New Caledonia

Economy & income

Currency

• CFP franc (XPF, symbol F / ₣)
• pegged to EUR at 1,000 XPF = 8.38 EUR (~119.33 XPF/EUR)
• ~105 XPF per USD (13 Jul 2026)

GDP per capita

• ~$29,213 nominal (2024, World Bank), down from ~$34,981 (2023) after the May-2024 civil unrest/nickel crisis
• total GDP ~$8.55B (2024)
• PPP not published by World Bank (older CIA est. ~$31,100, 2015)

Average salary

• ~$2,760 net/mo (livingcost, 2026)
• ISEE private-sector mean ~299,000 XPF (~$2,850) net full-time (2022)
• Numbeo self-reported skews higher (~$3,900)

Median salary

• ~$2,760 net (livingcost median, 2026)
• ISEE publishes salaire médian (2022) but exact figure n/a from consulted sources

Minimum wage

• SMG 167,602 XPF/mo gross (~$1,600/mo; ~€1,404) from 1 Jun 2025
• hourly 991.73 XPF
• agricultural SMAG 142,462 XPF/mo

Cost of living

• High — livingcost: single person ~$1,911/mo (2026)
• very high prices from imported goods & remote-Pacific logistics
• 1-BR centre rent ~$1,193/mo (Numbeo, Feb 2026)

Digital landscape

Population

• ~0.27 million (Apr-2025 census: 264,596; down from 271,407 in 2019)
• DataReportal est. 296K (Oct 2025)

Internet users

82.0% (~243K users) (DataReportal, Oct 2025)

Social media users

50.7% (~150K identities; 68% of adults 18+) (DataReportal, Oct 2025)

Mobile connections

291K cellular connections = 98.3% of population (DataReportal, end 2025)

Devices

mobile ~42.2% / desktop ~53.1% / tablet ~4.8% (StatCounter, Jun 2026 — unusually desktop-heavy)

Ad spend

• n/a — DataReportal Digital 2026 New Caledonia omits ad-spend figures
• small market with spend concentrated in Meta/Google plus local TV, radio and press

Top social platforms

Facebook ~150K, 50.7%

Messenger ~127K, 42.8%

LinkedIn ~97K, 32.8%

Instagram ~68K, 22.9%

Reddit ~26K, 8.8%

X/Twitter ~12K, 4.1%

Messengers

• Facebook Messenger (~127K, dominant)
• WhatsApp (widely used; no NC-specific reach figure)
• Instagram DM
• Snapchat

Payments & behaviour

Payment methods

• Bank cards / Cartes Bancaires (Visa & Mastercard via local banks BNC, BCI, Société Générale Calédonienne, BNP Paribas NC)
• EpayNC (CSB) online payment gateway for local e-commerce
• SEPA COM Pacific bank transfer (links to EU/France)
• OPT-NC / CCP (Infinéo) accounts & cards

E-wallets

• PayPal (main usable e-wallet, esp. for cross-border/offshore)
• Apple Pay & Google Pay NOT available (no NC bank supports them as of 2026)
• Neteller/Skrill largely unavailable

Cash on delivery

• Low — Shop.nc and local retailers use prepay + delivery or click-and-collect
• cash-on-delivery not a standard e-commerce method

E-commerce

• Growing but modest
• Shop.nc is the main local marketplace (~180 merchants, ~150K products)
• cross-border shopping (Amazon.fr, Cdiscount) relies on mail-forwarding services (ColisExpat, Easy-Delivery)

Notes

CFP franc is EUR-pegged and NC sits in the SEPA COM Pacific zone, so France-based e-commerce + forwarding dominates cross-border spend

Audience & culture

Languages

• French (official lingua franca, ~97%+)
• 28 Kanak languages — Drehu, Nengone, Paicî, Ajië most spoken (~44% of 15+ have some knowledge, 2019)
• Wallisian & Futunan
• Tahitian, Vietnamese, Indonesian (minorities)

Religion

• ~50%+ Roman Catholic
• significant Protestant/Evangelical (Free Evangelical Church & Église Protestante de Kanaky NC), strong among Kanak
• small Muslim (Indonesian) & other minorities

