A report issued by the National Human Rights Institution has revealed a worsening poverty crisis in Libya, with approximately one-third of the population living below the poverty line, according to data from the Statistics and Census Authority for 2023.
The data showed that 32% of Libyans suffer from extreme poverty, with heads of households over the age of 45 recording the highest percentage among the poor at 12%. and the poverty rate in female-headed households reached 5.9%, while it reached 20.5% in male-headed households.
Tripoli, topped the list of the poorest regions with 13.3% of households, followed by the Gulf of Sirte region with 4.9%, and then Benghazi with 4.8%.
The report attributed the crisis’s exacerbation to political division and the lack of security stability, which have negatively affected citizens’ living conditions.
The report defined the absolute poverty line as the inability of a head of household to meet basic needs such as food, health, education, transportation, and housing, estimating the income of this category to be approximately 2,350 Libyan dinars and below.
The National Human Rights Institution warned that the situation may be worse than the report indicates, as the survey was conducted between 2022 and 2023 when the US dollar exchange rate was 4.85 Libyan dinars, while the Libyan economy is currently experiencing significant fluctuations.
