New Caledonia

KanakyCalédonieNouvelle-Calédonie

DependencyMelanesia, Oceania

Locate on Earth — opens the globe, focused on New Caledonia. This page does not load a map.

Population

296,656

2026 · UN WPPProjection

GDP

$8.55 billion

2024 · World Bank WDIActual

GDP / capita

$29,213

2024 · World Bank WDIActual

Life expectancy

79.2 years

2026 · UN WPPProjection

Area

18,280 km²

2023 · World Bank WDIActual

UN WPP 2024 Revision (estimates through 2023; 2024–2100 medium-variant projections). World Bank WDI, 13 July 2026 release. UNDP HDR HDR 2025. UNESCO UIS UIS February 2026. ILOSTAT ILOSTAT December 2025. IMF WEO WEO April 2026. OWID CO₂ OWID CO₂ December 2025.

Overview

New Caledonia is dependency in Melanesia, Oceania.

Every figure names its source, year, and whether it is an actual value, an estimate, or a projection. Missing values stay missing.

ISO alpha-2: NC
ISO alpha-3: NCL
UN M49: 540
Wikidata: Q33788

People

Population stocks and demographic rates are from the UN World Population Prospects 2024 medium variant unless another source is named. Years from 2024 onward are projections.

PopulationProjection: 296,656
2026 · UN WPP · Projection · WPP2024 Demographic Indicators Medium
Population (1 July)Projection: 297,892
2026 · UN WPP · Projection · WPP2024 Demographic Indicators Medium
Population growth rateProjection: 0.8 percent
2026 · UN WPP · Projection · WPP2024 Demographic Indicators Medium
Population densityProjection: 16.3 persons per km²
2026 · UN WPP · Projection · WPP2024 Demographic Indicators Medium
New Caledonia’s density is below the Melanesia median of 28.1 (5 profiles with 2026 data), and below the median of 90.1 among 195 core profiles with 2026 data. Unweighted medians of the same-year cohort; not a population-weighted world average.
Median ageProjection: 34.8 years
2026 · UN WPP · Projection · WPP2024 Demographic Indicators Medium
New Caledonia’s median age is above the Melanesia median of 23 (5 profiles with 2026 data), and above the median of 29.8 among 195 core profiles with 2026 data. Unweighted medians of the same-year cohort; not a population-weighted world average.
Population sex ratioProjection: 97.4 males per 100 females
2026 · UN WPP · Projection · WPP2024 Demographic Indicators Medium
Total fertility rateProjection: 1.9 live births per woman
2026 · UN WPP · Projection · WPP2024 Demographic Indicators Medium
New Caledonia’s tfr is below the Melanesia median of 3 (5 profiles with 2026 data), and below the median of 2 among 195 core profiles with 2026 data. Unweighted medians of the same-year cohort; not a population-weighted world average.
Crude birth rateProjection: 13.6 per 1,000 population
2026 · UN WPP · Projection · WPP2024 Demographic Indicators Medium
Net number of migrantsProjection: 348
2026 · UN WPP · Projection · WPP2024 Demographic Indicators Medium
Net migration rateProjection: 1.2 per 1,000 population
2026 · UN WPP · Projection · WPP2024 Demographic Indicators Medium
Urban population: 68.2%
2025 · World Bank WDI · Actual · World Development Indicators
New Caledonia’s urban is above the Melanesia median of 31.3% (5 profiles with 2025 data), and above the median of 63.4% among 194 core profiles with 2025 data. Unweighted medians of the same-year cohort; not a population-weighted world average.
Population ages 0–14: 21.1%
2025 · World Bank WDI · Actual · World Development Indicators
Population ages 15–64: 67.1%
2025 · World Bank WDI · Actual · World Development Indicators
Population ages 65 and above: 11.8%
2025 · World Bank WDI · Actual · World Development Indicators
New Caledonia’s ages 65+ is above the Melanesia median of 4.4% (5 profiles with 2025 data), and above the median of 7.4% among 194 core profiles with 2025 data. Unweighted medians of the same-year cohort; not a population-weighted world average.

Population of New Caledonia. Solid line: estimates (1950–2023). Dashed line: medium-variant projections (2024–2100). UN WPP, WPP2024 Demographic Indicators Medium.

Data table

Year	Population	Status
1950	63,335	estimate
1960	78,503	estimate
1970	106,808	estimate
1980	148,988	estimate
1990	174,099	estimate
2000	220,774	estimate
2010	259,139	estimate
2020	283,701	estimate
2030	306,437	projection
2040	326,687	projection
2050	340,136	projection
2060	346,246	projection
2070	347,498	projection
2080	346,245	projection
2090	343,184	projection
2100	337,573	projection
2101	336,869	projection

Age structure of New Caledonia as a share of population. World Bank WDI, World Development Indicators.

