Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Papua New Guinea instead of Brunei, you would:

Health

live 8.9 years less

In Brunei, the average life expectancy is 78 years (76 years for men, 81 years for women) as of 2022. In Papua New Guinea, that number is 69 years (68 years for men, 71 years for women) as of 2022.

be 51.1% more likely to be obese

In Brunei, 14.1% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Papua New Guinea, that number is 21.3% of people as of 2016.

Economy

be 49.7% less likely to be unemployed

In Brunei, 5.3% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In Papua New Guinea, that number is 2.6% as of 2023.

make 94.6% less money

Brunei has a GDP per capita of $77,900 as of 2023, while in Papua New Guinea, the GDP per capita is $4,200 as of 2023.

Life

have 77.8% more children

In Brunei, there are approximately 15.8 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Papua New Guinea, there are 28.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

be 4.4 times more likely to die during childbirth

In Brunei, approximately 44.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Papua New Guinea, 192.0 women do as of 2020.

be 34.2% less likely to be literate

In Brunei, the literacy rate is 97.6% as of 2021. In Papua New Guinea, it is 64.2% as of 2015.

be 3.2 times more likely to die during infancy

In Brunei, approximately 10.5 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Papua New Guinea, on the other hand, 33.6 children do as of 2022.

Basic Needs

be 81.0% less likely to have access to electricity

In Brunei, approximately 100% of the population has electricity access as of 2022. In Papua New Guinea, 19% of the population do as of 2022.

be 67.3% less likely to have internet access

In Brunei, approximately 98.0% of the population has internet access as of 2021. In Papua New Guinea, about 32.0% do as of 2021.

be 52.5% less likely to have access to improved drinking water

In Brunei, approximately 100% of people have improved drinking water access as of 2020. In Papua New Guinea, 48% of people do as of 2020.

Expenditures

spend 68.2% less on education

Brunei spends 4.4% of its total GDP on education as of 2016. Papua New Guinea spends 1.4% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

Geography

see 32.0 times more coastline

Brunei has a total of 161 km of coastline. In Papua New Guinea, that number is 5,152 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook.

Papua New Guinea: At a glance

Papua New Guinea (sometimes abbreviated PNG) is a sovereign country in East/Southeast Asia, with a total land area of approximately 452,860 sq km. The eastern half of the island of New Guinea - second largest in the world - was divided between Germany (north) and the UK (south) in 1885. The latter area was transferred to Australia in 1902, which occupied the northern portion during World War I and continued to administer the combined areas until independence in 1975. A nine-year secessionist revolt on the island of Bougainville ended in 1997 after claiming some 20,000 lives.
Read more

How big is Papua New Guinea compared to Brunei? See an in-depth size comparison.

Share this

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Papua New Guinea.or Brunei It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.