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Sub-region of Oceania · Country Index 2026

Polynesia

How are the countries of Polynesia doing?

Polynesia’s two placed countries are Samoa, 89th of 183 in the Country Index 2026, and Tonga, joint 97th. The region’s median is the better of the two, 89th, which places the region 12th of 22 sub-regions. 5 more of its 7 countries and territories are not placed.

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PolynesiaUN M49 061

Polynesia, shown in red on a map of the world

89th

median position of 183 · 12th of 22 sub-regions

Oceania →median 97th

01Who is in it

The countries of Polynesia

Alphabetical, with each country’s own banner photograph. The position is its place in the whole world ranking, never within the region.

02The region

About Polynesia

The central and southern Pacific islands, from Samoa to French Polynesia.

Polynesia is the great triangle of the central and southern Pacific with Hawaii, New Zealand and Easter Island at its corners. In the UN’s classification the sub-region covers the islands within it — Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, the Cook Islands, Niue and French Polynesia among them — while New Zealand is counted with Australia and Hawaii with the United States.

Polynesian navigators settled these islands over many centuries, finding their way across open ocean by the stars, the swells and the flight of birds. European contact came from the sixteenth century, and many islands became colonies or protectorates of Britain, France, New Zealand or the United States. Samoa, Tonga and Tuvalu are independent states, while the Cook Islands and Niue are self-governing in free association with New Zealand.

03Where

Polynesia on the map

Each member shaded by its position in the Country Index 2026, darkest for the best placed; the countries across its land borders in grey. Hover a country for its position, or select it to open its profile.

Beyond this frame, across the date line: Tuvalu.

Country Index position: 1st183rdMember, not placedAcross the border, another regionNot a country this site tracks

04Country Index 2026

Where Polynesia’s countries place

Best placed first. Every position is a place in the whole world ranking of 183, never a second list within the region; “=” marks a position shared with another country. Hover the ⓘ for where a country would sit if any one key statistic were dropped.

The full Country Index 2026
Polynesia’s 2 placed countries by their Country Index 2026 position, best placed first.
In regionCountryIn the world1st183rd
1Samoa89 / 183between 80th and 95th if any one key were dropped · standings on 15 of 16 topics
2Tonga97 / 183between 88th and 114th if any one key were dropped · standings on 15 of 16 topics

A further 5 of its countries and territories are not placed: the Country Index 2026 places a country only once it holds a standing on 12 of its 16 voting topics. American Samoa, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Niue and Tuvalu.

Polynesia among the 22 sub-regions with a median

12th of 22. Nothing is weighted by population or size.

  1. Western Europe8thPlaced countries run from Switzerland 1st to France 19th.
  2. Northern Europe11thPlaced countries run from Denmark 2nd to Latvia 26th.
  3. Australia and New Zealand17thPlaced countries run from Australia 17th to New Zealand 19th.
  4. Northern America24thPlaced countries run from Canada 24th to United States 37th.
  5. Southern Europe31stPlaced countries run from Slovenia 14th to Bosnia and Herzegovina 62nd.
  6. Eastern Asia42ndPlaced countries run from South Korea 13th to Mongolia 75th.
  7. Eastern Europe43rdPlaced countries run from Czechia 10th to Russia 73rd.
  8. Central America80thPlaced countries run from Costa Rica 40th to Nicaragua 134th.
  9. Caribbean81stPlaced countries run from Barbados 67th to Haiti 173rd.
  10. South America83rdPlaced countries run from Uruguay 35th to Venezuela 133rd.
  11. South-eastern Asia86thPlaced countries run from Singapore 25th to Myanmar 159th.
  12. Polynesia89thPlaced countries run from Samoa 89th to Tonga 97th.
  13. Western Asia95thPlaced countries run from Cyprus 33rd to Yemen 181st.
  14. Central Asia102ndPlaced countries run from Kazakhstan 61st to Turkmenistan 158th.
  15. Southern Asia106thPlaced countries run from Bhutan 52nd to Afghanistan 175th.
  16. Melanesia107thPlaced countries run from Fiji 64th to Papua New Guinea 144th.
  17. Micronesia109thPlaced countries run from Kiribati 109th to Kiribati 109th.
  18. Northern Africa116thPlaced countries run from Tunisia 104th to Sudan 179th.
  19. Southern Africa121stPlaced countries run from South Africa 93rd to Eswatini 147th.
  20. Western Africa148thPlaced countries run from Cabo Verde 94th to Guinea-Bissau 171st.
  21. Eastern Africa153rdPlaced countries run from Mauritius 45th to South Sudan 183rd.
  22. Middle Africa166thPlaced countries run from São Tomé and Príncipe 115th to Chad 180th.
  23. Oceania, the whole continent97th
  24. The world’s midpoint91st
1st183rdmedian

