Age of full democracy in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: Age of full democracy was 48 years in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Age of full democracy in Papua New Guinea, 1978–2025
Source: Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in years.
Analysis
Papua New Guinea recorded 48 years for age of full democracy in 2025. That is the highest value across all 48 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.1% on the previous year and up 26.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, age of full democracy in Papua New Guinea peaked at 48 years in 2025 and was at its lowest, 1 years, in 1978.
That places Papua New Guinea 33rd out of 89 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Age of full democracy in Papua New Guinea, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | 1 years | — |
| 1979 | 2 years | +100.0% |
| 1980 | 3 years | +50.0% |
| 1981 | 4 years | +33.3% |
| 1982 | 5 years | +25.0% |
| 1983 | 6 years | +20.0% |
| 1984 | 7 years | +16.7% |
| 1985 | 8 years | +14.3% |
| 1986 | 9 years | +12.5% |
| 1987 | 10 years | +11.1% |
| 1988 | 11 years | +10.0% |
| 1989 | 12 years | +9.1% |
| 1990 | 13 years | +8.3% |
| 1991 | 14 years | +7.7% |
| 1992 | 15 years | +7.1% |
| 1993 | 16 years | +6.7% |
| 1994 | 17 years | +6.2% |
| 1995 | 18 years | +5.9% |
| 1996 | 19 years | +5.6% |
| 1997 | 20 years | +5.3% |
| 1998 | 21 years | +5.0% |
| 1999 | 22 years | +4.8% |
| 2000 | 23 years | +4.5% |
| 2001 | 24 years | +4.3% |
| 2002 | 25 years | +4.2% |
| 2003 | 26 years | +4.0% |
| 2004 | 27 years | +3.8% |
| 2005 | 28 years | +3.7% |
| 2006 | 29 years | +3.6% |
| 2007 | 30 years | +3.4% |
| 2008 | 31 years | +3.3% |
| 2009 | 32 years | +3.2% |
| 2010 | 33 years | +3.1% |
| 2011 | 34 years | +3.0% |
| 2012 | 35 years | +2.9% |
| 2013 | 36 years | +2.9% |
| 2014 | 37 years | +2.8% |
| 2015 | 38 years | +2.7% |
| 2016 | 39 years | +2.6% |
| 2017 | 40 years | +2.6% |
| 2018 | 41 years | +2.5% |
| 2019 | 42 years | +2.4% |
| 2020 | 43 years | +2.4% |
| 2021 | 44 years | +2.3% |
| 2022 | 45 years | +2.3% |
| 2023 | 46 years | +2.2% |
| 2024 | 47 years | +2.2% |
| 2025 | 48 years | +2.1% |
Papua New Guinea compared with similar countries
- Papua New Guinea's 48 years is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 27 years, 1.8× the median. (12 countries reporting)
- Papua New Guinea's 48 years is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 47 years, 1.0× the median. (16 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Age of full democracy in Papua New Guinea changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | +100.0% | 1 years | 2 years |
| 1980 | +50.0% | 2 years | 3 years |
| 1981 | +33.3% | 3 years | 4 years |
| 1982 | +25.0% | 4 years | 5 years |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1.5 years | 1 years | 2 years | 2 |
| 1980s | 7.5 years | 3 years | 12 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 17.5 years | 13 years | 22 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 27.5 years | 23 years | 32 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 37.5 years | 33 years | 42 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 45.5 years | 43 years | 48 years | 6 |
Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea
- 30 Switzerland 55 years compare
- 31 Greece 51 years compare
- 32 Portugal 50 years compare
- 33 Kiribati 48 years compare
- 33 Tuvalu 48 years compare
- 36 Marshall Islands 47 years compare
- 36 Micronesia (country) 47 years compare
More social development data for Papua New Guinea
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 7,727 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 644 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 4 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 4 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0001 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 644 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0007 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is age of full democracy in Papua New Guinea?
- Age of full democracy in Papua New Guinea was 48 years in 2025, according to Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest age of full democracy recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The highest recorded value was 48 years in 2025.
- What is the lowest age of full democracy recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The lowest recorded value was 1 years in 1978.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank for age of full democracy?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 33rd out of 89 countries with data for 2025.
- Is age of full democracy rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 26.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Papua New Guinea data come from?
- The figures come from Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Age of full democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 48 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of consecutive years in a full democracy.