Liberia

The country card for Liberia: the growth identity’s three terms, population and output, external debt by creditor and the data-quality flag, each with its source.
LBR Monrovia · West Africa Confidence: low
Growth-pole chapters
no growth-pole chapter
Pole types
none assigned
Regional communities
ECOWAS, CEN-SAD
Currency
LRD (L$), dual rate against the dollar
Official languages
en

VintagesWEO April 2026WDI pulled 25 October 2026IDS 2025 (December 2025 release)WPP 2024, medium variantLast refreshed 25 October 2026About the data

The identity

GDP growth is output-per-worker growth plus growth in the employment-to-working-age ratio plus working-age population growth. All three are annual growth rates, so the bar adds.

0Output per worker: -0.98% a yearEmployment-to-working-age ratio: -0.14% a yearWorking-age population (15-64): +2.61% a yearimplied: +1.49% a yearimplied +1.49%observed: +1.46% a yearobserved +1.46%= 0.5 percentage points a year
Growth accounting over 2014-2024. Terms stack away from zero and add to the implied growth rate, which is marked against observed GDP growth on the same scale. A hatched block is a term not yet on the card: it is parked at the right, carries no width, and holds the sum back rather than letting a missing number pass as zero. Implied minus observed: +0.03 percentage points.
  • Output per worker-0.98%
  • Employment-to-working-age ratio-0.14%
  • Working-age population (15-64)+2.61%
  • Observed GDP growth+1.46%
  • Implied (the three terms summed)+1.49%
Overlay (beside the bar, never inside it) Value
Wage employment share 21.4%
Non-agricultural employment share 58.1%
Employment rate, women 70.4%
Employment rate, men 78.4%
Youth not in employment, education or training 39.9%
Productivity growth, within-sector not yet fetched
Productivity growth, between-sector not yet fetched
Wage employment source ILO-modelled-employees

Generative-AI exposure: 2.2 percent of employment in the most exposed occupations (gradient 4 of the ILO's 2025 index). This is the book's estimate, not an ILO figure: the index's occupation gradients weighted by labour-force survey employment in two-digit occupation groups, 2010. Beside the bar, never inside it: it is a share, not a growth rate.

Population path

5.6m20248.9m205012.7m2100
Total population, three WPP 2024 medium-variant anchor years. The cards carry totals only, not age structure, so this is a path and not a pyramid.
  • Population, 20245.6 million
  • Population, 20508.9 million
  • Population, 210012.7 million
  • Median age18.6 years
  • Total fertility rate3.86 births per woman
  • Dependency ratio74.9 per 100 of working age

Output

Levels are the IMF’s April 2026 estimates for 2025, with the World Bank’s most recent published year standing in where the IMF publishes no figure for this country. Observed growth is over the same window as the identity above, and the forecast runs five years out.

Field Value
GDP $5.2bn
GDP per capita $910
GDP at PPP $11.3bn
Observed GDP growth +1.46%
GDP growth, five-year forecast +5.46%
Urban share 56.1%
Informal employment share 89.3%
Largest city Monrovia
Largest city population 1.9 million
Largest city population, 2050 3.4 million

External debt

Multilateral: $1.27bnOther bilateral: $0.11bnOther private: $0.03bnNot split by the IDS creditor classes: $0.83bn$0bn$2.2bn
External debt by creditor class, IDS 2025. The classes shown cover $1.41bn of a $2.23bn stock; the grey remainder is debt the IDS creditor split does not assign here. A creditor class with no bar is one not yet on the card; it is not a zero. The bar stacks the three classes that divide publicly guaranteed debt by type of creditor and add up to it. The three lines below the rule cut the same total a different way, so they belong inside it and never beside it.
  • Multilateral$1.3bn
  • Other bilateral$0.1bn
  • Other private$0.0bn
  • Eurobonds, of which bonds, inside other privatenot yet fetched
  • Paris Club, of which owed to Paris Club members, across all three$0.0bn
  • China, of which owed to China, across all three$0.1bn
  • Total external debt stock$2.2bn
IDS 2025, debt owed to China$0.1bnBU CLA, cumulative commitments$0.1bn
Commitments exceed the recorded debt stock by $0.01bn, the usual wedge between what was promised, what was drawn, and what has been repaid.
  • IDS 2025, owed to China$0.1bn
  • BU CLA, cumulative commitments$0.1bn
Field Value
Debt service due 2026-2030 $0.3bn
Eurobonds outstanding not yet fetched
Restructuring status none
Collateralized or resource-backed debt not yet fetched
S&P rating not yet fetched
Moody's rating not yet fetched
Fitch rating not yet fetched

