Travel Risk Atlas

Papua New Guinea

Melanesia · Capital Port Moresby

Each opens that government's own advisory for Papua New Guinea — the authoritative version, updated far faster than this page.

52.3 Moderate risk
Atlas Risk Score · 176th safest of 220
green trees on island surrounded by water during daytime
Photo: Asso Myron / Unsplash

Where the risk actually is

Each region is coloured by the advice that applies to most of it, drawn by hand from the wording of all five government advisories.

Central — Travel with cautionChimbu — Travel with cautionEast New Britain — Travel with cautionEast New Britain — Travel with cautionEast Sepik — Travel with cautionEast Sepik — Travel with cautionEast Sepik — Travel with cautionEast Sepik — Travel with cautionEastern Highlands — Travel with cautionEnga Province — Essential travel onlyGulf — Travel with cautionMadang — Travel with cautionMadang — Travel with cautionMadang — Travel with cautionMadang — Travel with cautionMadang — Travel with cautionManus — Travel with cautionManus — Travel with cautionMilne Bay — Travel with cautionMilne Bay — Travel with cautionMilne Bay — Travel with cautionMilne Bay — Travel with cautionMilne Bay — Travel with cautionMilne Bay — Travel with cautionMilne Bay — Travel with cautionMilne Bay — Travel with cautionMilne Bay — Travel with cautionMilne Bay — Travel with cautionMilne Bay — Travel with cautionMilne Bay — Travel with cautionMilne Bay — Travel with cautionMilne Bay — Travel with cautionMilne Bay — Travel with cautionMilne Bay — Travel with cautionMorobe — Travel with cautionMorobe — Travel with cautionMorobe — Travel with cautionMorobe — Travel with cautionNational Capital District — Travel with cautionNew Ireland — Travel with cautionNew Ireland — Travel with cautionNew Ireland — Travel with cautionNew Ireland — Travel with cautionNew Ireland — Travel with cautionNew Ireland — Travel with cautionNew Ireland — Travel with cautionNew Ireland — Travel with cautionNew Ireland — Travel with cautionNew Ireland — Travel with cautionNew Ireland — Travel with cautionNew Ireland — Travel with cautionNew Ireland — Travel with cautionNorth Solomons — Travel with cautionNorth Solomons — Travel with cautionNorth Solomons — Travel with cautionNorth Solomons — Travel with cautionNorth Solomons — Travel with cautionNorthern — Travel with cautionSandaun — Travel with cautionSandaun — Travel with cautionSouthern Highlands — Essential travel onlyWest New Britain — Travel with cautionWest New Britain — Travel with cautionWest New Britain — Travel with cautionWest New Britain — Travel with cautionWestern Highlands — Travel with cautionWestern — Travel with cautionWestern — Travel with cautionWestern — Travel with cautionWestern — Travel with cautionWestern — Travel with cautionWestern — Travel with cautionWestern — Travel with cautionLake Murray
What governments advise Essential travel only Travel with caution

This map reads stronger than the world map's colour, and both are right. The world map shades Papua New Guinea by its Atlas Risk Score — 52, Moderate — which blends government advice with crime, health, roads and natural hazards. This map shows the advice alone, and the strongest level anywhere in Papua New Guinea is “essential travel only”.

What the warnings actually cover

  • Enga ProvinceEssential travel only. Essential travel only to Hela, Southern Highlands and Enga because of tribal fighting; Wabag District in Enga is excluded.

Mapped by hand from the official wording in July 2026; always check the current advisory before you book.

What drives the score

Each pillar is scored 0–100 against every other country. Longer bar = more risk.

Health & medical
15% of score
68/100
191st of 220
Conflict & terrorism
15% of score
64/100
173rd of 220
Natural hazards
10% of score · mainly earthquakes, tsunami, flooding
60/100
199th of 220
Political stability
10% of score
56/100
187th of 220
Crime
15% of score
47/100
155th of 220
Official advisories
25% of score
43/100
172nd of 220
Road & transport
10% of score
31/100
100th of 220
Women's safety
not in the score
42/100

Biggest factor here: health & medical. Disease environment plus how good the care is if you need it.

Practical facts

The things worth knowing before you land.

Emergency number
112
Police 112 · St John Ambulance 111 (Port Moresby)
Currency
PGK K
Languages
English
Hiri Motu, Tok Pisin
Visa (EU passport)
eTA required
US: eTA required · UK: eTA required
Population
10.8m
World Bank 2025
Capital
Port Moresby
Driving
On the left
12.6 road deaths per 100k
Power
Type I
220-240V
Basic water access
53%
Patchy — many households lack it · of residents, not a tap-water verdict
Dialling code
+675
GDP per capita
$3k
A rough guide to price levels
Visitors a year
211k
International arrivals, 2019
Malaria risk
9.4/10
INFORM exposure score — see a travel clinic

When to go

Average daytime high and nightly low for Port Moresby, over 2010-2019. Bars are rainfall; the colour band is how hot the days get.

Mildest and driest around April to December.

Daytime high hot extreme heat
Top figure is the average daytime high, below it the average nightly low, and millimetres of rain under each bar. Figures are the average daytime high; bar heights are the month's rainfall. Shaded months are the mild, drier ones. Source: NASA POWER daily observations, 2010-2019, public domain.

Compare with neighbours

Sources for this page

Vaccinations, malaria and outbreaks. This atlas does not give medical advice — it is personal, it changes, and it is the one thing worth getting from a doctor. Both national services publish current advice for Papua New Guinea:

Check the official advisory before you book. This page reflects data as of August 2026. Advisories change without warning, and only your own government's advice affects your travel insurance.