Oceania
To which language should you translate to localize in Tonga?
Introduction
Language
Official language
English and Tongan
English is the only language spoken in the home for close to 72.7% of the population. The next most common languages spoken at home are: Mandarin (2.5%) and Arabic (1.4%)
T-index
0.00079%
T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales.
Actual languages
Indigenous: Australian Aboriginal languages, Tasmanian languages, Torres Strait Island languages
Demography
Capital: Nuku’alofa
Currency: paʻanga
Population: 106,759 thousands (2021)
Population density: 130/km2
Economy
GDP: 488,829,964 USD (2020)
GDP per capita: 4,624.8 USD (2020)
Exports: $10.2 million (2020)
Statistics
Internet users: 41.3%, 44.2 thousands (2022)
Unemployment rate: 1.09% (2019)
Urbanisation: 23.13% (2018)
Literacy: 99.39% (2018)
Conventions
Numbering system
Arabic numerals with dot as decimal separator, comma as thousands separator
Date format: yyyy-mm-dd / dd-mm-yyyy
Time: 24h time system (a.m/p.m)
Country code: 00676
ldatlas/Britannica//EF/Wikipedia; Demography data sources: IMF/Worldometers; Conventions data source: Wikipedia; Economy data sources: WTO/OEC/CIA/Esomar/Datareportal; Statistics data sources: Datareportal/WorldBank/UN/UNESCO/CEIC/IMF/Culturalatlas/Commisceoglobal
Facts and data
Economy
Imports
$141 m (2020). Poultry Meat ($7.09M), Sheep and Goat Meat ($5.7M), Sawn Wood ($4.01M), Electrical Transformers ($4.01M), and Cars ($3.99M), importing mostly from New Zealand ($51.9M), China ($33.7M), Australia ($12.9M), United States ($11.9M), and Japan ($6.6M).
Ease of doing business
It is moderately easy to conduct business (rated 61.4 out of 100) ranked 14th out of 25 countries in East Asia Pacific countries , ranked 103rd out of 190 countries worldwide (2019, World Bank)
Exports
$10.2 m (2020). Processed Fruits and Nuts ($1.57M), Other Vegetables ($1.48M), Cassava ($1.03M), Coral and Shells ($959k), and Processed Crustaceans ($947k), exporting mostly to United States ($3.12M), New Zealand ($2.08M), Australia ($1.57M), South Korea ($1.31M), and Japan ($543k).
Economic freedom
‘Moderately free’ (60.8 out of 100) ranked 17th out of 40 Asia-Pacific countries ranked 83rd out of 186 countries worldwide (2019, Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal)
Economy data sources: WTO/OEC/CIA/Esomar/Datareportal
Service Exports (2013)
Source: OEC
Service Imports (2013)
Source: OEC
Most specialised products by RCA Index
Specialisation is measured using Revealed Comparative Advantage, an index that takes the ratio between Tonga observed and expected exports in each product
Source: OEC
Most complex products by PCI Index
Product Complexity Index measures the knowledge intensity of a product by considering the knowledge intensity of its exporters
Source: OEC
Export Opportunities by Relatedness
Specialisation is measured using Revealed Comparative Advantage, an index that takes the ratio between Tonga observed and expected exports in each product
Source: OEC
T-index
Reach most of the online purchasing power
T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales. It estimates the market share of each country in relation to global e-commerce.
Try it nowMedia
Media language English, Tongan
Information channels
State radio and TV tend to be pro-government, while private broadcasters offer little independent local coverage. Privately-owned newspapers carry opposition views, but journalists can face harassment and threats of criminal charges. A Department of Information oversees all media reporting, US-based Freedom House notes.
The press
Tonga Daily News – weekly newspaper and online news service
Times of Tonga – privately-owned, published from New Zealand
Matangi Tonga – privately-owned magazine; website carries news in English
Television
Tonga Broadcasting Commission – state-owned, operates Television Tonga
DigiTV – digital cable TV
Radio
Tonga Broadcasting Commission – state-owned, operates mediumwave (AM) station Radio Tonga 1 and Kool 90FM
Tonga Radio “Magic” 89.1 FM – private
Letio Faka-Kalisitiane 93FM – private, Christian
Radio Nuku’alofa – private
Media data source: BBC
Internet Data
Internet users
41.3%, 44.2 thousands (2022)
Share of web traffic by device
46.47% mobile phones, 52.15% computers (laptops and desktops), 1.37% tablet devices, others 0.01%
Mobile connections as a percentage of total population:
106.7%
Percentage of mobile connections that are broadband (3G-5G)
59%
Most popular web search engines
Google (94.21%), Bing (2.19%),Yahoo (1.55%), Duckduckgo (1.17%), Baidu (0.61%), Shenma (0.1%)
Most used social media
Facebook (88.82%), Pinterest (6.74%), Instagram (1.83%), Twitter(1.58%), YouTube (0.77%), Tumblr (0.15%)
Internet data sources: Datareportal/Statcounter
Social statistics
Life expectancy
70.7 yrs (2017)
Average age of the population
22.4 yrs (2020)
Healthcare expenditure
4.41% of GDP (2018)
Cultural Curiosities
There is a more relaxed approach towards business, and building a relationship of trust with your business counterpart is fundamental.
‘Anga fakatonga’ (the Tongan way) is very important, and Tongans tend to want to explain and show their customs and traditions to foreigners.
Social statistics sources: WorldBank/UN/UNESCO/CEIC/IMF
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Language research
Languages spoken in Tonga
The geographical distribution of languages that you will find in the maps published in this section is a work in progress. Our community is helping us to fill it up with always new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write to imminent.factbook@translated.com
Photo credit: Jovi Waqa, Unsplash