Exports and the balance sheet

Field Value
Top three exports Gold, non-monetary (excluding gold ores and concentrates) (SITC 971): 45.8%; Iron ore and concentrates (SITC 281): 12.6%; Ships, boats & floating structures (SITC 793): 10.3%
Commodity dependence 87.1%
Remittances received $1.0bn
Foreign direct investment $0.5bn
Official development assistance $0.6bn
AfCFTA status ratified
PAPSS member yes
Afrobarometer lived poverty index 1.47

Data quality

Last census 2022. Last GDP rebase not recorded. Last labour-force survey 2017. SPI 59.1. Reports to the IMF under e-GDDS. Confidence: low.The rule: high means a census within fifteen years, an SPI score of 70 or better and a labour-force survey within five years; one failure is medium, two or more failures or a census before 2000 is low, and the flag is left uncomputed when one of the three inputs is itself missing (the rule, and the reasons to argue with it, on the About the data page).

Field Value
WPP estimate basis not recorded
Climate vulnerability high
Fragility not on the FCS list

Census: 5th Population and Housing Census, census night 10-11 November 2022, enumeration to 18 December 2022, population 5,248,621. LFS: the Liberia Labour Force Survey 2016-2017, run by LISGIS and catalogued by the ILO as LBR_2017_LFS (https://webapps.ilo.org/surveyLib/index.php/catalog/6957); it was the second round, after 2010. ILOSTAT's latest survey-based observations for Liberia (NEET and informality) are 2017, which matches. Recorded as 2017. Rebase and dissemination standard: not sourced; dsbb.imf.org is blocked from this environment and no IMF press release on e-GDDS implementation by Liberia was found.

The shelf

The latest reports on this country from the Fund and the Bank. Each line under “what it argued” is the publisher's own summary, quoted, not a paraphrase; where a summary says nothing the line is blank. A country with no Article IV consultation in the last three years says so, with the report that establishes it.

Report What it argued
IMF Article IV2025 Article IV Consultation and Second Review Under the Extended Credit Facility Arrangement and Request…IMF · November 2025 · No. 2025/290Ch. 21 “This paper presents Liberia’s 2025 Article IV Consultation and Second Review under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) Arrangement and Request for a Waiver of Nonobservance of a Continuous Performance Criterion.”IMF, abstract of Country Report No. 2025/290
IMF Selected IssuesSelected IssuesIMF · November 2025 · No. 2025/291Ch. 21Ch. 37 “This Selected Issues paper focuses on Liberia’s public infrastructure scaling up challenges and opportunities. A multipronged approach can accelerate growth and mitigate the potential negative impact of investment scaling-up on debt sustainability.”IMF, abstract of Country Report No. 2025/291
World Bank country economic memorandumLiberia Country Economic Memorandum - Escaping the Natural Resource Trap: Pathways to Sustainable Growth…World Bank · 8 March 2025 · No. 197709Ch. 10Ch. 37 “Liberia is one of the poorest countries, ranking 180th out of the 190 countries in the World Bank’s development database. Based on the national poverty line, 59 percent of Liberians were poor in 2016, the latest year for which household survey data is available.”World Bank, abstract of report no. 197709 in Documents & Reports

Sources

Numbers on this card were last refreshed on 25 October 2026.