The square is each region’s median position; the grey bar runs from its best-placed to its lowest-placed country. Hover a row for their names.

05By subject

Topic by topic

Every country’s position on each topic, its shade darker the higher it sits in that topic’s field; select a cell for the country’s page on the topic. Strongest for Polynesia: Poverty & Inequality, 1st of 21 sub-regions. Weakest: Digital & Technology, 20th of 22.

All topics
Polynesia: each country’s position on each topic, with the region’s median and its place among sub-regions.
Poverty & InequalityEnvironment & SustainabilityGender & EqualityDemocracy & Civil LibertiesEducation & KnowledgeEnergyHealth & WellbeingMobility & TradeRisk & ResilienceDevelopment & Human CapitalEconomy & InnovationGovernance & InstitutionsWork & LabourFood & AgricultureDigital & TechnologyPeace & SecurityMoney & Public FinancePeople & Population
Samoa99 of 15925 of 18656 of 18367 of 19899 of 19868 of 16595 of 20073 of 17794 of 193136 of 19691 of 176106 of 194152 of 182128 of 184152 of 198No standingNo standingNo standing
Tonga15 of 15995 of 18694 of 18377 of 19890 of 198120 of 16564 of 20055 of 177113 of 193115 of 196146 of 176124 of 194103 of 182169 of 184159 of 198No standingNo standingNo standing
American SamoaNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standing139 of 165No standing151 of 177No standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standing
Cook IslandsNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standing91 of 19861 of 16598 of 200No standingNo standing1 of 196No standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standing
French PolynesiaNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standing76 of 165No standing122 of 177No standingNo standingNo standingNo standing128 of 182No standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standing
NiueNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standing133 of 198No standing142 of 200No standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standing
TuvaluNo standingNo standingNo standing19 of 19830 of 198No standing106 of 200No standing77 of 193155 of 196No standing172 of 194No standingNo standing191 of 198No standingNo standingNo standing
Region median15th of 15925th of 18656th of 18367th of 19891st of 19876th of 16598th of 20073rd of 17794th of 193115th of 19691st of 176124th of 194128th of 182128th of 184159th of 198———
Among sub-regions1st of 213rd of 218th of 219th of 2212th of 2212th of 2112th of 2212th of 2212th of 2213th of 2213th of 2116th of 2217th of 2118th of 2220th of 22———

Columns run from the topic where Polynesia places best among sub-regions to the one where it places lowest. A region’s median on a topic needs at least two members with a standing; a hatched cell has no standing.

06In numbers

Polynesia in 6 numbers

Each line is every country in the world at its published value; Polynesia’s countries are the red ticks, and the dashed line is the world median. There is no regional average: a region has countries, not a life expectancy of its own.

All statistics

  • Population

    people · log scale

    UN DESA Population Division · 2023 · 222 countries · no better end

    NiueTuvaluCook IslandsAmerican SamoaTongaSamoaFrench Polynesia496world median 6,541,4131,438,069,596

  • Land area

    km²

    FAO · 2024 · 221 countries · no better end

    TuvaluAmerican SamoaCook IslandsNiue0.4world median 87,58916,376,870

  • GDP per person

    international $, PPP · log scale

    World Bank Group · 2025 · 185 countries · higher is better

    No reading: American Samoa, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Niue

    TuvaluTongaSamoa1,067world median 17,265139,593

  • Life expectancy

    years at birth

    UN DESA Population Division · 2023 · 222 countries · higher is better

    TuvaluNiueSamoaAmerican SamoaTongaCook IslandsFrench Polynesia54.46world median 74.6386.37

  • Human development

    HDI, 0–1

    UNDP Human Development Report Office · 2023 · 193 countries · higher is better

    No reading: American Samoa, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Niue

