568 cases of primary carcinoma of the liver were recorded as having been histologically diagnosed in Papua New Guinea during a period of 25 years (1962-1986). Though the reported annual incidence rate of 0.9/100,000 population is low, the age incidence pattern suggests that this is a high incidence area. We strongly recommend fine needle aspiration cytology for the diagnosis of primary carcinoma of liver. This will increase the number of confirmed diagnoses in developing countries.