Release behind this card Last pulled
African Union AfCFTA signature and ratification register 25 October 2026
Africapolis 2025 25 October 2026
Afrobarometer Round 9 lived-poverty index 25 October 2026
Boston University Chinese Loans to Africa database, 2000-2024 25 October 2026
ILO modelled estimates, November 2025 25 October 2026
IMF World Economic Outlook, April 2026 13 September 2026
ND-GAIN Country Index, 2026 release 25 October 2026
PAPSS Payments Network Coverage sheet 25 October 2026
UN World Population Prospects 2024, medium variant Not recorded
UNCTADstat merchandise trade matrix 25 October 2026
World Bank Group FY26 list of fragile and conflict-affected situations 25 October 2026
World Bank International Debt Statistics 2025 25 October 2026
World Bank Statistical Performance Indicators 25 October 2026
World Bank World Development Indicators 25 October 2026
World Bank World Development Indicators, cross-border flows 25 October 2026
hand-entered Not pulled
derived here from the three identity terms Not pulled
Field on this page Where the number comes from
AfCFTA status African Union AfCFTA signature and ratification register (22/05/2026)
Afrobarometer lived poverty index Afrobarometer Round 9 lived-poverty index, 2022 observation
Chinese loan commitments, cumulative Boston University Chinese Loans to Africa database, 2000-2024
Climate vulnerability ND-GAIN Country Index, 2026 release, 2024 observation
Commodity dependence UNCTADstat merchandise trade matrix, 2025 observation
Debt service due 2026-2030 World Bank International Debt Statistics 2025 (2026-2030)
Dependency ratio UN World Population Prospects 2024, medium variant
Employment rate, men ILO modelled estimates, November 2025, 2024 observation
Employment rate, women ILO modelled estimates, November 2025, 2024 observation
Employment-to-working-age growth ILO modelled estimates, November 2025, 2024 observation
External debt stock World Bank International Debt Statistics 2025
Foreign direct investment World Bank World Development Indicators, cross-border flows, 2025 observation
Fragility World Bank Group FY26 list of fragile and conflict-affected situations
GDP IMF World Economic Outlook, April 2026, 2025 observation
GDP at PPP IMF World Economic Outlook, April 2026, 2025 observation
GDP growth, five-year forecast IMF World Economic Outlook, April 2026, 2030 observation
GDP per capita IMF World Economic Outlook, April 2026, 2025 observation
Identity window UN World Population Prospects 2024, medium variant
IMF dissemination standard Hand-entered, cited to dsbb.imf.org/e-gdds/important-dates-history
Implied GDP growth derived here from the three identity terms
Informal employment share ILO modelled estimates, November 2025, 2017 observation
Largest city Africapolis 2025, 2025 observation
Largest city population Africapolis 2025, 2025 observation
Largest city population, 2050 Africapolis 2025, 2050 observation
Last census Hand-entered, cited to www.lisgis.gov.lr/document/LiberiaCensus2022Repor…
Last labour-force survey Hand-entered, cited to www.lisgis.gov.lr/admin_area/surveys/pdf/20250123…
Median age UN World Population Prospects 2024, medium variant
Non-agricultural employment share ILO modelled estimates, November 2025, 2024 observation
Observed GDP growth IMF World Economic Outlook, April 2026, 2024 observation
Official development assistance World Bank World Development Indicators, cross-border flows, 2023 observation
Output per worker growth ILO modelled estimates, November 2025, 2024 observation
Owed to China World Bank International Debt Statistics 2025, 2024 observation
Owed to multilaterals World Bank International Debt Statistics 2025
Owed to other bilaterals World Bank International Debt Statistics 2025
Owed to other private creditors World Bank International Debt Statistics 2025
Owed to Paris Club creditors World Bank International Debt Statistics 2025, 2024 observation
PAPSS member PAPSS Payments Network Coverage sheet (June 2026)
Population, 2024 UN World Population Prospects 2024, medium variant
Population, 2050 UN World Population Prospects 2024, medium variant
Population, 2100 UN World Population Prospects 2024, medium variant
Remittances received World Bank World Development Indicators, cross-border flows, 2024 observation
Restructuring status Hand-entered, cited to clubdeparis.org/en/sites/clubdeparis/accueil/pays…
Statistical Performance Indicators score World Bank Statistical Performance Indicators
Top three exports UNCTADstat merchandise trade matrix, 2025 observation
Total fertility rate UN World Population Prospects 2024, medium variant
Urban share World Bank World Development Indicators, 2025 observation
Wage employment share ILO modelled estimates, November 2025, 2024 observation
Wage employment source ILO modelled estimates, November 2025, 2024 observation
Working-age population growth (15-64) UN World Population Prospects 2024, medium variant
Youth not in employment, education or training ILO modelled estimates, November 2025, 2017 observation

Card schema african-economic-future/country_card/v1, built 2026-10-25. The release behind each key, and the day each was last pulled, are listed on the About the data page, and the record behind this page is one of the fifty-four in cards.csv and cards.json.

All 54 cards · Compare this card with two others · About the data