Population:
6,653,210 (July 2017 est.)
note: immigrants make up just over 12% of the total population, according to UN data (2017)
country comparison to the world: 106
Nationality:
noun: Libyan(s)
adjective: Libyan
Ethnic groups:
Berber and Arab 97%, other 3% (includes Greeks, Maltese, Italians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Turks, Indians, and Tunisians)
Languages:
Arabic (official), Italian, English (all widely understood in the major cities); Berber (Nafusi, Ghadamis, Suknah, Awjilah, Tamasheq)
Religions:
Muslim (official; virtually all Sunni) 96.6%, Christian 2.7%, Buddhist 0.3%, Hindu <0.1, Jewish <0.1, folk religion <0.1, unafilliated 0.2%, other <0.1
note: non-Sunni Muslims include native Ibadhi Muslims (<1% of the population) and foreign Muslims (2010 est.)
religious affiliation:
Demographic profile:
Despite continuing unrest, Libya remains a destination country for economic migrants. It is also a hub for transit migration to Europe because of its proximity to southern Europe and its lax border controls. Labor migrants have been drawn to Libya since the development of its oil sector in the 1960s. Until the latter part of the 1990s, most migrants to Libya were Arab (primarily Egyptians and Sudanese). However, international isolation stemming from Libya’s involvement in international terrorism and a perceived lack of support from Arab countries led QADHAFI in 1998 to adopt a decade-long pan-African policy that enabled large numbers of sub-Saharan migrants to enter Libya without visas to work in the construction and agricultural industries. Although sub-Saharan Africans provided a cheap labor source, they were poorly treated and were subjected to periodic mass expulsions.
By the mid-2000s, domestic animosity toward African migrants and a desire to reintegrate into the international community motivated QADHAFI to impose entry visas on Arab and African immigrants and to agree to joint maritime patrols and migrant repatriations with Italy, the main recipient of illegal migrants departing Libya. As his regime neared collapse in 2011, QADHAFI reversed his policy of cooperating with Italy to curb illegal migration and sent boats loaded with migrants and asylum seekers to strain European resources. Libya’s 2011 revolution decreased immigration drastically and prompted nearly 800,000 migrants to flee to third countries, mainly Tunisia and Egypt, or to their countries of origin. The inflow of migrants declined in 2012 but returned to normal levels by 2013, despite continued hostility toward sub-Saharan Africans and a less-inviting job market.
While Libya is not an appealing destination for migrants, since 2014, transiting migrants – primarily from East and West Africa – continue to exploit its political instability and weak border controls and use it as a primary departure area to migrate across the central Mediterranean to Europe in growing numbers. In addition, more than 200,000 people were displaced internally as of August 2017 by fighting between armed groups in eastern and western Libya and, to a lesser extent, by inter-tribal clashes in the country’s south.
Age structure:
0-14 years: 25.84% (male 879,311/female 839,824)
15-24 years: 17.09% (male 584,117/female 552,680)
25-54 years: 47.28% (male 1,651,362/female 1,494,106)
55-64 years: 5.48% (male 185,679/female 179,224)
65 years and over: 4.31% (male 141,867/female 145,040) (2017 est.)
population pyramid:
Africa ::LIBYA
Population Pyramid
A population pyramid illustrates the age and sex structure of a country's population and may provide insights about political and social stability, as well as economic development. The population is distributed along the horizontal axis, with males shown on the left and females on the right. The male and female populations are broken down into 5-year age groups represented as horizontal bars along the vertical axis, with the youngest age groups at the bottom and the oldest at the top. The shape of the population pyramid gradually evolves over time based on fertility, mortality, and international migration trends.
For additional information, please see the entry for Population pyramid on the Definitions and Notes page under the References tab.
Dependency ratios:
total dependency ratio: 49.1
youth dependency ratio: 42.6
elderly dependency ratio: 6.4
potential support ratio: 15.5 (2015 est.)
Median age:
total: 28.9 years
male: 29.1 years
female: 28.7 years (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 127
Population growth rate:
1.58% (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 68
Birth rate:
17.5 births/1,000 population (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 106
Death rate:
3.6 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 215
Net migration rate:
1.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 48
Population distribution:
well over 90% of the population lives along the Mediterranean coast in and between Tripoli to the west and Al Bayda to the east; the interior remains vastly underpopulated due to the Sahara and lack of surface water
Urbanization:
urban population: 79% of total population (2017)
rate of urbanization: 1.64% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)
Major urban areas - population:
TRIPOLI (capital) 1.126 million (2015)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.1 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.01 male(s)/female
total population: 1.07 male(s)/female (2017 est.)
Maternal mortality ratio:
9 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)
country comparison to the world: 152
Infant mortality rate:
total: 10.8 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 11.7 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 9.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 130
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 76.7 years
male: 74.9 years
female: 78.5 years (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 85
Total fertility rate:
2.04 children born/woman (2017 est.)
country comparison to the world: 114
Contraceptive prevalence rate:
41.9% (2007)
Health expenditures:
5% of GDP (2014)
country comparison to the world: 143
Physicians density:
2.09 physicians/1,000 population (2014)
Hospital bed density:
3.7 beds/1,000 population (2014)
Drinking water source:
improved:
urban: 54.2% of population
rural: 54.9% of population
total: 54.4% of population
unimproved:
urban: 45.8% of population
rural: 45.1% of population
total: 45.6% of population (2001 est.)
Sanitation facility access:
improved:
urban: 96.8% of population
rural: 95.7% of population
total: 96.6% of population
unimproved:
urban: 3.2% of population
rural: 4.3% of population
total: 3.4% of population (2015 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
NA
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
NA
Obesity - adult prevalence rate:
32.5% (2016)
country comparison to the world: 16
Children under the age of 5 years underweight:
5.6% (2007)
country comparison to the world: 86
Education expenditures:
NA
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 91%
male: 96.7%
female: 85.6% (2015 est.)
Unemployment, youth ages 15-24:
total: 48.7%
male: 40.8%
female: 67.8% (2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 8