    TuvaluSamoaTonga0.388world median 0.7620.972

  • Unemployment

    % of the labour force

    ILO · 2025 · 182 countries · lower is better

    No reading: American Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue, Tuvalu

    TongaSamoaFrench Polynesia0.13world median 5.08434.2
Every value for Polynesia’s countries
CountryPopulation 2023Land area 2024GDP per person 2025Life expectancy 2023Human development 2023Unemployment 2025
American Samoa47,521rank 203199rank 204—72.85rank 130——
Cook Islands14,222rank 217240rank 202—75.28rank 106——
French Polynesia281,118rank 1813,521rank 170—84.07rank 6—11.66rank 26
Niue1,817rank 221259rank 201—69.98rank 157——
Samoa216,663rank 1832,780rank 1717,963rank 13071.7rank 1420.708rank 1224.996rank 97
Tonga104,597rank 192720rank 1837,413rank 13472.89rank 1270.769rank 922.008rank 166
Tuvalu9,816rank 21926rank 2175,776rank 14367.1rank 1790.689rank 129—

07In records

Polynesia in records

The member at the extreme of each statistic, read from its newest edition. Where two members share the top, no record is named.

08Latest editions

Who rose and fell in the published ranks

The moves of Polynesia’s countries between each report’s two newest editions, in the publisher’s own ranks. A report whose field changed by more than 5% is left out.

Ranks as published by UNDP Human Development Report Office in the Human Development Index: reference years 2022 (192 countries ranked) → 2023 (193 ranked), both from its 2025 report.

Improved most

rank before → after
  1. Samoa123 → 122+1
  2. Tuvalu130 → 129+1

Declined most

rank before → after
  1. Tonga91 → 92−1
Every country in the Human Development Index

09Keep reading

Explore further

All regions

The rest of Oceania

10Method

Questions, method and sources

Which countries are in Polynesia?

7 countries and territories: American Samoa, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Niue, Samoa, Tonga and Tuvalu. Membership follows the United Nations’ M49 classification.

Which country in Polynesia is placed highest?

Samoa, placed 89th of 183 in the Country Index 2026. Tonga is placed lowest, joint 97th. 2 of the region’s 7 countries and territories are placed; the rest hold standings on too few topics.

How does Polynesia compare with other regions?

Its median is 89th of 183 — with two placed countries, the better of the two positions, which places it 12th of 22 sub-regions. The median across Oceania is 97th. The middle of the whole field is 91st. Nothing is weighted by population or size.

How many people live in Polynesia?

675,754 in 2023, the sum of the UN DESA Population Division’s figures for its 7 countries and territories.

What is the largest country in Polynesia?

By land area, French Polynesia: 3,521 square kilometres (2024). By population, French Polynesia: 281,118 people (2023).

How a region’s figure is made
  1. Membership. Countries belong to regions by the United Nations’ M49 classification; each country declares its sub-region, and a continent is the sum of its sub-regions.
  2. Positions. Each country’s position is its Country Index 2026 result, unchanged. This page slices the world ranking by place; it does not re-rank anyone.
  3. The median. A region’s figure is the median of its placed countries’ positions: half sit at or above it, half below. With an even number of placed countries it takes the better of the two middle positions, since there is no country at a half place. Countries the index does not place are named, never counted in.
  4. A place among peers. Continents are compared with continents and sub-regions with sub-regions, never a part with the whole that contains it; regions sharing a median share a place. Nothing is weighted by population or size, and population and land area are the only figures ever added up.

Where the regions come from

United Nations Statistics Division, Standard country or area codes for statistical use (M49). M49’s middle level (Sub-Saharan Africa; Latin America and the Caribbean) is left out, so every sub-region sits directly under its continent. Kosovo, Northern Cyprus and Somaliland are not in M49 and are placed by geography.

Where the positions come from

Every position is a country’s result in the Country Index 2026 or one of its topics, unchanged. The population and land-area figures are the UN DESA Population Division’s and the FAO’s, added up and shown with their year; every other statistic names its publisher beside its numbers.

Photographs

Each country’s own banner from its profile: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.

Cite this page

Nations Inquiry (2026). Polynesia: countries, population and rankings, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/regions/polynesia

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