Skip to content
Nations Inquiry — home
A view of Libya

Photo: Maher A. A. Abdussalam · CC0 · via Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale

Topic 02 of 18 · Country Index 2026

Libya: Economy & Innovation

What does an economy do for the people inside it?

Libya is placed joint 151st of 176 countries on economy & innovation in the Country Index 2026, from 3 of its 4 key statistics. Readings behind it: GDP per Capita (PPP) 14,118 (2025); Economic Complexity Index -1.679 (2024).

Economy & Innovation

joint151st

of 176 countries placed

Placed from 3 of 4 key statistics

01The evidence

The 4 key statistics that decide it

Only these place Libya on economy & innovation — one vote each. Every value is the publisher’s own, read at the edition the Country Index 2026 used — or, for a survey-based key, each country’s latest reading; the grey ticks are every other country it was compared with, lowest on the left.

Why these keys
  1. Key 1 of 4

    GDP per Capita (PPP)

    World Bank Group

    Why it is a key: Output per person: the standard measure of an economy's size set against the population it has to support.

    2025 edition · data for 2025 · CC BY 4.0

    14,118

    GDP per capita (constant 2021 international $, PPP)

    Higher is better

    Libya: 14,118. Across the 185 countries in this edition, values run from 1,067 (Burundi) to 139,593 (Singapore); the world median is 17,265.

    World median
    17,265
    Best in Northern Africa
    17,265 Egypt
    Land neighbours
    Algeria 15,883 · Egypt 17,265 · Niger 1,861 · Sudan 1,873 · Chad 2,481 · Tunisia 13,018

    Each grey tick is one of 185 countries in the 2025 edition.

  2. Key 2 of 4

    Firms with a Bank Loan or Line of Credit

    World Bank Group

    Why it is a key: Whether businesses can borrow from the formal financial system — the firm-level counterpart to adults holding a bank account.

    Latest reading per country, 2016–2025 · CC BY 4.0

    No reading

    Firms with a bank loan or line of credit (%)

    Higher is better

    World Bank Group publishes no reading from 2016–2025 for Libya, so the standing rests on the other keys.

    Across the 179 countries at their latest reading, values run from 2.113 (Pakistan) to 88.52 (Israel); the world median is 35.95.

    World median
    35.95
    Best in Northern Africa
    32.07 Tunisia
    Land neighbours
    Egypt 7.014 · Niger 16.43 · Sudan 4.622 · Chad 9.312 · Tunisia 32.07

    Each grey tick is one of 179 countries at its latest reading, 2016–2025.

  3. Key 3 of 4

    Economic Complexity Index

    Growth Lab at Harvard University

    Why it is a key: What an economy knows how to make, read from the diversity and rarity of what it exports.

    2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC0 1.0

    -1.679

    ECI score (standardised, roughly −3 to +3)

    Higher is better

    Ranked 134th of 145 by Growth Lab at Harvard University

    Libya: -1.679. Across the 145 countries in this edition, values run from -3.53 (Chad) to 1.729 (Japan); the world median is 0.131.

    World median
    0.131
    Best in Northern Africa
    0.565 Tunisia
    Land neighbours
    Algeria -0.978 · Egypt 0.071 · Niger -0.835 · Sudan -2.078 · Chad -3.53 · Tunisia 0.565

    Each grey tick is one of 145 countries in the 2024 edition.

  4. Key 4 of 4

    Account Ownership at a Financial Institution

    World Bank Group

    Why it is a key: Whether ordinary adults are inside the financial system at all, which output per person does not reveal.

    2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC BY 4.0

    33.12

    Adults with an account (% of population aged 15+)

    Higher is better

    Libya: 33.12. Across the 139 countries in this edition, values run from 14.83 (Niger) to 99.85 (Iceland); the world median is 72.83.

    World median
    72.83
    Best in Northern Africa
    44.39 Morocco
    Land neighbours
    Algeria 35.29 · Egypt 43.11 · Niger 14.83 · Chad 20.9 · Tunisia 37.84

    Each grey tick is one of 139 countries in the 2024 edition.

