.17% |
| 1968 | 2,390,803 | 20,957,287 | 2.28% | 3.17% |
| 1969 | 2,446,927 | 21,614,676 | 2.35% | 3.14% |
| 1970 | 2,505,628 | 22,279,984 | 2.4% | 3.08% |
| 1971 | 2,566,421 | 22,942,143 | 2.43% | 2.97% |
| 1972 | 2,628,432 | 23,609,456 | 2.42% | 2.91% |
| 1973 | 2,690,629 | 24,294,263 | 2.37% | 2.9% |
| 1974 | 2,752,671 | 24,989,108 | 2.31% | 2.86% |
| 1975 | 2,814,820 | 25,690,940 | 2.26% | 2.81% |
| 1976 | 2,877,327 | 26,395,450 | 2.22% | 2.74% |
| 1977 | 2,940,327 | 27,118,952 | 2.19% | 2.74% |
| 1978 | 3,003,714 | 27,869,507 | 2.16% | 2.77% |
| 1979 | 3,067,341 | 28,634,162 | 2.12% | 2.74% |
| 1980 | 3,131,512 | 29,518,857 | 2.09% | 3.09% |
| 1981 | 3,197,019 | 30,541,044 | 2.09% | 3.46% |
| 1982 | 3,264,291 | 31,615,339 | 2.1% | 3.52% |
| 1983 | 3,333,633 | 32,739,304 | 2.12% | 3.56% |
| 1984 | 3,405,198 | 33,892,788 | 2.15% | 3.52% |
| 1985 | 3,478,936 | 35,042,093 | 2.17% | 3.39% |
| 1986 | 3,554,793 | 36,180,515 | 2.18% | 3.25% |
| 1987 | 3,632,543 | 37,326,190 | 2.19% | 3.17% |
| 1988 | 3,711,880 | 38,480,649 | 2.18% | 3.09% |
| 1989 | 3,796,078 | 39,628,575 | 2.27% | 2.98% |
| 1990 | 3,896,481 | 40,746,268 | 2.64% | 2.82% |
| 1991 | 4,021,837 | 41,687,898 | 3.22% | 2.31% |
| 1992 | 4,166,699 | 42,443,509 | 3.6% | 1.81% |
| 1993 | 4,320,872 | 43,297,156 | 3.7% | 2.01% |
| 1994 | 4,480,208 | 44,004,139 | 3.69% | 1.63% |
| 1995 | 4,644,278 | 44,541,554 | 3.66% | 1.22% |
| 1996 | 4,813,361 | 45,123,018 | 3.64% | 1.31% |
| 1997 | 4,987,883 | 45,666,838 | 3.63% | 1.21% |
| 1998 | 5,166,390 | 46,223,880 | 3.58% | 1.22% |
| 1999 | 5,349,333 | 46,730,335 | 3.54% | 1.1% |
| 2000 | 5,537,064 | 47,159,719 | 3.51% | 0.92% |
| 2001 | 5,728,435 | 47,566,800 | 3.46% | 0.86% |
| 2002 | 5,924,003 | 48,019,415 | 3.41% | 0.95% |
| 2003 | 6,123,997 | 48,500,348 | 3.38% | 1% |
| 2004 | 6,328,041 | 48,991,421 | 3.33% | 1.01% |
| 2005 | 6,535,905 | 49,490,033 | 3.28% | 1.02% |
| 2006 | 6,747,720 | 49,998,277 | 3.24% | 1.03% |
| 2007 | 6,963,345 | 50,528,584 | 3.2% | 1.06% |
| 2008 | 7,183,002 | 51,114,599 | 3.15% | 1.16% |
| 2009 | 7,406,438 | 51,728,516 | 3.11% | 1.2% |
| 2010 | 7,633,523 | 52,344,051 | 3.07% | 1.19% |
| 2011 | 7,859,346 | 52,995,205 | 2.96% | 1.24% |
| 2012 | 8,081,390 | 53,782,567 | 2.83% | 1.49% |
| 2013 | 8,302,698 | 54,678,791 | 2.74% | 1.67% |
| 2014 | 8,523,441 | 55,594,838 | 2.66% | 1.68% |
| 2015 | 8,743,246 | 56,723,537 | 2.58% | 2.03% |
| 2016 | 8,961,718 | 57,259,551 | 2.5% | 0.94% |
| 2017 | 9,178,714 | 57,635,162 | 2.42% | 0.66% |
| 2018 | 9,394,513 | 58,613,001 | 2.35% | 1.7% |
| 2019 | 9,609,010 | 59,587,885 | 2.28% | 1.66% |
| 2020 | 9,815,746 | 60,562,381 | 2.15% | 1.64% |
| 2021 | 10,012,896 | 61,502,603 | 2.01% | 1.55% |
| 2022 | 10,203,169 | 62,378,410 | 1.9% | 1.42% |
| 2023 | 10,389,635 | 63,212,384 | 1.83% | 1.34% |
| 2024 | 10,576,502 | 64,007,187 | 1.8% | 1.26% |
| 2025 | 10,762,813 | 64,747,317 | 1.76% | 1.16% |
| 2026 | 10,947,845 | 65,453,086 | 1.72% | 1.09% |
