The Resources Industry
Industry Contributions
Economic and social contributions, with sourced PNG EITI figures and earlier editions.
Data as at 2024
Resource Industry Contributions to PNG
Source: PNG EITI 2024 Report, launched 26 March 2026 (section 3.11, printed page 22) (opens in a new tab).
Published evidence
Economic contributions
Explore the economic and social contributions of Papua New Guinea’s resources industry through published PNG EITI evidence and earlier Chamber editions.
| Metric | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| GDP share of the economy | 32.0% | 27.4% | 28.3% |
| Share of total exports | 87.3% | 88.6% | 88.3% |
| Direct government revenue | K4.15 billion (26.7%) | K4.31 billion (23.1%) | K4.27 billion (21.7%) |
| Total social expenditure | K565.5 million | K564.5 million | K649.7 million |
| Subnational benefits | K953.7 million | K1.062 billion | K1.465 billion |
The PNG EITI 2024 Report itself states direct mining and petroleum revenue of K4.6 billion (22% of government revenue excluding grants) and subnational transfers of K1.47 billion; its 2022 data file gives 23.9% of revenue and 85.9% of exports. Where figures differ, the PNG EITI report is authoritative.
Payments in 2023
- K3.6 billion in mining and petroleum taxes, 2023
- K843 million in salary and wages tax, 2023
- K1.67 billion in equity payments to state-owned enterprises, 2023
- K680 million in royalties to landowners, local-level governments and provincial governments, 2023
- K564.5 million in mandatory and discretionary social contributions, 2023
Source: PNGCORE, 10 October 2025, from the PNG EITI 2023 Report.
Economic contributions — earlier edition, 2017–2018
PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum, 2017–2018.
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The minerals and energy industry have long played a vital role in Papua New Guinea’s economic development.
The industry contributes 26% of PNG’s GDP and around 84% of the Nation’s export revenue which totalled K23 billion in 2017.
The financial contribution of the resource sectors to the PNG economy can be broadly divided into two categories:
- direct revenues - comprising company tax, royalty, dividend withholding tax, salary and wages tax, foreign contractors tax, duties, production levy, development levies and dividends paid to the government and landowners if holding an equity interest in the project, and
- indirect revenue - comprising of tax credit scheme projects, special support grants and development levies, employment, education and training, public health programs, business and agricultural development, and community infrastructure.
Value of exports in 2018 (September) totalled K22.7 billion
Source: PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum, 2018.
Prior to the completion of the LNG project, mining was the single largest export revenue earner; now reverting to the second largest, behind oil and gas (LNG) exports. Growth in the resource sectors has also acted as a large stimulus for growth in other sectors of the economy, including the financial sector, agriculture, telecommunications, construction, manufacturing and tourism.
Earlier editions
Fact sheets
The publication dates remain visible so these editions can be read in context.
Evidence for 2022–2024
Social contributions
Total social expenditure was broadly stable between 2022 and 2023, then rose materially in 2024: K565.5 million (2022), K564.5 million (2023) and K649.7 million (2024, up 15.1%). In 2023 the largest categories were economic support (K325.7 million), other payments (K126.3 million), infrastructure (K44.5 million), health (K23.3 million), capacity building (K13.1 million) and education (K11.5 million).
PNG EITI Social Expenditure Analysis, 2022–2024 (opens in a new tab)
Mandatory and discretionary social expenditure reported under the PNG EITI, 2022 to 2024.
PDF · 162 KB
Social contributions — earlier edition, 2017
PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum, August 2017.
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Minerals and Energy companies invest millions of Kina in community development programmes in their host communities and provinces. These include infrastructure for health, education, law and order, and agriculture as well as numerous programmes in health care and medical outreach, scholarships and student support, agriculture outreach, law and justice, and landowner business development.
Health
Health programmes include:
Education and training
The resource sectors also run extensive education and training programmes for host communities and employees. These programmes include:
Agriculture and livelihood
The resource sectors are also engaged in many different programmes to support and promote food security and commercial agriculture.
Business development
The industry also helps establish and support landowner companies and other PNG-based businesses. These companies provide services to the project sites such as: labour hire, janitorial services, catering, security, earth moving, freight and logistics, and transportation.
Law and justice
Law and justice programmes supported by the projects include family and sexual violence, and community law and order programmes.
Tax Credit Scheme (TCS)
Community infrastructure funded under the TCS is wide-ranging and includes:
Employment
The resource sectors directly employ over 20,000 people. Many more are employed in businesses that depend on the resource sectors including landowner businesses which are estimated to employ nearly 30,000 people.