03In context

Libya beside its neighbours

A position reads best beside the countries around it. Every position below is a place among all 176 countries on economy & innovation, never a place within the region.

Northern Africa
1st176thNot placed · 48 countries with too few key statisticsNo data

The whole world on economy & innovation

Libya and the countries it borders

The standing is each country’s place among all 176 placed on the topic; the other columns are the publishers’ own values, read at the edition the standing used.

CountryStandingGDP per Capita (PPP)GDP per capita (constant 2021 international $, PPP)Firms with a Bank Loan or Line of CreditFirms with a bank loan or line of credit (%)Economic Complexity IndexECI score (standardised, roughly −3 to +3)Account Ownership at a Financial InstitutionAdults with an account (% of population aged 15+)
Tunisia103rd13,01832.070.56537.84
Egypt128th17,2657.0140.07143.11
Algeria137th15,883—-0.97835.29
Libya=151st14,118—-1.67933.12
Niger166th1,86116.43-0.83514.83
Sudan173rd1,8734.622-2.078—
Chad175th2,4819.312-3.5320.9

“—” means the publisher gives no reading for that country in that edition. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed.

Across Northern Africa

Every country in the sub-region, by its place among all 176.

Placed either side on economy & innovation

The countries immediately above and below Libya in the topic’s list.

04Context, no vote

Where Libya is ahead of the world, and behind

19 more statistics filed under economy & innovation, published in full and deliberately given no vote in the standing. Select a row for the publisher, the rank and the links.

Every country

Ahead of the world median3

Statistics on which Libya does better than the middle country measured.

  • GDP GrowthWorld Bank Group · 2025 · world median 3.39613.37▲ Improved since 2015

    Libya: 13.37 · world median 3.396 · GDP growth (annual %). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.

    Published values in that edition run from -5.847 to 19.34; higher is better.

    Position 2nd of 186 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2025 dataset

  • Livestock Production IndexFAO · 2022 · world median 107.06120.54▼ Worsened since 2012

    Libya: 120.54 · world median 107.06 · Livestock production index (2014–2016 = 100). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2022 edition, data for 2022.

    Published values in that edition run from 35.52 to 190.08; higher is better.

    Position 48th of 194 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2022 dataset

  • Liner Shipping Connectivity IndexUNCTAD · 2026 · world median 56.2164.15▲ Improved since 2016

    Libya: 64.15 · world median 56.21 · LSCI (index, average Q1 2023 = 100). UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 2026 edition, data for 2026.

    Published values in that edition run from 4.13 to 1,319; higher is better.

    Ranked 78th of 175 by UNCTAD.

    Chart and every countryThe 2026 dataset

Behind the world median6

Statistics on which Libya does worse than the middle country measured.

  • Food Production IndexFAO · 2022 · world median 106.08105.75▼ Worsened since 2012

    Libya: 105.75 · world median 106.08 · Food production index (2014–2016 = 100). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2022 edition, data for 2022.

    Published values in that edition run from 71.08 to 177.49; higher is better.

    Position 103rd of 195 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2022 dataset

  • GNI per Capita (PPP)World Bank Group · 2025 · world median 14,27312,668No real change since 2015

    Libya: 12,668 · world median 14,273 · GNI per capita (constant 2021 international $, PPP). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.

    Published values in that edition run from 1,181 to 116,633; higher is better.

    Position 56th of 102 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2025 dataset

  • Government AI Readiness IndexOxford Insights · 2025 · world median 40.1928.38▲ Improved since 2022

    Libya: 28.38 · world median 40.19 · AI readiness score (0–100). Oxford Insights, 2025 edition, data for 2025.

    Published values in that edition run from 12.12 to 88.36; higher is better.

    Ranked 134th of 195 by Oxford Insights.

