Papua New Guinea: Agricultural raw materials exports (% of merchandise exports)

Key figures

Since 1971 it is down 9.66 percentage points from 12.3% in 1971. The World Bank has no value for 27 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2023, Papua New Guinea's agricultural raw materials exports (% of merchandise exports) fell 0.33 percentage points on 2022 (from 2.97% to 2.64%).

Across the 19 yearly changes before that (1972 to 2022), the average change was +0.08 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.24 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 3.74 percentage points in 2004 and the biggest yearly fall was 4.61 percentage points in 1973. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2023, Papua New Guinea had the 11th highest value of the 24 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Papua New Guinea in the 2023 ranking

• Eswatini — 7th of 24: 6.17%
• Gabon — 8th of 24: 3.86%
• Mongolia — 9th of 24: 2.71%
• Congo, Rep. — 11th of 24: 2.42%
• Viet Nam — 12th of 24: 1.9%
• West Bank and Gaza — 13th of 24: 0.76%

What this measures

Agricultural raw materials comprise section 2 of SITC Rev. 3 (crude materials, inedible, except fuels) excluding divisions 22 (oil-seeds and oleaginous fruits), 27 (crude fertilizers and minerals excluding coal, petroleum, and precious stones), and 28 (metalliferous ores and scrap). This indicator is expressed as a percentage of merchandise exports which is comprised of goods whose economic ownership is changed between a resident and a non-resident and that are not included in the following specific categories: goods under merchanting, non-monetary gold, and parts of travel, construction, and government goods and services n.i.e.

Limitations: Previous editions contained data based on the SITC revision 1. Data for earlier years in previous editions may differ because of the change in methodology. Concordance tables are available to convert data reported in one system to another.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 26 values

Agricultural raw materials exports (% of merchandise exports) in nearby economies

• Australia — 1.69% (2025)
• Brunei Darussalam — 0.00578% (2025)
• Cambodia — 2.62% (2024)
• China — 0.34% (2025)
• Fiji — 6.2% (2025)
• French Polynesia — 0.46% (2025)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 0.02% (2025)
• Indonesia — 3.68% (2025)
• Japan

More private sector & trade data for Papua New Guinea

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 62.04% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$4.62 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$15.54 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports to high-income economies (% of total merchandise exports) — 69.25% (2023)
• Merchandise exports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise exports) — 0.000374% (2023)
• Merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current US$) — US$10.86 billion (2023)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 58.93% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Papua New Guinea's agricultural raw materials exports (% of merchandise exports)?

2.64% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1971?

It is down 9.66 percentage points from 12.3% in 1971. The highest value was 12.3% in 1971 and the lowest 2.32% in 2000.

How does Papua New Guinea rank?

11th highest of 24 economies with data for 2023.

Is the latest change in agricultural raw materials exports (% of merchandise exports) unusual for Papua New Guinea?

In 2023, Papua New Guinea's agricultural raw materials exports (% of merchandise exports) fell 0.33 percentage points on 2022 (from 2.97% to 2.64%). Across the 19 yearly changes before that (1972 to 2022), the average change was +0.08 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.24 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TX.VAL.AGRI.ZS.UN, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Comtrade database, United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Statistics Division; World Integrated Trade Solution system (WITS); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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