Papua New Guinea's first national census in 11 years is expected to confirm a growing trend of urbanisation.
The census was meant to be held last year but was delayed because of logistical and funding problems.
The director of the Institute for National Affairs, Paul Barker, says based on a high population growth of about 2.7 percent they believe the population probably exceeds seven million now.
And he says more people are moving towards the cities.
"There's a feeling that over the last 10/11 years there's been a major shift towards the urban areas partly as a result of perceived opportunities in the towns and the poor services that are available for people out in the rural areas and we really want to know to what extent that has been occurring and to which towns."
Paul Barker says detailed results from the census won't be available until next year.
