Business Statistics

Find statistics relating to industries operating in Papua New Guinea such as

  • Construction
  • Manufacturing
  • Transport and Storage
  • Administrative and Support

KEY INDICATORS

Growth in output from 2017 – 2018

Administrative and Support

+19.2%

Construction Industry

+3.4%

Manufacturing Industry

-3.5%

Transport & Storage

+5.7%

SUMMARY TABLES

Employment by Industry by type in 2018

Variables Construction Industry (F) Transport & Storage (H) Administration & Support Services (N) Manufacturing Industry (C)
No. of Businesses 35 30 29 70
Total Employment (000) 10 7 6 23
Total Full-time employment 69.2% 89.3% 92.0% 85.2%
Total Casual/ part-time employment 19.7% 5.5% 6.3% 10.4%
Total Expatriate 11.1% 5.2% 1.7% 4.3%

Note: That tables only represent the sample of responding businesses in the SBA collection

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the SBA and why is it important?

SBA is an annual survey conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO) to collect economic information from selected legal companies operating in Papua New Guinea (PNG). This collection is done for the purpose of compiling National Accounts in particular measuring the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) among other statistics.  GDP is the key measure of a country’s economic activity taking place during a given period.

SBA is important because it provides important industry information towards the compilation of GDP, the updating of Business Demographics and Employment statistics in PNG.  The annual survey cycle makes it possible to monitor the real economic activities of industries which address a vital need for better informed decision making and policy formulation for PNG government.

Why has the NSO completed an SBA? How did the NSO conduct the SBA?

NSO collects and complies statistics using two data sources, administrative data and survey data. SBA is conducted by the NSO to capture key data and fill data gaps, especially where  administrative data is found to be inadequate for GDP compilation.

The Business Statistics Branch (BSB) is responsible for updating its Statistical Business Register and conducing the SBA. Every year, a sample is drawn from the Business Register and questionnaires are sent to the companies via email or by onsite visits to companies in the provinces.

An example in 2019, SBA covered four Industries, namely Manufacturing, Construction, Transport and Storage, and Administrative and Support Services. Locations covered were Port Moresby, Lae and Madang.  A sample of 300 companies was surveyed to which 187 companies responded. Of the responding businesses, approximately 12% were found to have either ceased or were dormant.

What are the NSO plans for future SBA?

While business surveys have been run annually since 2015, in 2021, NSO plans to run a Census of Business (CBA) to take stock of the business population in operation in PNG. This will also  provide an opportunity to capture accurate economic benchmarks and help measure the impact of the global pandemic on the PNG economy across all industries.

The CBA will assist in broadening the coverage of the Business Register for future SBAs. This will enable the NSO to select a sample representative of the population to capture estimates of economic concepts such as Output, Intermediate Consumption and Industry Value Added on an annual basis.

 

An overview of the SBA development and collection process

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Economic Concepts captured on the SBA to support the compilation of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) include:

  • OUTPUT – The total monetary value of goods or services produced for a given period of period of time for a given Industry or Country.
  • INTERMEDIATE CONSUMPTION (IC) – The total monetary value of goods or services consumed or used up as inputs in the production of Output, including raw materials, services and various other operating expenses.
  • INDUSTRY VALUE ADDED (IVA) – The difference between the market value of Output produced and the Intermediate Use consumed in the production of that Output.