About

Overview In 2022, Libya was the number 91 economy in the world in terms of GDP (current US$), the number 67 in total exports, the number 88 in total imports, the number 97 economy in terms of GDP per capita (current US$) and the number 96 most complex economy according to the Economic Complexity Index (ECI) .

Exports The top exports of Libya are Crude Petroleum ($30.3B), Petroleum Gas ($3.04B), Gold ($744M), Refined Petroleum ($700M), and Scrap Iron ($250M), exporting mostly to Italy ($9.26B), Spain ($3.48B), Germany ($3.32B), China ($2.52B), and France ($2.26B).

Imports The top imports of Libya are Refined Petroleum ($5.27B), Cars ($571M), Broadcasting Equipment ($543M), Rolled Tobacco ($474M), and Jewellery ($390M), importing mostly from Turkey ($2.84B), China ($2.37B), Italy ($2.28B), Greece ($1.95B), and United Arab Emirates ($1.31B).

Location Libya borders Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Niger, Sudan, and Tunisia by land and Greece, Italy, and Malta by sea.

Latest Trends

Latest Trade

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Y-AXIS SCALE

The following section uses the most recent trade data from partners of Libya.

Disclaimer: data is presented based on availability and only countries that use the harmonized system are being shown.

* Trade values are converted to USD using each month's exchange rate. For December 2023 data, the exchange rate from December 30, 2023 is used.

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Latest Data

Flow
Color
Depth

The data obtained is mirror data. The trade of countries that do not report current data can be reconstructed based on data reported by partner countries with current data available.

*All data is converted to USD using January 2020 exchange rates when data is reported in local currency.

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Historical Data

Yearly Trade

Flow
Color
Depth
Top Export (2022)Crude Petroleum$30.3B
Top Destination (2022)Italy$9.26B

In 2022, Libya exported a total of $36B, making it the number 67 exporter in the world. During the last five reported years the exports of Libya have changed by $15.7B from $20.3B in 2017 to $36B in 2022.

The most recent exports are led by Crude Petroleum ($30.3B), Petroleum Gas ($3.04B), Gold ($744M), Refined Petroleum ($700M), and Scrap Iron ($250M). The most common destination for the exports of Libya are Italy ($9.26B), Spain ($3.48B), Germany ($3.32B), China ($2.52B), and France ($2.26B).

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Exports (2022)
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Destinations (2022)
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Market Growth

Flow
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Fastest Growing Export Markets (2021 - 2022)
Italy$2.58B (+ 38.6%)
Greece$1.34B (+ 145%)
United Arab Emirates$773M (+ 89.9%)
Fastest Growing Import Markets (2021 - 2022)
Belgium$928M (+ 263%)
Italy$851M (+ 59.4%)
Greece$756M (+ 63.6%)

Total Export Growth by Market (2021 - 2022)

Service Trade

Service Trade

Libya Exports Services (2018)$134M
Libya Imports Services (2018)$5.06B

In 2018, Libya exported $134M worth of services. The top services exported by Libya in 2018 were Insurance services ($55.5M), Transportation ($51.6M), and Computer and information services ($26.6M).

The top services imported by Libya in 2018 were Personal travel ($2.04B), Transportation ($1.3B), Insurance services ($1.16B), Government services, n.i.e. ($535M), and Computer and information services ($31.4M).

Service Exports (2018)

Service Imports (2018)

Economic Complexity

Overview

Economic Complexity (Trade)-0.84Rank 96 of 124
Economic Complexity (Technology)-1.07Rank 77 of 96
Economic Complexity (Research)-1.28Rank 128 of 135

Most Specialized Products by RCA Index

Libya has a high level of specialization in Iron Reductions (20.4), Crude Petroleum (13.7), Live Fish (8.27), Ammonia (6.92), and Scrap Iron (3.13). Specialization is measured using RCA, an index that takes the ratio between Libya observed and expected exports in each product.

Most Complex Products by PCI

The highest complexity exports of Libya according to the product complexity index (PCI) are Ferrous waste and scrap; remelting scrap ingots of iron or steel (-0.19), Aluminium; waste and scrap (-0.59), Fish; live (-0.79), Copper; waste and scrap (-0.84), and Ammonia; anhydrous or in aqueous solution (-1.37). PCI measures the knowledge intensity of a product by considering the knowledge intensity of its exporters.

Export Opportunities by Relatedness

The top export opportunities for Libya according to the relatedness index, were Crustaceans (0.024), Refined Petroleum (0.024), Iron Ore (0.024), Other Oily Seeds (0.024), and Raw Aluminium (0.024). Relatedness measures the distance between a country's current exports and each product. The barchart show only products that Libya is not specialized in.

Product Space

The product space is a network connecting products that are likely to be co-exported. The product space can be used to predict future exports, since countries are more likely to start exporting products that are related to current exports. Relatedness measures the distance between a product, and all of the products a country currently specializes in.

Relatedness Space

This network shows the products most related to the production structure of Libya. These are products that tend to be co-exported with the products that Libya exports. Higher relatedness values ​​indicate greater knowledge, which predicts a greater probability of exporting that product in the future.

Diversification Frontier

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Depth

The Complexity-Relatedness diagram compares the risk vs strategic value of a country's potential export oppotunities. Relatedness is predictive of the probability that a country increases its exports in a product. Complexity, is associated with higher levels of income, economic growth, less income inequality, and lower greenhouse emissions.

Economic Complexity Ranking

Methodology
Scale

During the last 20 years Libya's⁩ ⁨economy has become relatively less complex, moving from the ⁩⁨84th to the 96th⁩ position in the ECI rank.

These economic complexity rankings use 6 digit exports classified according to the HS96 classification. We consider only countries with population of at least 1 million and exports of at least $1 billion, and products with world trade over $500 million. To explore different rankings and vary these parameters visit the custom rankings section.

Explore Rankings

ECI (Trade) Ranking by Country

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