Libya: Economic and Political Outline

Economic Indicators | Foreign Trade in Figures | Sources of General Economic Information | Political Outline

Economic Indicators

The civil war has gravely affected the Libyan economy. In 2011, GDP contracted by nearly 50%, with losses estimated at over EUR 20 billion. The year 2012 should bring economic recovery thanks to the resumption of the country's powerful oil industry (2% of world production).

However, the big challenge remains the country's economic diversification away from oil dependence. The country's reconstruction, the modernization of its infrastructure - including transportation and telecommunications - and the development of public services will be the priorities of the Libyan government in 2012.

Main Indicators	2009	2010	2011	2012 (e)	2013 (e)
GDP (billions USD)	58.81	71.34e	-	-	-
GDP (Constant Prices, Annual % Change)	-2.3	4.2	-	-	-
GDP per Capita (USD)	9,149e	10,873	-	-	-
Inflation Rate (%)	2.8	2.5	0.0	0.0	0.0
Current Account (billions USD)	9.38e	10.27	0.00	0.00	0.00
Current Account (in % of GDP)	15.9e	14.4	-	-	-

Source: IMF - World Economic Outlook Database , Last Available Data

Note: (e) Estimated Data

Main Sectors of Industry

Libya's economy depends mainly on oil revenues, which comprise almost all exports and over half of GDP: the country is the fourth largest oil producer in Africa, holding more than 40% of African reserves and 3% of world reserves. Libya is the second largest exporter of black gold in Africa. Oil alone accounts for one quarter of the country's GDP.

The construction sector is booming (20% of GDP), both on individual level and regarding large-scale public infrastructure. Other industries of the country are food processing, textiles, handicrafts and cement.

Agriculture is the second largest sector in Libya's economy. The country produces wheat, barley, olives, dates, citrus fruits, vegetables, peanuts, soy and livestock. However, the arid climate conditions and the poor quality of the soil limit the production severely. The recent growth in population has caused a considerable rise in food consumption. Therefore, 75% of the food consumed in Libya has to be imported.

Breakdown of Economic Activity By Sector	Agriculture	Industry	Services
Value Added (in % of GDP)	1.9	78.2	19.9
Value Added (Annual % Change)	-	-	-

Source: World Bank - Last Available Data.

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Monetary Indicators	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Lybian Dinar (LYD) - Average Annual Exchange Rate For 1 USD	1.31	1.26	1.22	1.25	1.27

Source: World Bank - Last Available Data.

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Indicator of Economic Freedom

Score:: 38.6/100
Position:: Controlled
World Rank:: 165/179
Regional Rank:: 17/17

Distribution of Economic freedom in the world
Source: 2011 Index of Economic freedom, Heritage Foundation

Note: The Economic freedom index measure ten components of economic freedom, grouped into four broad categories or pillars of economic freedom: Rule of Law (property rights, freedom from corruption); Limited Government (fiscal freedom, government spending); Regulatory Efficiency (business freedom, labor freedom, monetary freedom); and Open Markets (trade freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom). Each of the freedoms within these four broad categories is individually scored on a scale of 0 to 100. A country’s overall economic freedom score is a simple average of its scores on the 10 individual freedoms.

Country Risk

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Foreign Trade in Figures

Libya's development, which has benefited from the lifting of the US and European trade embargoes and the country's slow return onto the international trade scene - stopped in 2011 due to the eruption of the civil war. The conflict halted exports, including exports of oil. In addition, economic and trade sanctions imposed by Western countries before the fall of Colonel Gaddafi have significantly hampered trade

The regime change should bring economic recovery and a rise in foreign trade in 2012.

Libya is an active member of the AMU (Arab Maghreb Union) and it has also applied to become a member of the WTO, evidence of its wish to become more open to the outside.

The Lybian export basket is not at all diversified, since 95% of its exports are connected to the oil industry.

The three major import partners of Libya are: Italy, Germany and Japan. The mainly imported commodities are iron and steel, industrial machines, vehicles, cereals, as well as other food products.

Foreign Trade Indicators	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Imports of Goods (million USD)	6,733	9,150	10,000	10,500	5,000
Exports of Goods (million USD)	46,970	62,080	37,162	46,050	17,500
Imports of Services (million USD)	2,497	3,572	4,323	5,251	-
Exports of Services (million USD)	109	208	385	410	-
Imports of Goods and Services (in % of GDP)	29.4	27.5	-	-	-
Exports of Goods and Services (in % of GDP)	67.6	67.4	-	-	-
Trade Balance (million USD)	29,269	40,292	15,053	-	-
Trade Balance (Including Service) (million USD)	26,712	36,155	-	-	-
Foreign Trade (in % of GDP)	96.9	94.8	-	-	-

Source: WTO - World Trade Organization ; World Bank , Last Available Data

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Sources of General Economic Information

Ministries: Libyaonline: Ministries & Government Organizations
Statistical Office: Lybiaonline: Statistics & Reports
Central Bank: Central Bank of Libya
Stock Exchange: Libyan Stock Exchange
Search Engines: Libya search engines
Economic Portals: General portal

Political Outline

Executive Power: The Revolutionary Leader Col. Muammar Abu Minyar al-QADHAFI is the de facto head of the state, although he holds no official title. He enjoys all the executive powers. The head of the government is called the Secretary of the General People's Congress and is elected by the country's parliament, and has no fixed term of office, as long as he enjoys the confidence of parliament. Parliament also selects the members of the General People's Committee.
The Libyan regime and in particular its political and economic system is based on the Green Book, founding work of Colonel Gaddafi, who sees in this book a third universal theory of synthesis between liberalism and Marxism. This political system is the fruit of a slow evolution which lasted between 1969, when Colonel Gaddafi came to power, and 1977, when the revolutionary committees and the Jamahiriya system (State of the masses) were set up.
This system of a State of the masses also has double local representations: basic popular Congresses (which could be the equivalent of a local parliament), and basic popular Committees (equivalent to a local executive). These two institutions are responsible for transmitting information, measures and decisions to the national authorities: the General People's Congress and the various general popular Committees.
Libya has also been going through a decentralization process since 2000 with transfers of skills and means as the government has transferred part of its prerogatives to provincial cells of popular committees. This phenomenon is growing in Libya with the recent growth of the cha'biyat, new local administrative entities (34 in number today).
Legislative Power: The legislature is unicameral in Libya. The parliament consists of the General People's Congress (GPC). Its members are elected representatives (called secretaries) of around 600 local bodies called ‘basic popular congresses', and serve a term of four years. Only the Revolutionary Leader has the power to dissolve parliament or veto its enactments . The people of Libya have very limited political rights.
Main Political Parties: Political parties have been banned in Libya since 1971. However the establishment of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has been allowed but these need to work under strict government control.
Current Political Leaders: Chief of state: Transitional National Council Chairman Mustafa Abd al-JALIL (since March 2011);
Head of government: Transitional National Council Executive Committee Chairman Abd al-Rahim al-KEEB (since 23 October 2011)
Next Election Dates: No information

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

World Rank:: 155/179
Evolution:: 5 places up compared to 2010

Source: Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2011, Reporters Without Borders

Note: The world rankings, published annually, measures the violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position is assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire sent to partner organizations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and activists of human rights, including the main criteria - 44 in total - to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

Indicator of Political Freedom

Ranking:: Not Free
Political Freedom:: 7/7
Civil Liberties:: 7/7

Map of freedom 2010
Source: Freedom House

Note: The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

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