Noting that Papua New Guinea is the same size as Germany but has one
tenth of its population, an official of the nation’s episcopal
conference welcomed the country’s 3.1% annual population growth rate. The Pacific nation “does not need to promote family planning or practices such as contraception and abortion,” said Father Giorgio Licini, secretary of the Commission for Social Communications, according to a Fides report.
“With a population which is still limited and with considerable internal resources, PNG can easily plan to become a country of 30-40 million people by the end of the century, with a much stronger and diversified economy.”