Distillers Papua New Guinea
A one-page guide to Papua New Guinea for the spirits trade: the country, its people, its economy and how it drinks.
At a glance
- Capital
- Port Moresby
- Official languages
- English, Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu, PNG Sign Language
- Currency
- Kina (PGK)
- Time zone
- UTC+10 (Bougainville UTC+11)
- Area
- 462,840 km²
People
- Population
- 10.8 million (2025)
- Population growth
- 1.7% a year
- Living in towns and cities
- 15.8%
- Aged under 15
- 33.1%
- Aged 65 and over
- 3.6%
- Life expectancy
- 66.3 years
Economy
- GDP
- US$32.5 billion (2025)
- GDP per person
- US$3,020 (2025)
- Economic growth
- 5.6% (2025)
- Inflation
- 4.4% (2025)
Climate
Tropical, varying with terrain: coasts average highs near 32 C, highlands about 26 C, high mountains about 18 C with frosts above 2,100 m. Port Moresby gets under 1,000 mm a year; wet season December-March with occasional cyclones.
Alcohol
- Alcohol is
- Legal
- Legal drinking age
- 18; licence holders must check customers are 18 or older
- Alcohol per adult a year
- 0.96 litres of pure alcohol (2022-2024 average (WHO estimate for 2024))
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: Papua New Guinea; Ramu Agri Industries spirits - Business Advantage PNG (2014); Business Advantage PNG - SP Brewery (23 Jun 2026); Business Advantage PNG - Ramu Agri Industries spirits (23 Jul 2014). Figures are the latest each source publishes; the year is shown beside each one.