Papua New Guinea: International tourism, expenditures (current US$)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2018, Papua New Guinea's international tourism, expenditures (current US$) fell 20.5% on 2017 (from US$168.6 million to US$134 million).

Across the 14 yearly changes before that (2004 to 2017), the average change was +13.5% and a typical year strayed about 36.1% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.9 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 88.4% in 2007 and the biggest yearly fall was 23.5% in 2006. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2009 to 2018 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 3% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

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

How it compares

In 2018, Papua New Guinea had the 11th highest value of the 15 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 2018 ranking

• Brunei Darussalam — 8th of 15: US$585 million
• Senegal — 9th of 15: US$324 million
• Mali — 10th of 15: US$255 million
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 12th of 15: US$115 million
• Marshall Islands — 13th of 15: US$31.4 million
• Sudan — 14th of 15: US$13 million

What this measures

International tourism expenditures are expenditures of international outbound visitors in other countries, including payments to foreign carriers for international transport. These expenditures may include those by residents traveling abroad as same-day visitors, except in cases where these are important enough to justify separate classification. For some countries they do not include expenditures for passenger transport items. Data are in current U.S. dollars.

Limitations: Tourism can be either domestic or international. The data refers to international tourism, where the traveler's country of residence differs from the visiting country. International tourism consists of inbound (arrival) and outbound (departures) tourism. The data are from the World Tourism Organization (WTO), a United Nations agency. The data on inbound and outbound tourists refer to the number of arrivals and departures, not to the number of people traveling. Expenditure associated with the activity of international visitors has been traditionally identified with the travel item of the Balance of Payments (BOP).

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a gap-filled total.

All 16 values

International tourism, expenditures (current US$) in nearby economies

• Australia — US$7.65 billion (2020)
• Brunei Darussalam — US$585 million (2018)
• Cambodia — US$213 million (2020)
• Fiji — US$77 million (2020)
• French Polynesia — US$226 million (2016)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — US$26.5 billion (2018)
• Indonesia — US$1.98 billion (2020)
• Japan — US$6.74 billion (2020)
• Korea, Rep. — US$16.71 billion (2020)
• Lao PDR

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
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Papua New Guinea's international tourism, expenditures (current US$)?

US$134 million in 2018, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2003?

It is up 157.69% from US$52 million in 2003 (6.51% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was US$214 million in 2013 and the lowest US$43 million in 2006.

How does Papua New Guinea rank?

11th highest of 15 economies with data for 2018.

Is the latest change in international tourism, expenditures (current US$) unusual for Papua New Guinea?

In 2018, Papua New Guinea's international tourism, expenditures (current US$) fell 20.5% on 2017 (from US$168.6 million to US$134 million). Across the 14 yearly changes before that (2004 to 2017), the average change was +13.5% and a typical year strayed about 36.1% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.9 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 ST.INT.XPND.CD, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism 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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