Urban population in Libya
Libya: Urban population was 87.9% in 2025. ▲ Rising
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 215 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.
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
- Population growth 1.0% (2025)
- Population, total 7.46 million (2025)
- Urban population growth 1.1% (2025)
- Urban population 6.56 million (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million 16.1% (2025)
- Annual freshwater withdrawals, total 5.72 billion cubic meters (2022)
- Annual freshwater withdrawals, total 817.1% (2022)
- Terrestrial protected areas 0.1% (2025)
- Terrestrial and marine protected areas 0.2% (2025)
- Marine protected areas 0.6% (2025)
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 215 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.