Data table

Year	Ages 65+	Status
1960	3.4% aged 65+	actual
1965	3.3% aged 65+	actual
1970	3.2% aged 65+	actual
1975	3.6% aged 65+	actual
1980	3.9% aged 65+	actual
1985	4.1% aged 65+	actual
1990	4.3% aged 65+	actual
1995	4.7% aged 65+	actual
2000	5.4% aged 65+	actual
2005	6.3% aged 65+	actual
2010	7.7% aged 65+	actual
2015	8.8% aged 65+	actual
2020	10.3% aged 65+	actual
2025	11.8% aged 65+	actual

Economy

National accounts and related World Bank series. Totals are not comparable as “averages” across countries; rates such as GDP per capita include same-year cohort medians where coverage allows.

Gross domestic product: $8.55 billion
2024 · World Bank WDI · Actual · World Development Indicators
GDP per capita: $29,213
2024 · World Bank WDI · Actual · World Development Indicators
GDP growth: −13.5 percent
2024 · World Bank WDI · Actual · World Development Indicators
GNI per capita: $30,070
2024 · World Bank WDI · Actual · World Development Indicators
Inflation, consumer prices: 0.6 percent
2016 · World Bank WDI · Actual · World Development Indicators
Unemployment, totalProjection: 10.8 percent of labour force
2026 · ILOSTAT · Projection · ILOSTAT modelled estimates (annual)
New Caledonia’s unemployment is above the Melanesia median of 5.1 (5 profiles with 2026 data), and above the median of 5.1 among 178 core profiles with 2026 data. Unweighted medians of the same-year cohort; not a population-weighted world average.
Trade: 40.4 percent of GDP
2024 · World Bank WDI · Actual · World Development Indicators
Access to electricity: 100%
2024 · World Bank WDI · Actual · World Development Indicators
Individuals using the Internet: 82%
2017 · World Bank WDI · Actual · World Development Indicators
Labour force participation rateProjection: 56.1 percent of population ages 15+
2026 · ILOSTAT · Projection · ILOSTAT modelled estimates (annual)
New Caledonia’s lfpr is close to Melanesia median of 57.1 (5 profiles with 2026 data), and below the median of 62 among 174 core profiles with 2026 data. Unweighted medians of the same-year cohort; not a population-weighted world average.
Employment-to-population ratioProjection: 50 percent of population ages 15+
2026 · ILOSTAT · Projection · ILOSTAT modelled estimates (annual)
Youth unemployment rateProjection: 32.8 percent of labour force ages 15–24
2026 · ILOSTAT · Projection · ILOSTAT modelled estimates (annual)

GDP of New Caledonia in current US dollars. World Bank WDI, World Development Indicators.

Data table

Year	GDP	Status
1965	$160 million	actual
1969	$263 million	actual
1973	$542 million	actual
1977	$838 million	actual
1981	$973 million	actual
1985	$855 million	actual
1989	$2.19 billion	actual
1993	$2.82 billion	actual
1997	$3.29 billion	actual
2001	$3.3 billion	actual
2005	$6.24 billion	actual
2009	$8.7 billion	actual
2013	$10.2 billion	actual
2017	$9.17 billion	actual
2021	$10.1 billion	actual
2024	$8.55 billion	actual

Development

Human development indices are published only from the latest UNDP HDR series. This build does not invent a substitute index.

Human Development Index: No comparable data
No internationally comparable figure in this build.
Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index: No comparable data
No internationally comparable figure in this build.
Gender Development Index: No comparable data
No internationally comparable figure in this build.
Gender Inequality Index: No comparable data
No internationally comparable figure in this build.
Multidimensional Poverty Index: No comparable data
No internationally comparable figure in this build.

Health and education

Life expectancy and mortality are UN WPP series unless labelled otherwise. Education figures are UNESCO UIS (CC BY-SA, isolated) where a comparable series exists; otherwise they stay missing.