Median age

34.5 years (DataReportal, 2025)

Key seasons

• Southern-hemisphere summer & school holidays (Dec–Feb — peak retail)
• Cyclone/wet season (Nov–Apr — logistics disruption)
• Cool dry winter (Jun–Aug)
• Tourism high season (Sep–Dec)

Cultural notes

• French-speaking, high purchasing power but tiny audience
• Facebook + Messenger are the default channels
• TikTok popular locally (no DataReportal NC reach figure) and driving a new wave of Caledonian creators
• respect for Kanak 'coutume' and Melanesian identity matters in creative

Where to find creators

• TikTok
• Instagram
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Local micro-influencers (Laura NC, Famille Lodier) & DNC/Radio Cocotier coverage

Media landscape

Creators & public figures

Top creators

Celebrities

Christian Karembeu ~120K Instagram

Footballer, 1998 FIFA World Cup & Euro 2000 winner (born Lifou)

Antoine Kombouaré ~3K Instagram (limited social presence)

Ligue 1 football manager & ex-defender (born Nouméa)

J

Juliette Collet ~61K Instagram

Miss Nouvelle-Calédonie 2025, 1st runner-up Miss France 2026

Lara Grangeon n/a (limited public Instagram)

Olympic & open-water swimmer, multiple Pacific Games gold medalist

Déwé Gorodey n/a (deceased 2022)

Celebrated Kanak writer, feminist & politician (1949–2022)

J

Jean-Marie Tjibaou n/a (historical figure)

Iconic Kanak independence leader (1936–1989); namesake of the Tjibaou Cultural Centre

Affiliate & traffic

Hot verticals

• E-commerce/retail (mail-forwarding of France goods)
• Travel & tourism
• Telecom & mobile (OPT/Mobilis, apps)
• Mobile games & apps
• Dating
• Consumer finance/credit (regulated)

Active networks

• Meta Ads (Facebook/Instagram) & Google Ads (dominant buy-side)
• French affiliate networks reachable: Awin, Kwanko, TimeOne, Effiliation, CJ Affiliate
• Shop.nc (local e-commerce marketplace)

Payouts

• CPA/CPL benchmarked to France/EUR
• small volumes
• local advertisers pay in XPF
• premium audience but limited scale

Competition

• Low-to-moderate — tiny (~265K), French-language, high-income but low-volume market dominated by local businesses
• few pure-play affiliates

Seasonality

• Southern-hemisphere
• peak Nov–Dec (Christmas + summer), softer during cyclone season
• 2024–2025 unrest/nickel crisis suppressed spend

Traffic sources

• Facebook & Instagram (Meta)
• Google Search & YouTube
• TikTok (rising)
• Local influencer marketing / micro-influencers

Good to know

Capital

Nouméa

Major cities

• Nouméa
• Dumbéa
• Mont-Dore
• Païta (Greater Nouméa ~180K)
• Koné
• Bourail

Time zones

Single zone UTC+11 (Pacific/Noumea), no daylight saving

Android vs iOS

64% 37%

Android 64% iOS 37%

Phone brands

• Samsung (~46%)
• Apple (~37%)
• Xiaomi (~7%)
• Google Pixel (~2%)
• Huawei (~1%)

Top e-commerce

• Shop.nc (local marketplace, ~180 merchants)
• Amazon.fr (via mail-forwarding)
• Cdiscount (via forwarding)
• Korail (local click & collect)
• AliExpress

Peak activity

Weekday evenings ~18:00–22:00 and midday ~12:00 local (UTC+11); weekend mornings; Facebook-first

Creative taboos

• Kanak independence/decolonization & the 2024 riots over electoral reform
• French colonial history & referendums
• customary land & 'coutume'
• nickel mining/environment
• alcohol (ad-restricted) — handle with care

Also worth knowing

• Meta ecosystem dominates (Facebook ~51% / Messenger ~43%) with unusually high LinkedIn (~33%) and desktop share (~53%)
• CFP franc is EUR-pegged, so pricing is EUR-stable but USD-variable
• the 2024 unrest + nickel-sector crisis sharply cut GDP and ad budgets
• no Apple/Google Pay and cross-border e-commerce runs through mail-forwarding