Demographics of Liberia
As of 2006, Liberia has the highest population growth rate in the world. 43.5% of Liberians were below the age of 15 in 2010. With recent civil wars being fought along ethnic lines, Liberia is a multiethnic and multicultural country. Diversity has always been celebrated in Liberian culture — ethnicity-based civil wars aside — in regard to cuisine, music, fashion, language and people.
Population
According to, Liberia's total population was in. This is compared to 911,000 in 1950.43.5% of Liberians were below the age of 15 in 2010. 53.7% were between 15 and 65 years of age, while 2.8% were 65 years or older.
As of 2006, Liberia has the highest population growth rate in the world.
| Total population | Population aged 0–14 | Population aged 15–64 | Population aged 65+ | |
| 1950 | 911 000 | 41.0 | 55.9 | 3.0 |
| 1955 | 997 000 | 41.1 | 56.1 | 2.8 |
| 1960 | 1 116 000 | 41.4 | 55.9 | 2.7 |
| 1965 | 1 262 000 | 43.0 | 54.3 | 2.6 |
| 1970 | 1 440 000 | 44.1 | 53.3 | 2.6 |
| 1975 | 1 658 000 | 44.8 | 52.6 | 2.6 |
| 1980 | 1 923 000 | 45.5 | 51.9 | 2.6 |
| 1985 | 2 212 000 | 45.9 | 51.5 | 2.6 |
| 1990 | 2 127 000 | 45.6 | 52.8 | 2.6 |
| 1995 | 2 095 000 | 44.5 | 52.8 | 2.6 |
| 2000 | 2 847 000 | 43.6 | 53.8 | 2.6 |
| 2005 | 3 183 000 | 43.3 | 54.0 | 2.7 |
| 2010 | 3 994 000 | 43.5 | 53.7 | 2.8 |
Vital statistics
Registration of vital events is in Liberia not complete. The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.Fertility and births
Total Fertility Rate and Crude Birth Rate :| Year | CBR | TFR | CBR | TFR | CBR | TFR |
| 2007 | 37.6 | 5.2 | 32.5 | 3.8 | 40.4 | 6.2 |
| 2013 | 34.4 | 4.7 | 31.1 | 3.8 | 38.5 | 6.1 |
| 2019-20 | 30.1 | 4.2 | 27.5 | 3.4 | 33.6 | 5.5 |
Fertility data as of 2013 :
| Region | Total fertility rate | Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant | Mean number of children ever born to women age 40-49 |
| North Western | 5.8 | 10.3 | 7.1 |
| South Central | 3.8 | 6.7 | 5.8 |
| South Eastern A | 6.5 | 9.6 | 6.7 |
| South Eastern B | 5.9 | 9.2 | 7.1 |
| North Central | 5.6 | 10.2 | 6.2 |
Life expectancy
Ethnic communities of Liberia
Indigenous
The indigenous ethnic groups of Liberia can be linguistically divided into three groups who speak;- The isolate Gola language and the
- Mel languages in the east and
- Kru languages in the west
- Mande-Fu
- Mande-Tan
- Repatriated
The other ethnic groups that fall under the Mande-Tan, Mande-Fu were also members of Ancient Ghana. Because of their influence in the judicial aspects of the Ghana, the Gola's social structure dominated through the Poro.
With the influx of Islam many groups adopted it while others resisted. The Golas fought three wars with pro-Islamic elements in a changing Ghana. These wars were known as the Kumba Wars. The Golas lost the third of these wars and were forced to retreat toward Sierra Leone. They were pursued by the Mende, Gbandi and Loma. Their battles with the Mende in Sierra Leone forced them to retreat yet again and settle finally in Liberia where they encountered the Dei.
Immigrants from Mali
The Kpelle, Gio, Mano, Mandingo and Vai groups migrated from the Empire of Mali for various reasons, some escaping political intrigue, others looking for a better life. The Vais, settled in Grand Cape Mount county in the west of Liberia, were the first to invent a form of writing in 1833 or 1834. The reported inventor was Dwalu Bukele of Bandakor along the Robertsport highway.Immigrants from Côte d'Ivoire
In the 16th century; Kru, Bassa, Belleh, Krahn, Grebo.19th century
- Americo-Liberians: Free black people and emancipated slaves, and their descendants, from the U.S. and the Caribbean
- Congos is an eponymic term for "recaptives," people rescued from slave ships after the slave trade, not slavery itself, was abolished by Great Britain and the United States. These people were "repatriated" to Liberia and their descendants. The term was used because many of these rescued Africans were thought to be from the Congo River Basin.
Immigrants from Lebanon
Religion
According to the 2008 National Census, 85.5% of Liberia's population practices Christianity. Muslims comprise 12.2% of the population, largely coming from the Mandingo and Vai ethnic groups. The vast majority of Muslims are Malikite Sunni, with sizeable Shia and Ahmadiyya minorities. Traditional indigenous religions are practiced by 0.5% of the population, while 1.8% subscribe to no religion.Other demographic statistics
Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2019.- One birth every 3 minutes
- One death every 15 minutes
- One net migrant every 103 minutes
- Net gain of one person every 4 minutes
Population
Age structure
Median age
Birth rate
Death rate
[Total fertility rate]
Population growth rate
Mother's mean age at first birth
Contraceptive prevalence rate
Net migration rate
Religions
Christian 85.6%, Muslim 12.2%, Traditional 0.6%, other 0.2%, none 1.5%[Dependency ratio]s
Urbanization
Sex ratio
at birth:1.03 male/female
under 15 years:
1.02 male/female
15–64 years:
1.01 male/female
65 years and over:
0.96 male/female
total population:1 male/female
Life expectancy at birth
Ethnic groups
There are officially 17 ethnic groups that make up Liberia's indigenous African population, making up maybe 95% of the total: Kpelle, the largest group; Bassa, Gio, Kru, Grebo, Mandingo, Mano, Krahn, Gola, Gbandi, Loma, Kissi, Vai, Sapo, Belleh, Mende and Dey.There are also more or less nomadic groups like the Fula, who engage mostly in trade, and the Fanti, who are often fishermen or traders of fish, usually from Ghana, living seasonally and more and more often permanently in Liberia.
Then there are Americo-Liberians, who are descendants of free-born and formerly enslaved African Americans who arrived in Liberia from 1822 onward and Congo People, making up an estimated 5% of the population. They used to dominate political life in Liberia and still have a lot of influence.
There are about 5,000 people of European descent, many of them having settled down as miners, missionaries, business people, and so on. There also is a sizeable number of Lebanese, Indians, and other people with Asian roots who make up a significant part of Liberia's business community. Because of the civil war and its accompanying problem of insecurity, the number of non-Africans in Liberia is low and confined largely to Monrovia and its immediate surroundings. The Liberian constitution restricts citizenship to people of African descent.