Life expectancy at birthProjection: 79.2 years
2026 · UN WPP · Projection · WPP2024 Demographic Indicators Medium
New Caledonia’s life expectancy is above the Melanesia median of 71 (5 profiles with 2026 data), and above the median of 74.1 among 195 core profiles with 2026 data. Unweighted medians of the same-year cohort; not a population-weighted world average.
Crude death rateProjection: 6.4 per 1,000 population
2026 · UN WPP · Projection · WPP2024 Demographic Indicators Medium
Life expectancy at birth (male)Projection: 76.8 years
2026 · UN WPP · Projection · WPP2024 Demographic Indicators Medium
New Caledonia’s life exp. male is above the Melanesia median of 69.6 (5 profiles with 2026 data), and above the median of 70.9 among 195 core profiles with 2026 data. Unweighted medians of the same-year cohort; not a population-weighted world average.
Life expectancy at birth (female)Projection: 81.7 years
2026 · UN WPP · Projection · WPP2024 Demographic Indicators Medium
New Caledonia’s life exp. female is above the Melanesia median of 72.5 (5 profiles with 2026 data), and above the median of 77.4 among 195 core profiles with 2026 data. Unweighted medians of the same-year cohort; not a population-weighted world average.
Infant mortality rateProjection: 7.9 per 1,000 live births
2026 · UN WPP · Projection · WPP2024 Demographic Indicators Medium
New Caledonia’s infant mortality is below the Melanesia median of 13.2 (5 profiles with 2026 data), and below the median of 11.1 among 195 core profiles with 2026 data. Unweighted medians of the same-year cohort; not a population-weighted world average.
Under-five mortality rateProjection: 10 per 1,000 live births
2026 · UN WPP · Projection · WPP2024 Demographic Indicators Medium
New Caledonia’s u5mr is below the Melanesia median of 16.2 (5 profiles with 2026 data), and below the median of 12.9 among 195 core profiles with 2026 data. Unweighted medians of the same-year cohort; not a population-weighted world average.
Prevalence of undernourishment: 4.9 percent of population
2023 · World Bank WDI · Actual · World Development Indicators
Adult literacy rate: 96.1%
1996 · UNESCO UIS · Actual · UIS Bulk Data Download Service (February 2026)
Youth literacy rate: 99.1%
1996 · UNESCO UIS · Actual · UIS Bulk Data Download Service (February 2026)
Mean years of schooling: 10.7 years
2019 · UNESCO UIS · Actual · UIS Bulk Data Download Service (February 2026)
New Caledonia’s mean years school is close to median of 10.7 among 25 core profiles with 2019 data. Unweighted medians of the same-year cohort; not a population-weighted world average.
School life expectancy: No comparable data
No internationally comparable figure in this build.

Life expectancy at birth in New Caledonia. Dashed line marks medium-variant projections. UN WPP, WPP2024 Demographic Indicators Medium.

Data table

Year	Years	Status
1950	45.1	estimate
1960	52.3	estimate
1970	60.1	estimate
1980	65.6	estimate
1990	69.5	estimate
2000	73.6	estimate
2010	76	estimate
2020	77	estimate
2030	79.9	projection
2040	81.4	projection
2050	82.9	projection
2060	84.2	projection
2070	85.5	projection
2080	86.6	projection
2090	87.7	projection
2100	88.7	projection

Environment

Forest cover is World Bank WDI. CO₂ is the Global Carbon Project series via Our World in Data — not IEA-EDGAR.

Land area: 18,280 km²
2023 · World Bank WDI · Actual · World Development Indicators
Surface area: 18,580 km²
2023 · World Bank WDI · Actual · World Development Indicators
Forest area: 45.8%
2023 · World Bank WDI · Actual · World Development Indicators
New Caledonia’s forest is below the Melanesia median of 63.5% (5 profiles with 2023 data), and above the median of 31.8% among 194 core profiles with 2023 data. Unweighted medians of the same-year cohort; not a population-weighted world average.
CO₂ emissions: 5.3 million tonnes
2024 · OWID / Global Carbon Project · Actual · OWID CO2 data (Global Carbon Project)
CO₂ emissions per capita: 18.1 tonnes per person
2024 · OWID / Global Carbon Project · Actual · OWID CO2 data (Global Carbon Project)
New Caledonia’s co₂ / capita is above the Melanesia median of 0.8 (5 profiles with 2024 data), and above the median of 2.8 among 192 core profiles with 2024 data. Unweighted medians of the same-year cohort; not a population-weighted world average.

CO₂ emissions of New Caledonia. Global Carbon Project via Our World in Data. OWID / Global Carbon Project, OWID CO2 data (Global Carbon Project).

Data table

Year	Million tonnes	Status
1950	0.2	actual
1955	0.7	actual
1960	0.9	actual
1965	1.2	actual
1970	2.4	actual
1975	2.5	actual
1980	2	actual
1985	1.5	actual
1990	1.6	actual
1995	2.1	actual
2000	2.2	actual
2005	2.8	actual
2010	3.7	actual
2015	4.9	actual
2020	5.1	actual
2024	5.3	actual

Geography

Region: Oceania
Subregion: Melanesia
Natural Earth ADM0_A3: NCL
Cartographic size: Tiny state on the 50m globe (point or small polygon)

Outline from Natural Earth 50m Admin 0. Made with Natural Earth. Not a locator map.

Government

Classification is descriptive and is not a recognition of legal claims.Map and status policy.

