Distillers Country guides / Palau
Palau
A one-page guide to Palau for the spirits trade: the country, its people, its economy and how it drinks.
At a glance
- Capital
- Ngerulmud (Melekeok State, Babeldaob)
- Official languages
- Palauan, English
- Currency
- United States dollar (USD)
- Time zone
- UTC+9
- Area
- 460 km²
People
- Population
- 17,663 (2025)
- Population growth
- -0.2% a year
- Living in towns and cities
- 79.3%
- Aged under 15
- 17.9%
- Aged 65 and over
- 11.8%
- Life expectancy
- 69.4 years
Economy
- GDP
- US$345.0 million (2025)
- GDP per person
- US$19,532 (2025)
- Economic growth
- 6.3% (2025)
- Inflation
- -0.4% (2025)
Climate
Tropical rainforest; mean annual temperature about 28 C with heavy rainfall all year.
Alcohol
- Alcohol is
- Legal
- Legal drinking age
- 21; minors may enter bars only with a parent or guardian
Sources: World Bank (population, economy and demographics), WHO Global Health Observatory (alcohol per adult and drinking mix); World Bank indicators (population, area, GDP, GDP per capita, growth, inflation); WHO Global Health Observatory, indicator SA_0000001688; UN Comtrade public API (HS 2208); Wikipedia: Legal drinking age; Wikipedia: Palau. Figures are the latest each source publishes; the year is shown beside each one.