Recent World Bank data indicates that Libya falls into the upper middle-income bracket.
The report, published at the beginning of July, states that the income bracket for Libya ranges from a per capita gross national income (GNI) of $4,466 to $13,845 for the current year. This is forecast to rise to $4,516 to $14,005 in 2025, alongside Algeria and Iraq. The World Bank report bases its per capita GNI on factors such as economic growth, inflation, exchange rate and population growth.
Earlier in the year, the World Bank also announced that it is expecting the Libyan economy to grow by a rate of between 4.8 and 5.8% over the next two years.
The findings came in a report on economic developments in the Middle East and North Africa in April.
The World Bank expects the current account surplus to stabilise at about 26% to 28% of GDP during the period from 2024 to 2026, provided that oil production remains stable.
The report noted that half of the working-age population is active in the labour market, and nearly half of them work in the public sector.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is also expecting Libya’s economy to grow in 2024.
In May, it confirmed that Libya is one of the top ten fastest growing economies in the world, and growth of 7.8% predicted in 2024.
The IMF Staff Concluding Statement of the 2024 Article IV Mission to Libya noted that 2023 was a year of ‘fiscal expansion’ in Libya, with GDP estimated to have expanded by 10% ‘largely owing to a rebound from the oil production stoppages of 2022’. This outlook, it added, is dominated by the ‘dynamics of hydrocarbon production, which is projected to reach 1.5 million bpd by 2026’.
“The World Bank and IMF predictions bode well for Libya’s economy and confirm the growth we are seeing in our own instructions,” said Ahmed Gaddah, partner at Eltumi Partners. “As a firm we are well placed to provide both commercial and legal advice to businesses looking to explore opportunities in Libya and the wider region.”
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