Urban population in Libya
Libya: Urban population was 87.9% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
87.9%
Change on year
up 0.0%
World rank
40th
of 218 countries
All-time high
88.2%
in 2006
All-time low
23.3%
in 1960
Years of data
66
1960–2025
Urban population in Libya, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in % of total population.
Analysis
The most recent figure for urban population in Libya is 87.9%, measured in 2025.
That represents a change of up 0.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, urban population in Libya peaked at 88.2% in 2006 and was at its lowest, 23.3%, in 1960.
Libya ranks 40th of 218 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.
Urban population in Libya, year by year
| Year | % of total population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 23.3% | — |
| 1961 | 23.5% | +1.2% |
| 1962 | 23.9% | +1.3% |
| 1963 | 24.2% | +1.5% |
| 1964 | 24.6% | +1.5% |
| 1965 | 25.7% | +4.5% |
| 1966 | 28.2% | +9.8% |
| 1967 | 31.8% | +12.8% |
| 1968 | 36.2% | +13.7% |
| 1969 | 41.0% | +13.2% |
| 1970 | 45.8% | +11.8% |
| 1971 | 50.4% | +10.0% |
| 1972 | 54.3% | +7.8% |
| 1973 | 57.3% | +5.5% |
| 1974 | 59.6% | +3.9% |
| 1975 | 61.7% | +3.6% |
| 1976 | 63.7% | +3.3% |
| 1977 | 65.6% | +3.0% |
| 1978 | 67.4% | +2.7% |
| 1979 | 69.0% | +2.4% |
| 1980 | 70.5% | +2.2% |
| 1981 | 71.9% | +2.0% |
| 1982 | 73.2% | +1.8% |
| 1983 | 74.3% | +1.5% |
| 1984 | 75.3% | +1.3% |
| 1985 | 76.2% | +1.2% |
| 1986 | 77.1% | +1.2% |
| 1987 | 78.0% | +1.2% |
| 1988 | 78.9% | +1.1% |
| 1989 | 79.7% | +1.1% |
| 1990 | 80.6% | +1.0% |
| 1991 | 81.4% | +1.0% |
| 1992 | 82.2% | +1.0% |
| 1993 | 82.9% | +0.9% |
| 1994 | 83.6% | +0.9% |
| 1995 | 84.3% | +0.8% |
| 1996 | 84.9% | +0.7% |
| 1997 | 85.5% | +0.7% |
| 1998 | 86.0% | +0.6% |
| 1999 | 86.5% | +0.6% |
| 2000 | 87.0% | +0.5% |
| 2001 | 87.3% | +0.4% |
| 2002 | 87.6% | +0.4% |
| 2003 | 87.9% | +0.3% |
| 2004 | 88.0% | +0.2% |
| 2005 | 88.1% | +0.1% |
| 2006 | 88.2% | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 88.2% | -0.0% |
| 2008 | 88.1% | -0.0% |
| 2009 | 88.1% | -0.0% |
| 2010 | 88.1% | -0.0% |
| 2011 | 88.1% | -0.0% |
| 2012 | 88.1% | -0.0% |
| 2013 | 88.0% | -0.0% |
| 2014 | 88.0% | -0.0% |
| 2015 | 87.8% | -0.2% |
| 2016 | 87.8% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 87.8% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 87.8% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 87.8% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 87.8% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 87.8% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 87.8% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 87.9% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 87.9% | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 87.9% | +0.0% |
Libya compared with similar countries
- Libya's 87.9% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 65.4%, 1.3× the median. (59 countries reporting)
- Libya's 87.9% is above the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 79.5%, 1.1× the median. (23 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 28.2% | 23.3% | 41.0% | 10 |
| 1970s | 59.5% | 45.8% | 69.0% | 10 |
| 1980s | 75.5% | 70.5% | 79.7% | 10 |
| 1990s | 83.8% | 80.6% | 86.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 87.9% | 87.0% | 88.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 87.9% | 87.8% | 88.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 87.9% | 87.8% | 87.9% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Libya
More climate change data for Libya
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Synthetic fertilizers (Agricultural) 76.27 million kg (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 4,350 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 1,621 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 2,729 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 6.12 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 97.48 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 455.6 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 452.01 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 3.59 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 1.71 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is urban population in Libya?
- Urban population in Libya was 87.9% in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest urban population recorded in Libya?
- The highest recorded value was 88.2% in 2006.
- What is the lowest urban population recorded in Libya?
- The lowest recorded value was 23.3% in 1960.
- How does Libya rank for urban population?
- Libya ranks 40th out of 218 countries with data for 2025.
- Is urban population rising or falling in Libya?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Libya data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Urban population (% of total population). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 66 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. The data are collected and smoothed by United Nations Population Division.