
Poverty Persists Across PNG And Pacific Despite Economic Growth
About half of Papua New Guinea's population lives on less than US$3.65 a day, while Fiji and Solomon Islands are also struggling to raise its living standards. Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific Journalist
About half of Papua New Guinea's population lives on less than US$3.65 a day, and there has been little change in monetary well being since a 2010 survey, according to the World Bank.
The report said the country has some of the poorest nutrition outcomes in the world, with almost half of children under the age of five being stunted.
In 2022, only 19 percent of the population had access to safe drinking water, and 15 percent to electricity. A quarter of the youth were not in training, education, and employment.
Save the Children's Pacific regional director Kim Koch said economic growth does not necessarily equate to people being lifted out of poverty.
'Unfortunately, a lot of times, the investments in that economic growth is not always directed toward breaking poverty or addressing the safety nets that the most vulnerable families and children really need,' Koch said.
The report said since gaining independent in 1975, the economy has more than tripled. However, real GDP per capita has only seen an annual increase of 0.9 percent.
'The most recent Household Income and Expenditure Survey, from 2010, revealed that 40 percent of the population lived below the national poverty line of US$2.15 per day.
'Despite the lack of an official poverty rate since 2010, household surveys suggest little change in monetary wellbeing,' it said.
Koch said poverty is driving food insecurity and violence.
'Those consequences are intergenerational,' she said.
'It is hard to break the cycle of poverty unless you have specific, dedicated investments in that purpose.'
She said it is often children's education, safety, and health that suffer.
'That is usually because families are investing in just their basic needs, and things like sending their kids to school, having a nutritious diet, seeking medical care are often lower on the priority list.'
Fiji also struggling
The report also said Fiji is struggling to raise its living standards to match its income level. The nation achieved upper-middle-income status in 2014 but 50.1 percent of the population lived under US$6.85 a day in 2024.
However, extreme poverty – those living on less than US$2.15 a day – had almost been eliminated.
Poverty in Fiji – those living under US$6.85 a day – is on a downward trend. It was at 52.6 percent in 2019 and projected to be at 48.7 percent in 2025 and 45.5 percent in 2027, driven by economic growth which is expected to sit at 3.2 percent in 2027.
Fiji Council of Social Services executive director Vani Catanasiga said it is encouraging growth is increasing and poverty decreasing, but more could be done.
'We feel that there needs to be better effort at empowering women and youth, particularly when we look at the issues surrounding the labour force,' she said.
In Solomon Islands, a phone survey by the World Bank in 2024 found about half of all households are worried about their finances.
The report said food insecurity remains high, with about half the population eating less than they thought they should in the past 30 days.
'According to the 2012/13 Household Income and Expenditure Survey, 61 percent of the population was considered poor based on the lower-middle-income poverty line (US$3.65 per day),' it said.
However, the economy is expected to grow by an average of 2.7 percent from 2025 to 2027 and poverty rates are projected to decline as a result.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Scoop
7 hours ago
- Scoop
Rising Hunger In Gaza Highlights Urgent Need For ‘Unfettered' Aid Supplies
11 June 2025 Only around 6,000 tonnes of wheat flour have entered the war-torn enclave since Israel began to allow limited supplies back in last month. However, 10,000 tonnes are urgently needed in the face of rising malnutrition, according to the UN aid coordination office OCHA. ' The only way to address the situation on the ground is by re-opening additional crossings,' said OCHA's Olga Cherevko, speaking to UN News from Khan Younis. Beyond food aid She also stressed the need to allow 'unlimited and unfettered supply of aid to enter,' which includes items that go beyond food such as shelter materials, fuel, cooking gas, 'and other necessary elements to sustain life in Gaza.' Ms. Cherevko urged the Israeli authorities to make the task of delivering aid easier by 'providing a safe and enabling environment,' reducing waiting times for humanitarian missions and ensuring access to people in need. People in Gaza are suffering from harsh living conditions. Since March, Israeli restrictions on border crossings have tightened, making it even more difficult for Gaza's population – more than two million people - to access food. Senior UN officials, including Secretary-General António Guterres and Humanitarian Affairs chief Tom Fletcher, have described the aid that has entered as merely 'a trickle' or a 'a drop in the ocean'. Difficult decisions Although markets are crowded with people, they lack two essential elements: liquidity and goods. Most residents thus face three bitter choices: either seek food aid from the newly established US and Israel-backed distribution mechanism, which has already claimed dozens of lives in recent days; watch their children starve; or pay dearly for what's left of the goods and looted humanitarian aid in markets. 'Prices are unnatural, much higher than in Europe,' civil servant Akram Yousef recently told our UN News correspondent in Gaza. 'The situation is very difficult, and we have been like this for two years. In addition to displacement, homelessness, bombing, destruction, and devastation, traders are raising prices, and citizens are unable to bear this burden. What can we do?' More than 20 months of conflict have made living conditions in the Gaza Strip unbearable, and the cost of living is now among the highest in the world. Ahmed Al-Bahri, who was displaced from Beit Lahia with his family, said a loaf of bread now sells for seven shekels, or roughly $2. ' There is no flour, no milk, no diapers for children, or anything to eat,' he said. 