World Factbook
Liberia
Republic of Liberia
Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)
Languages
English 20% (official) and 27 indigenous languages, including Liberian English variants
Religions
Christian 84.9%, Muslim 12%, Traditional 0.5%, other 0.1%, none 2.6% (2022 est.)
Sex ratio
at birth
1.03 male(s)/female
0-14 years
1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years
0.99 male(s)/female
total population
1 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
65 years and over
0.87 male(s)/female
Birth rate
31.72 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Death rate
8.17 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Median age
male
19.8 years
total
20.1 years (2025 est.)
female
20 years
Population
male
2,774,006
total
5,563,541 (2025 est.)
female
2,789,535
Nationality
noun
Liberian(s)
adjective
Liberian
Tobacco use
male
11.5% (2025 est.)
total
6.4% (2025 est.)
female
1.5% (2025 est.)
Urbanization
urban population
53.6% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization
3.41% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)
Age structure
0-14 years
38.9% (male 1,064,100/female 1,052,556)
15-64 years
57.9% (male 1,566,263/female 1,579,835)
65 years and over
3.2% (2024 est.) (male 80,961/female 93,534)
Ethnic groups
Kpelle 20.2%, Bassa 13.6%, Grebo 9.9%, Gio 7.9%, Mano 7.2%, Kru 5.5%, Lorma 4.8%, Krahn 4.5%, Kissi, 4.3%, Mandingo 4.2%, Vai 3.8%, Gola 3.8%, Gbandi 2.9%, Mende 1.7%, Sapo 1%, Belle 0.7%, Dey 0.3%, other Liberian ethnic group 0.4%, other African 3%, non-African 0.2% (2022 est.)
Child marriage
men married by age 18
8.4% (2020)
women married by age 15
5.8% (2020)
women married by age 18
24.9% (2020)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio
72 (2025 est.)
youth dependency ratio
66.4 (2025 est.)
potential support ratio
18 (2025 est.)
elderly dependency ratio
5.6 (2025 est.)
Physician density
0.18 physicians/1,000 population (2022)
Health expenditure
Health expenditure (as % of GDP)
16.6% of GDP (2021)
Health expenditure (as % of national budget)
4.8% of national budget (2022 est.)
Net migration rate
-0.84 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Hospital bed density
1.6 beds/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Total fertility rate
3.84 children born/woman (2025 est.)
Drinking water source
improved: rural
rural: 65.5% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 75.6% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 84.6% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 34.5% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 24.4% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 15.4% of population (2022 est.)
Education expenditure
Education expenditure (% GDP)
2.3% of GDP (2023 est.)
Education expenditure (% national budget)
7.4% national budget (2021 est.)
Infant mortality rate
male
61 deaths/1,000 live births
total
55.2 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)
female
50.2 deaths/1,000 live births
Population growth rate
2.27% (2025 est.)
Gross reproduction rate
1.89 (2025 est.)
Population distribution
more than half of the population lives in urban areas, with approximately one third living within an 80-km (50-mi) radius of Monrovia, as shown in this population distribution map
Life expectancy at birth
male
59.9 years
female
63.3 years
total population
61.6 years (2024 est.)
Maternal mortality ratio
628 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Sanitation facility access
improved: rural
rural: 25.1% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 49% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 70.1% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 74.9% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 51% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 29.9% of population (2022 est.)
Alcohol consumption per capita
beer
0.38 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine
0.44 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total
3.12 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits
2.28 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols
0.02 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Major urban areas - population
1.678 million MONROVIA (capital) (2023)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
9.9% (2016)
Mother's mean age at first birth
19.1 years (2019/20 est.)
note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49
Currently married women (ages 15-49)
51.4% (2020 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
10.9% (2019 est.)