    Chart and every countryThe 2025 dataset

  • Crop Production IndexFAO · 2022 · world median 106.2398.35▼ Worsened since 2012

    Libya: 98.35 · world median 106.23 · Crop production index (2014–2016 = 100). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2022 edition, data for 2022.

    Published values in that edition run from 53.79 to 189.93; higher is better.

    Position 139th of 195 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2022 dataset

  • Regulatory QualityWorld Bank Group · 2025 · world median -0.093-1.664▲ Improved since 2015

    Libya: -1.664 · world median -0.093 · Regulatory Quality (−2.5 to 2.5). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.

    Published values in that edition run from -2.106 to 2.113; higher is better.

    Position 201st of 209 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2025 dataset

  • Logistics Performance IndexWorld Bank Group · 2023 · world median 2.91.9▼ Worsened since 2014

    Libya: 1.9 · world median 2.9 · LPI score (1–5). World Bank Group, 2023 edition, data for 2023.

    Published values in that edition run from 1.9 to 4.3; higher is better.

    Ranked 139th of 139 by World Bank Group.

    Chart and every countryThe 2023 dataset

No better end10

These describe the shape of a country — more is not better or worse, only different — so they are never ahead or behind.

  • Total Natural Resources Rents (% of GDP)World Bank Group · 2021 · world median 1.70861.03Moved since 2011

    Libya: 61.03 · world median 1.708 · Natural resources rents (% of GDP). World Bank Group, 2021 edition, data for 2021.

    Published values in that edition run from 0 to 61.03.

    Position 1st of 180 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2021 dataset

  • Industry Value Added including Construction (% of GDP)World Bank Group · 2025 · world median 24.6573.25Moved since 2015

    Libya: 73.25 · world median 24.65 · Industry, including construction, value added (% of GDP). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.

    Published values in that edition run from 2.228 to 75.09.

    Position 2nd of 158 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2025 dataset

  • General Government ConsumptionWorld Bank Group · 2025 · world median 16.2132.27No real change since 2015

    Libya: 32.27 · world median 16.21 · General government final consumption expenditure (% of GDP). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.

    Published values in that edition run from 5.445 to 38.94.

    Position 4th of 132 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2025 dataset

  • Exports of Goods and Services (% of GDP)World Bank Group · 2025 · world median 36.3471.71Moved since 2015

    Libya: 71.71 · world median 36.34 · Exports of goods and services (% of GDP). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.

    Published values in that edition run from 1.103 to 199.76.

    Position 19th of 138 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2025 dataset

  • Trade (% of GDP)World Bank Group · 2025 · world median 79.68137.66Moved since 2015

    Libya: 137.66 · world median 79.68 · Exports plus imports (% of GDP). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.

    Published values in that edition run from 2.382 to 396.65.

    Position 23rd of 138 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2025 dataset

  • Imports of Goods and Services (% of GDP)World Bank Group · 2025 · world median 41.7265.95Moved since 2015

    Libya: 65.95 · world median 41.72 · Imports of goods and services (% of GDP). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.

    Published values in that edition run from 1.279 to 196.89.

    Position 29th of 138 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2025 dataset

  • Foreign Direct Investment InflowsUNCTAD · 2025 · world median 1.9681.944Moved since 2021

    Libya: 1.944 · world median 1.968 · FDI inflows (% of GDP). UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 2025 edition, data for 2025.

    Published values in that edition run from -32.97 to 2,221.

    Chart and every countryThe 2025 dataset

  • Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Value Added (% of GDP)World Bank Group · 2025 · world median 6.5721.501Moved since 2015

    Libya: 1.501 · world median 6.572 · Agriculture, forestry and fishing value added (% of GDP). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.

    Published values in that edition run from 0.025 to 47.59.

    Position 137th of 158 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2025 dataset

  • Gross Capital Formation (% of GDP)World Bank Group · 2025 · world median 22.9314.27Moved since 2015

    Libya: 14.27 · world median 22.93 · Gross capital formation (% of GDP). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.