| 2027 | 11,131,268 | 66,143,018 | 1.68% | 1.05% |
| 2028 | 11,312,895 | 66,830,384 | 1.63% | 1.04% |
| 2029 | 11,492,799 | 67,506,850 | 1.59% | 1.01% |
| 2030 | 11,671,420 | 68,161,357 | 1.55% | 0.97% |
| 2031 | 11,848,221 | 68,798,574 | 1.51% | 0.93% |
| 2032 | 12,023,121 | 69,426,441 | 1.48% | 0.91% |
| 2033 | 12,196,639 | 70,040,484 | 1.44% | 0.88% |
| 2034 | 12,369,248 | 70,641,572 | 1.42% | 0.86% |
| 2035 | 12,540,596 | 71,234,749 | 1.39% | 0.84% |
| 2036 | 12,710,682 | 71,816,372 | 1.36% | 0.82% |
| 2037 | 12,879,737 | 72,387,807 | 1.33% | 0.8% |
| 2038 | 13,047,122 | 72,949,611 | 1.3% | 0.78% |
| 2039 | 13,212,668 | 73,496,152 | 1.27% | 0.75% |
| 2040 | 13,376,156 | 74,035,615 | 1.24% | 0.73% |
| 2041 | 13,537,361 | 74,575,444 | 1.21% | 0.73% |
| 2042 | 13,696,139 | 75,111,899 | 1.17% | 0.72% |
| 2043 | 13,853,410 | 75,641,512 | 1.15% | 0.71% |
| 2044 | 14,009,926 | 76,164,461 | 1.13% | 0.69% |
| 2045 | 14,165,578 | 76,681,448 | 1.11% | 0.68% |
| 2046 | 14,318,889 | 77,199,542 | 1.08% | 0.68% |
| 2047 | 14,469,210 | 77,716,650 | 1.05% | 0.67% |
| 2048 | 14,617,364 | 78,215,323 | 1.02% | 0.64% |
| 2049 | 14,763,600 | 78,699,584 | 1% | 0.62% |
| 2050 | 14,906,584 | 79,177,329 | 0.97% | 0.61% |
From 2005 to 2015, the population of Papua New Guinea increased by 2,207,341 people (a 33.8% growth), while South Africa gained 7,233,504 people (a 14.6% growth).
For the next 10 years, from 2015 to 2025, Papua New Guinea gained 2,168,199 (a 24.8% growth), while South Africa's population increased by 8,590,709 (a 15.1% growth).
Papua New Guinea was ranked 100th most populous country in 2005 and is 90th in 2025. South Africa was ranked 24th in 2005 and still ranked 24th now.
The UN's World Population Prospects forecasts that with changing growth rate trends in 25 years (in 2050) Papua New Guinea's population will grow by 36.6% to 14,906,584 people with a rank change from 90th to 85th. The population of South Africa will increase by 21.2% to 79,177,329 people and rank change from 24th to 23rd.
Biggest cities by population
|
|
|
|---|---|
| City | Population |
| Port Moresby | 317K |
| Lae | 101K |
|
|
|
|---|---|
| City | Population |
| Johannesburg | 4.43M |
| Cape Town | 3.78M |
| Soweto | 1.27M |
| Pietermaritzburg | 839K |
| Pretoria | 742K |
| Durban | 595K |
| Rustenburg | 550K |
| Randburg | 337K |
| Port Elizabeth | 312K |
| East London | 267K |
Compare countries by 7 more topics
Population differences between Papua New Guinea and South Africa
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy | 66.4 years | 66.5 years |
| Average age | 26.7 years | 31.1 years |
| Median age | 23.6 years | 29.5 years |
| Male:Female ratio | 51.4:48.6 | 48.7:51.3 |
| Fertility rate | 3.1 births per woman | 2.22 births per woman |
| Population density | 60.5 ppl/mi² | 136.7 ppl/mi² |
Population map with other countries
Population
Growth rate visualization in other countries
Growth rate
Relevant pages:
By topic
vs
comparisons:
Population comparisons