Status: Dependency
Publication tier: Additional profile
Related ISO alpha-3: FRA
SIDS: Small island developing State

Sources

United Nations World Population Prospects

WPP2024 Demographic Indicators Medium. Vintage 2024 Revision. CC BY 3.0 IGO. Retrieved 2026-09-03. Source file.

Population (2026, projection; series TPopulation1Jan)
Life expectancy at birth (2026, projection; series LEx)
Population (1 July) (2026, projection; series TPopulation1July)
Population growth rate (2026, projection; series PopGrowthRate)
Population density (2026, projection; series PopDensity)
Median age (2026, projection; series MedianAgePop)
Population sex ratio (2026, projection; series PopSexRatio)
Total fertility rate (2026, projection; series TFR)
Crude birth rate (2026, projection; series CBR)
Crude death rate (2026, projection; series CDR)
Life expectancy at birth (male) (2026, projection; series LExMale)
Life expectancy at birth (female) (2026, projection; series LExFemale)
Infant mortality rate (2026, projection; series IMR)
Under-five mortality rate (2026, projection; series Q5)
Net number of migrants (2026, projection; series NetMigrations)
Net migration rate (2026, projection; series CNMR)

World Bank World Development Indicators

World Development Indicators. Vintage 13 July 2026. CC BY 4.0. Retrieved 2026-09-03. Source file.

Gross domestic product (2024, actual; series NY.GDP.MKTP.CD)
GDP per capita (2024, actual; series NY.GDP.PCAP.CD)
Land area (2023, actual; series AG.LND.TOTL.K2)
GDP growth (2024, actual; series NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG)
GNI per capita (2024, actual; series NY.GNP.PCAP.CD)
Inflation, consumer prices (2016, actual; series FP.CPI.TOTL.ZG)
Trade (2024, actual; series NE.TRD.GNFS.ZS)
Prevalence of undernourishment (2023, actual; series SN.ITK.DEFC.ZS)
Urban population (2025, actual; series SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS)
Population ages 0–14 (2025, actual; series SP.POP.0014.TO.ZS)
Population ages 15–64 (2025, actual; series SP.POP.1564.TO.ZS)
Population ages 65 and above (2025, actual; series SP.POP.65UP.TO.ZS)
Surface area (2023, actual; series AG.SRF.TOTL.K2)
Access to electricity (2024, actual; series EG.ELC.ACCS.ZS)
Individuals using the Internet (2017, actual; series IT.NET.USER.ZS)
Forest area (2023, actual; series AG.LND.FRST.ZS)
Alternate: Population (2025, actual; series SP.POP.TOTL)
Alternate: Life expectancy at birth (2024, actual; series SP.DYN.LE00.IN)
Alternate: Population growth rate (2025, actual; series SP.POP.GROW)
Alternate: Population density (2023, actual; series EN.POP.DNST)
Alternate: Total fertility rate (2024, actual; series SP.DYN.TFRT.IN)
Alternate: Crude birth rate (2024, actual; series SP.DYN.CBRT.IN)
Alternate: Crude death rate (2024, actual; series SP.DYN.CDRT.IN)
Alternate: Life expectancy at birth (male) (2024, actual; series SP.DYN.LE00.MA.IN)
Alternate: Life expectancy at birth (female) (2024, actual; series SP.DYN.LE00.FE.IN)
Alternate: Net number of migrants (2025, actual; series SM.POP.NETM)
Alternate: Unemployment, total (2025, actual; series SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS)

ILOSTAT

ILOSTAT modelled estimates (annual). Vintage ILOSTAT December 2025. CC BY 4.0. Retrieved 2026-09-03. Source file.

Unemployment, total (2026, projection; series UNE_2EAP_SEX_AGE_RT)
Labour force participation rate (2026, projection; series EAP_2WAP_SEX_AGE_RT)
Employment-to-population ratio (2026, projection; series EMP_2WAP_SEX_AGE_RT)
Youth unemployment rate (2026, projection; series UNE_2EAP_SEX_AGE_RT)

UNESCO Institute for Statistics

UIS Bulk Data Download Service (February 2026). Vintage UIS February 2026. CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO. Retrieved 2026-09-03. Source file.

Adult literacy rate (1996, actual; series LR.AG15T99)
Youth literacy rate (1996, actual; series LR.AG15T24)
Mean years of schooling (2019, actual; series MYS.1T8.AG25T99)

Our World in Data (Global Carbon Project)

OWID CO2 data (Global Carbon Project). Vintage OWID CO₂ December 2025. CC BY 4.0. Retrieved 2026-09-03. Source file.

CO₂ emissions (2024, actual; series co2)
CO₂ emissions per capita (2024, actual; series co2_per_capita)

Names, classifications, and boundaries are for statistical and cartographic use and do not constitute recognition of legal claims.