    Published values in that edition run from -3.679 to 45.27.

    Position 119th of 131 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2025 dataset

  • Household ConsumptionWorld Bank Group · 2025 · world median 62.0430.94Moved since 2015

    Libya: 30.94 · world median 62.04 · Household and NPISH final consumption expenditure (% of GDP). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.

    Published values in that edition run from 25.21 to 133.34.

    Position 128th of 131 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2025 dataset

05Country Index 2026

Economy & Innovation among Libya’s 14 topics

Economy & Innovation is Libya’s 5th best-placed topic of 14. Strongest first; each marker sits at the position divided by that topic’s field, so fields of different sizes compare fairly.

On the profile
  1. Development & Human Capital101st of 196
  2. Health & Wellbeing111th of 200
  3. Digital & Technology160th of 198
  4. Mobility & Trade121st of 147
  5. Economy & Innovationjoint 151st of 176
  6. Work & Labourjoint 158th of 182
  7. Democracy & Civil Liberties175th of 198
  8. Food & Agriculture158th of 175
  9. Risk & Resilience174th of 192
  10. Governance & Institutions183rd of 194
  11. Gender & Equality173rd of 183
  12. Environment & Sustainability176th of 181
  13. Peace & Security176th of 177
  14. Energy192nd of 193

No standing on Education & Knowledge, Poverty & Inequality: too few of those topics’ key statistics are published for this country.

06The top of the list

Who leads on economy & innovation

The three countries placed highest of 176, and the leaders Libya can most readily be measured against.

All 176 countries
  1. 1

    Austria

    Western Europe

    1st of 176 · 4 of 4 keys

    Photo: chensiyuan · CC BY-SA 4.0, greyscale

  2. 2

    Japan

    Eastern Asia

    2nd of 176 · 4 of 4 keys

    Photo: JurriaanH · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale

  3. 3

    Germany

    Western Europe

    3rd of 176 · 4 of 4 keys

    Photo: dronepicr · CC BY 2.0, greyscale

Placed highest nearby

  1. Highest in Africa

    Mauritius36th4/4 keys
  2. Highest in Northern Africa

    Tunisia103rd4/4 keys
  3. This page

    Libya=151st3/4 keys

Positions out of 176 placed on the topic. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed, and the top of the list is often held on fewer of them.

08Questions

Libya on economy & innovation: questions answered

Every answer is built from the numbers on this page, so none can say something the page does not.

How does Libya rank on economy & innovation?

Libya is placed joint 151st of 176 countries on Economy & Innovation in the Country Index 2026, from 3 of its 4 key statistics (GDP per Capita (PPP), Economic Complexity Index and Account Ownership at a Financial Institution). The position is this site’s ordering of published statistics, not a rank any publisher printed.

What is the latest GDP per Capita (PPP) figure for Libya?

14,118 in 2025 (gDP per capita (constant 2021 international $, PPP)), according to World Bank Group. The world median in the same edition was 17,265.

What is the latest Economic Complexity Index figure for Libya?

-1.679 in 2024 (eCI score (standardised, roughly −3 to +3)), according to Growth Lab at Harvard University. The world median in the same edition was 0.131.

How does Libya compare with Egypt on economy & innovation?

Egypt is placed 128th of 176, and Libya joint 151st. GDP per Capita (PPP): Egypt 17,265, Libya 14,118; Economic Complexity Index: Egypt 0.071, Libya -1.679; Account Ownership at a Financial Institution: Egypt 43.11, Libya 33.12.

How have Libya’s economy & innovation figures changed?

GDP per Capita (PPP) fell from 17,747 in 2000 to 14,118 in 2025; Economic Complexity Index fell from -0.156 in 2000 to -1.679 in 2024.

Which economy & innovation statistics are missing for Libya?

