Papua New Guinea - Foreign trade

In 2000, Papua New Guinea's exports totaled $2.4 billion while imports totaled $1 billion, down from $1.1 billion in 1999. Consumer goods accounted for 9.3% of imports; machinery, 17.8%; industrial supplies, 18.3%; transportation equipment, 15.1%; food and beverages, 17.2%; and other imports, 0.3%. Of its natural resources, Papua New Guinea mainly exports crude petroleum (29%), copper ore (8.9%), and coffee (6.1%). Other exports include palm oil (6.0%) and rough wood (1.8%).

Through most of the period when Papua New Guinea was a territory administered by Australia, the two were also major trading partners. In the 1970s, Papua New Guinea's trade with other countries, especially Japan and Germany, increased. Principal trading partners in 1998 (in millions of US dollars) were as follows: