Liberia Demographics Profile 2008

Population

3,334,587 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure

0-14 years: 44% (male 734,375/female 731,287)
15-64 years: 53.3% (male 879,848/female 896,319)
65 years and over: 2.8% (male 45,175/female 47,583) (2008 est.)

Median age

total: 18 years
male: 17.8 years
female: 18.2 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate

3.661% (2008 est.)

Birth rate

42.92 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate

21.45 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate

15.14 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.95 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 143.89 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 159.5 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 127.81 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 41.13 years
male: 39.85 years
female: 42.46 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate

5.87 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

5.9% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

100,000 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths

7,200 (2003 est.)

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and yellow fever
water contact disease: schistosomiasis
aerosolized dust or soil contact disease: Lassa fever
animal contact disease: rabies (2008)

Nationality

noun: Liberian(s)
adjective: Liberian

Ethnic groups

indigenous African 95% (including Kpelle, Bassa, Gio, Kru, Grebo, Mano, Krahn, Gola, Gbandi, Loma, Kissi, Vai, Dei, Bella, Mandingo, and Mende), Americo-Liberians 2.5% (descendants of immigrants from the US who had been slaves), Congo People 2.5% (descendants of immigrants from the Caribbean who had been slaves)

Religions

Christian 40%, Muslim 20%, indigenous beliefs 40%

Languages

English 20% (official), some 20 ethnic group languages, of which a few can be written and are used in correspondence

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 57.5%
male: 73.3%
female: 41.6% (2003 est.)