Land use in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: Land use was 1.22 million hectares in 2023. ▲ Rising
Land use in Papua New Guinea, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
In 2023, land use in Papua New Guinea stood at 1.22 million hectares. That is the highest value across all 63 years on record.
The figure is up 10.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, land use in Papua New Guinea peaked at 1.22 million hectares in 2017 and was at its lowest, 437,000 hectares, in 1961.
Papua New Guinea ranks 109th of 223 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 63 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 477,444 hectares | 437,000 hectares | 522,000 hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 609,200 hectares | 535,000 hectares | 685,000 hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 722,900 hectares | 687,000 hectares | 776,000 hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 834,500 hectares | 793,000 hectares | 901,000 hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 966,300 hectares | 908,000 hectares | 1.08 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.14 million hectares | 1.08 million hectares | 1.22 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.22 million hectares | 1.22 million hectares | 1.22 million hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea
More environment data for Papua New Guinea
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 10.76 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 1.02 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 0.4503 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 0.4689 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 1.92 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.003 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 3.71 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0024 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0104 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 0.8618 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is land use in Papua New Guinea?
- Land use in Papua New Guinea was 1.22 million hectares in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest land use recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The highest recorded value was 1.22 million hectares in 2017.
- What is the lowest land use recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The lowest recorded value was 437,000 hectares in 1961.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank for land use?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 109th out of 223 countries with data for 2023.
- Is land use rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 10.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Papua New Guinea data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Land use. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 63 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).