No current reading is published for Libya on Adjusted Net Savings, Business Ready: Operational Efficiency, Business Ready: Public Services, Business Ready: Regulatory Framework, Container Port Traffic, Debt Service on External Debt, Digitally-Deliverable Services Exports, External Debt Stocks (% of GNI), Firms with a Bank Loan or Line of Credit, Gini Index, Global Innovation Index, Gross Savings (% of GDP), ICT Goods Exports, ICT Services Exports, Income Share Held by Lowest 20%, Income Share Held by Richest 10%, Manufacturing Value Added (% of GDP), Palma Ratio, Research and Development Spending, Researchers per Million Inhabitants, Tariff Rate, Applied, Weighted Mean, All Products and World Energy Trilemma Index. They are listed rather than hidden, so the evidence on the page can be checked against it.

10Method

Method, sources and how to cite

What this topic does not measure

The total size of an economy is deliberately left out: a very large economy spread over a very large population is not doing more for each person. Growth rates, trade shares and the structure of output (how much is farming, industry or services) are published here as context, because they describe an economy's shape rather than how well it serves people. Jobs and wages have their own topic, Work & Labour.

About economy & innovation, in full

How the Economy & Innovation standing is decided, step by step

A standing is a place in a list, not a mark out of anything. This one is part of the Country Index 2026, and it is worked out like this.

  1. A few key indicators decide it; the rest are context. 4 indicators on this topic are keys and 40 are charted alongside them without a vote. That split is the point: if every statistic voted, importing five more of one kind would quietly change what the topic is about.
  2. Each key is read at one edition. ⚠ The keys behind this standing do not all describe the same year — they run from 2024 to 2025, because publishers release on their own schedules. Read the standing as “how this country places now”, not as a snapshot of one year.
  3. Every country’s published value is turned into a place within that one key’s own field, and then expressed as a share of that field — how far down this key’s list the country sits, rather than how many countries are above it. Keys where a higher published number is worse (terrorism, hunger, disaster risk) are turned round first, so the good end is always the same end.
  4. Dividing by the field first is the whole reason this works. A place carries the size of its list inside it: 22nd of 44 and 108th of 215 are the same showing, and averaging the numbers 22 and 108 says loudly that they are not. Fields on this site run from about 44 countries to about 215, so averaging raw places would reward a country for happening to be measured in small ones. Dividing each place by its own field removes the size and leaves only the showing.
  5. The shares are averaged, plainly. One key, one vote — no key is weighted above another, because any weighting would be this site’s opinion presented as a measurement. Countries are then put in order by that average, and the average itself is never published. It is our arithmetic with nothing anchoring it, so printing it would invite it to be read as a measurement somebody made. The position it produces, the band, and the keys it was built from are all published instead — every one of them checkable against the tables on this page.
  6. A country needs 2 of this topic’s 4 keys — half, rounded up, and never fewer than 2. A standing built from one reading, printed beside one built from four, is two different things sharing a column heading. 176 countries clear the bar here.
  7. A key has to earn its vote every edition. It must measure at least 120 countries (below that it starts measuring who was surveyed rather than the world), it must not have more than 10% of its field tied at either end, and it must not repeat another key in the same topic — Spearman correlation above 0.92 counts as repeating. A topic needs at least 2 surviving keys to place anyone at all; this one has 4.
  8. A standing is relative, and the grouping is ours. It says where a country places against the others measured alongside it, so it moves when they move. The publishers listed on this page did not agree to be read together, and each measures its subject its own way: the underlying numbers are theirs, the ordering on top is this site’s — the same method as the rest of the Country Index, applied to one subject instead of all of them.

The key statistics and their licences

The other 19 statistics on this page come from 4 publishers, each named beside its numbers, with every edition and licence on the datasets pages.

The standing itself is part of the Country Index 2026, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Photographs

Libya’s banner and the countries placed highest, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.

Cite this page

Nations Inquiry (2026). Libya: Economy & Innovation — standing and statistics, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/countries/libya/economy

Feedback

Feedback

How are we doing?

Two answers are required — a rating and your email. The rest is up to you.