Human Development & Quality of Life in Papua New Guinea
HDI 0.576 · UNDP rank 160 · latest published data
In UNDP's 2023 index data, Papua New Guinea has HDI 0.576 and rank 160, which corresponds to medium human development. The page therefore does not stop at the composite. Education combines 11.5 expected years of schooling with 5.0 mean years already attained. It also keeps in view that the income component uses GNI per capita of $3,971 in 2021 PPP dollars.
What sits inside Papua New Guinea's HDI
Papua New Guinea's HDI can be read through four underlying inputs for 2023: 66.1 life expectancy, 11.5 expected schooling, 5.0 mean schooling and GNI per capita of $3,971 in 2021 PPP dollars. The components are inputs to HDI, not independent country league tables.
Inequality changes the headline
For Papua New Guinea, IHDI asks how the HDI changes once unequal achievement across people is considered, the adjustment is about distribution rather than subjective well-being.
Gender and planetary-pressure adjustments
For the 2023 development snapshot, Papua New Guinea has additional UNDP measures of GDI 0.926, GII 0.584, PHDI 0.566. They complement one another, but none is treated as a substitute for another.
Quality-of-life coverage is conditional
The OECD comparison used here does not provide a life-satisfaction observation that this Papua New Guinea page can reproduce. No proxy is inserted for a value the source does not report.
What Papua New Guinea's numbers say together
Papua New Guinea's additional indicators read as IHDI 0.423 with a 26.6% loss; PHDI 0.566 after a 1.7% adjustment; GDI 0.926. Each measure has a different definition, so they are not combined. For a like-for-like reading, treat the value as the published measure instead of treating all development measures as interchangeable.
For this comparison, the headline UNDP result for Papua New Guinea is HDI 0.576, rank 160, for 2023. Broader quality-of-life indicators remain outside that index. When the indicator is reused, preserve the source's country coverage because the index and its adjustments have different meanings.
The IHDI is 0.423, and UNDP reports an overall loss of 26.6% relative to the headline index.
The GDI value is 0.926 in group 3; it should be read alongside, not merged into, HDI.
The PHDI is 0.566, with a 1.7% adjustment from the HDI value in UNDP's 2023 table.
Frequently asked questions
What is Papua New Guinea's HDI?
For Papua New Guinea, the 2025 UNDP report publishes a 2023 HDI value of 0.576 and rank 160.
How does inequality affect Papua New Guinea's HDI?
Papua New Guinea's Inequality-adjusted HDI is 0.423. The published overall loss is 26.6% relative to HDI.
Why is there no life satisfaction score on this page?
This profile does not fill the quality-of-life section for Papua New Guinea simply to complete the layout. An unavailable observation remains omitted rather than estimated.
Is HDI the same as quality of life?
No. HDI combines health, education and income. Life satisfaction remains distinct from the health, education and income dimensions used by HDI.
Sources & methodology
Sources for the development indicators and definitions shown above.
View sources used for this page
Primary source for 2023 HDI and its components, plus IHDI, GDI, GII and PHDI where reported.
Report edition underlying the 2023 human-development indices and ranking.
Data note: Reference years are shown with each indicator; unavailable observations remain unfilled.