PNG Demography
PNG’s Human Development Index (HDI) value is 0.466, which is in the low human development category, positioning the country at 156 out of 187 countries and territories on the UNDP Human Development Index for (2012). The HDI is a summary measure for assessing long-term progress in three basic dimensions of human development: 1.) a long and healthy life, 2.) access to knowledge and a decent standard of living, and 3.) a long and healthy life as measured by life expectancy. Access to knowledge is measured by mean years of schooling for the adult population, which is the average number of years of education by people aged 25 years and older; and expected years of schooling for children of school-entrance age, which is the total number of years of schooling a child of school-entrance age can expect to receive if prevailing patterns of age-specific enrolment rates stay the same throughout the child's life. Standard of living is measured by Gross National Income per capita.
Levels of crime and violence in PNG are high, and have remained consistently so for over a decade. The homicide rate, considered the most reliable indicator of overall crime, was 10.4 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2010. According to the World Bank, Honduras had the world's highest homicide rate in 2012, with 93 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, South Africa had a rate of 31, the United States had a rate of 5, and neigboring Indonesia had 1 murder per 100,000 inhabitants. The rate in PNG varies widely across regions, with an estimated rate of 66 per 100,000 in Lae and 33 in the National Capital District (NCD), among the highest in the world. Robbery and assault are the most commonly reported crimes. Family and sexual violence is also highly prevalent, and affects both females and males.
Violent crime, such as robberies and assaults, appears to be increasing as a proportion of overall crime, and that crime is on the rise in known "hotspots" such as Lae and the NCD. In Lae, crime appears to have increased for 11 of 12 categories of crime reported in 2010 (compared with 2005 and 2008 data). The use of firearms has also been increasing since 2008.
Crime and violence are driven in part by recent social and economic changes, which have created disputes that are less amenable to management by traditional means. In particular, violence in PNG can be understood, at least partly, as a result of the inability of both traditional and formal institutions to manage the stresses that have come with rapid economic growth, increasing migration, and other factors.
Inter-group fights in Port Moresby manifest mainly in the form of tribal or ethnic group fights, raskol gang fights and inter-school fights. It was reported by civil society and government officials that tribal fighting perpetuates a culture of violence in Port Moresby, as it is seen that fighting is a traditional way to resolve conflict.
Health outcomes have stalled over the last 25 years and PNG is unlikely to reach any of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. PNG has one of the highest mortality rates with one in 13 children likely to die before their fifth birthday and an estimated five women die in childbirth every day.
Life expectancy in PNG is shorter and infant mortality is higher than most neighboring Pacific countries. The 2009 under-5 mortality rate in PNG stood at 69 per 1000 live births, which an improvement from twenty years prior. Both infant and under-5 mortality have decreased steadily since 1990, but not sufficiently for PNG to meet its MDG 4 which called for reductions by 2015 in under-5 mortality from 90 (in 2000) to 32 per 1000 live births, and in infant mortality from 64 (in 2000) to 24 per 1000 live births. Maternal mortality is a serious problem in PNG, 53 percent of births (only half) are attended by skilled health personnel.
The leading health problems are communicable diseases, with malaria, tuberculosis, diarrheal diseases, and acute respiratory disease as major causes of morbidity and mortality. PNG has a generalized HIV epidemic, driven predominantly by heterosexual transmission.
Traditional tribal dynamics are beginning to be pressured by population growth, an increasing youth bulge, limited distribution of health services, child mortality, urbanisation and employment pressures, however, family and tribal loyalties (wantok) still dominate aspects of PNG society.
Nearly half of PNG’s population is under the age of 20 and this proportion is expected to double in the future. PNG has a relatively high population growth rate of 1.9% with 1.05 males to females born (Australia has a rate of 1.2%). It is estimated that life expectancy is 63 years and infant mortality is 43 deaths per 1,000 live births (Australia has a rate of less than 5/1,000).
It is estimated that the population is growing at a rate of approximately 3.1 percent annually.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
