Distillers Country guides / Libya
Libya
A one-page guide to Libya for the spirits trade: the country, its people, its economy and how it drinks.
At a glance
- Capital
- Tripoli
- Official languages
- Arabic
- Currency
- Libyan dinar (LYD)
- Time zone
- UTC+2 (no daylight saving)
- Area
- 1,759,541 km²
People
- Population
- 7.5 million (2025)
- Population growth
- 1.0% a year
- Living in towns and cities
- 87.9%
- Aged under 15
- 26.8%
- Aged 65 and over
- 5.2%
- Life expectancy
- 71.1 years
Economy
- GDP
- US$44.7 billion (2025)
- GDP per person
- US$5,998 (2025)
- Economic growth
- 15.9% (2025)
- Inflation
- 1.8% (2025)
Climate
Mostly extremely dry and desert-like, with a milder Mediterranean strip along the coast. Not relevant to beverage alcohol, which is banned.
Alcohol
- Alcohol is
- Prohibited
- Legal drinking age
- Alcohol is prohibited for all ages (Penal Code, Law No. 89 of 1974, art. 21, as cited by Wikipedia)
Sources: World Bank (population, economy and demographics), WHO Global Health Observatory (alcohol per adult and drinking mix); Wikipedia - Legal drinking age (Libya: prohibited); Wikipedia - Libya. Figures are the latest each source publishes; the year is shown beside each one.