HEAD TO HEAD
Australia vs Papua New Guinea
Verdict
Australia holds a 95–5 advantage over Papua New Guinea on the Relative Advantage Index, a decisive margin.
The margin is driven by military spending (100% of the combined total, $35.3bn) and economic size (GDP) (98% of the combined total, $1.8tn).
1 factor — nuclear warheads — could not be scored because the figure is unpublished for at least one side. Those factors are excluded and the remaining weights renormalised, never substituted.
Factor by factor
| Factor | Australia | Share | Papua New Guinea | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Military spending SIPRI Milex | $35.3bn | 100%0% | $106m | 33% |
Economic size (GDP) World Bank WDI | $1.8tn | 98%2% | $31.8bn | 27% |
Active personnel COW NMC | 60.0k | 94%6% | 4.0k | 20% |
Logistics & power projection OurAirports | 213 | 83%17% | 43 | 20% |
Shares are each side's portion of the combined total for that factor. Weights are renormalised across the factors both sides publish — see the methodology. Data read 2026-10-22.