'We live in a state of constant hunger. Where can I get seven shekels to buy a loaf of bread for my child? What is this child's sin?' Exorbitant fees The cessation of Palestinian banks' operations since the start of the war in October 2023 has exacerbated the suffering. People are forced to use phone apps to withdraw money from their bank accounts and to access their pensions through local merchants who charge exorbitant commissions. Mr. Youssef, the civil servant, said the commission for withdrawing his salary was 20 per cent, but over time it has increased to nearly 50 per cent. 'We have become envious of the dead' Several residents told UN News that the price of one kilogramme of flour is now 100 shekels, equivalent to roughly $29. "If a salary is 2,000 shekels, it becomes 1,000 shekels after commission,' another man, Ashraf Al-Deiri, explained. 'The daily expenses of an average or small family are no less than 500 shekels (roughly $143). So, we are experiencing great suffering and need someone to have mercy on us and stand by us." A young man called Raed Tafesh expressed shock over the high prices, especially since most of his peers are unemployed and lack any source of income. ' We don't earn a single shekel. We are not employed, and we don't have jobs. We are dying slowly. We have become envious of the dead," he said. The tragic conditions are reflected in the eyes of mothers and fathers who see their children starving, such as Nimir Ghazal. She said her salary is not even enough to buy fruits, vegetables or any healthy food for her children. 'Sometimes I cry when my hungry children ask for a piece of bread. A kilo of flour costs 100 shekels, and lentils cost 50. One kilo is not enough for my family, but I buy it and share it among them,' she said. UN efforts continue On Monday, UN teams were able to collect some supplies, mainly flour, from the Kerem Shalom border crossing. The aid was bound for Gaza City when hungry and desperate people snatched it directly from the trucks. There have also been previous instances of looting and attacks on truck drivers which the UN categorically rejects. OCHA has emphasized that Israel, as the occupying power, bears responsibility for maintaining public order and safety in Gaza. This should include allowing more essential supplies to enter through multiple crossings and roads to meet humanitarian needs and help curb looting.


Scoop
2 days ago
- Scoop
Tonga Princess Calls For Legal Rights For Whales
Article – RNZ 'The time has come to recognise whales not merely as resources but as sentient beings with inherent rights.' Tonga's Princess Angelika Lātūfuipeka Tukuaho is calling for whales to have legal rights. 'The time has come to recognise whales not merely as resources but as sentient beings with inherent rights,' Princess Angelika told the One Ocean Science Congress in France. Talanoa Tonga reported the global 'I'm a Person Too' campaign is asking governments to give whales legal personhood. More than 367,000 people around the world have supported it. Tonga has a strong connection to whales. In 1978, the late Tongan King Tāufaāhau Tupou IV banned whale hunting in Tongan waters, creating one of the world's first whale sanctuaries. Last year, Aotearoa's Kiingi Tuheitia and the Cook Islands Kaumaiti Nui Tou Ariki signed the He Whakaputanga Moana in Rarotonga that aims to give to'orā more robust protections that are recognised internationally. The declaration also seeks to protect the rights of tohorā to migrate freely, conserve and grow dwindling populations, establish marine protected areas, and use mātauranga Māori alongside science for better protections and set-up a dedicated fund for whale conservation. After Kiingi Tuheitia's death, the residents of the Tonga island group of Vava'u promised to honour the late Māori King's call for whales to be given personhood. A whale watching guide in Vava'u, Siaki Siosifa Fauvao, told RNZ Pacific his community was committed to safeguarding the mammals. 'We will protect the whale; the whale is like a family to the Tongan people,' Fauvao said. One of the late Māori King's closest advisors, Rahui Papa, said the Pacific Ocean was not just a body of water but a connector, and so are whales.


Scoop
4 days ago
- Scoop
Logging Conflict Escalates In Sarawak As Penan Take A Stand
As Malaysian timber group Borneoland Timber Resources strips 4,000 tonnes of timber each month from protected forest, Indigenous communities have responded with blockades to defend their land. Indigenous Penan communities in Sarawak's Upper Baram region have recently set up blockades against large-scale logging activities by Borneoland Timber Resources Sdn Bhd ('Borneoland'), a politically-linked Malaysian logging company. Groups of locals fighting the encroachment have established blockades at Ba Olé (within the boundaries of Ba Data Bila), Long Benali and Ba Pengaran Kelian. Some of these blockades have since been dismantled by timber workers. In April alone, 162 logging trucks with an estimated load of 25 metric tons each left the forests of Ba Data Bila. This amounts to approximately 4,000 tons of timber, valued at around MYR 9 million (US$ 2.1 million), in just one month. The logging concession, granted last year without public tender, encompasses protected forest within the Upper Baram Forest Area. According to Sarawak Forest Director Hamden Mohammad, «the primary purpose of a protected forest is to preserve and safeguard the ecological integrity of the land, ensure environmental protection of soils and water, and in some cases, support productive forest activities.» Despite sustainability promises, Borneoland's timber operation lacks any kind of certification or publicly available social and environmental impact assessments. The area was part of a sustainability showcase project under the auspices of the International Tropical Timber Organization ITTO. The project collapsed last year after Sarawak's authorities unilaterally terminated the project. Earlier this year, eleven community leaders took legal action and applied for a judicial review in the High Court in Sabah and Sarawak, demanding the immediate recall of the 170,000-hectare timber license granted to Borneoland.