World Factbook
Libya
Dawlat Libiya
Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)
Languages
Languages
Arabic (official), Italian, English (all widely understood in the major cities); Tamazight (Nafusi, Ghadamis, Suknah, Awjilah, Tamasheq)
major-language sample(s)
كتاب حقائق العالم، المصدر الذي لا يمكن الاستغناء عنه للمعلومات الأساسية (Arabic) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Religions
Muslim (official; virtually all Sunni) 96.6%, Christian 2.7%, Buddhist <1%, Hindu <1%, Jewish <1%, folk religion <1%, other <1%, unaffiliated <1% (2020 est.)
note: non-Sunni Muslims include native Ibadhi Muslims (<1% of the population) and foreign Muslims
Sex ratio
at birth
1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years
1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years
1.05 male(s)/female
total population
1.04 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
65 years and over
0.82 male(s)/female
Birth rate
19.83 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Death rate
3.48 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Median age
male
26.3 years
total
26.4 years (2025 est.)
female
26.2 years
Population
male
3,747,364
note
note: immigrants make up just over 12% of the total population, according to UN data (2019)
total
7,361,263 (2024 est.)
female
3,613,899
Nationality
noun
Libyan(s)
adjective
Libyan
Urbanization
urban population
81.6% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization
1.45% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Age structure
0-14 years
32.3% (male 1,211,087/female 1,165,648)
15-64 years
63.2% (male 2,385,152/female 2,263,780)
65 years and over
4.6% (2024 est.) (male 151,125/female 184,471)
Ethnic groups
Amazigh and Arab 97%, other 3% (includes Egyptian, Greek, Indian, Italian, Maltese, Pakistani, Tunisian, and Turkish)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio
58.3 (2024 est.)
youth dependency ratio
51.1 (2024 est.)
potential support ratio
13.9 (2024 est.)
elderly dependency ratio
7.2 (2024 est.)
Physician density
2.04 physicians/1,000 population (2017)
Health expenditure
5.1% of national budget (2022 est.)
Net migration rate
-2.89 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Hospital bed density
3.2 beds/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Total fertility rate
2.96 children born/woman (2025 est.)
Drinking water source
improved: total
total: 99.9% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 0.1% of population (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate
male
12.1 deaths/1,000 live births
total
10.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)
female
9.3 deaths/1,000 live births
Population growth rate
1.35% (2025 est.)
Gross reproduction rate
1.44 (2025 est.)
Population distribution
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 its lack of surface water, as shown in this population distribution map
Life expectancy at birth
male
75.5 years
female
80 years
total population
77.7 years (2024 est.)
Maternal mortality ratio
59 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Sanitation facility access
improved: total
total: 99.3% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 0.7% of population (2022 est.)
Alcohol consumption per capita
beer
0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine
0.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total
0.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits
0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols
0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Major urban areas - population
1.183 million TRIPOLI (capital), 984,000 Misratah, 859,000 Benghazi (2023)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
32.5% (2016)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
4.3% (2022 est.)