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Papua New Guinea — Unemployment
Unemployment Rate for Papua New Guinea, 1991–2025.
Latest value · 2025
2.57%
Unemployment Rate · % of total labor force · -7.9% since 1991
Unemployment for Papua New Guinea was 2.57% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 35 years, from 1991 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 3.03% in 2021. The lowest was 2.00% in 2010 (about 1.3× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to -0.24% per year.
Papua New Guinea ranks 163 of 187 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 87%. The median for East Asia & Pacific is 3.05%, so Papua New Guinea sits below it. It peaked in 2021 and has fallen 15% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved up 3%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
2.57%
First (1991)
2.79%
Change
-7.9%
Highest
3.03%
in 2021
Lowest
2.00%
in 2010
Average
2.59%
Annual growth (CAGR)
-0.24%
Years of data
35
Recent years
| Year | % of total labor force |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2.57% |
| 2024 | 2.63% |
| 2023 | 2.65% |
| 2022 | 2.69% |
| 2021 | 3.03% |
| 2020 | 2.9% |
| 2019 | 2.65% |
| 2018 | 2.65% |
| 2017 | 2.58% |
| 2016 | 2.48% |
| 2015 | 2.51% |
| 2014 | 2.54% |
Reading this correctly. Share of the labor force without work but available for and seeking employment. National definitions differ, so cross-country comparison needs care. Figures are in % of total labor force. Comparing this series with a different measure of the same concept (for example a nominal figure against a purchasing-power-parity figure) will give misleading results.
Related data
Source. World Bank Open Data, indicator
SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS — Unemployment Rate. Data licensed under CC BY 4.0. Values are reproduced as published; this page computes the summary statistics (change, CAGR, extremes) from the underlying annual series. View the original dataset on data.worldbank.org.