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Tunisia vs. Libya

Demographics

TunisiaLibya
Population11,811,335 (July 2021 est.)7,017,224 (July 2021 est.)

note: immigrants make up just over 12% of the total population, according to UN data (2019)
Age structure0-14 years: 25.28% (male 1,529,834/female 1,433,357)

15-24 years: 12.9% (male 766,331/female 745,888)

25-54 years: 42.85% (male 2,445,751/female 2,576,335)

55-64 years: 10.12% (male 587,481/female 598,140)

65 years and over: 8.86% (male 491,602/female 546,458) (2020 est.)
0-14 years: 33.65% (male 1,184,755/female 1,134,084)

15-24 years: 15.21% (male 534,245/female 513,728)

25-54 years: 41.57% (male 1,491,461/female 1,373,086)

55-64 years: 5.52% (male 186,913/female 193,560)

65 years and over: 4.04% (male 129,177/female 149,526) (2020 est.)
Median agetotal: 32.7 years

male: 32 years

female: 33.3 years (2020 est.)
total: 25.8 years

male: 25.9 years

female: 25.7 years (2020 est.)
Population growth rate0.75% (2021 est.)1.76% (2021 est.)
Birth rate15.21 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)22.23 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Death rate6.35 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)3.46 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Net migration rate-1.34 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)-1.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Sex ratioat birth: 1.06 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.07 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 1.03 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 0.95 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.9 male(s)/female

total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2020 est.)
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.04 male(s)/female

15-24 years: 1.04 male(s)/female

25-54 years: 1.09 male(s)/female

55-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female

total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2020 est.)
Infant mortality ratetotal: 12.16 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 13.67 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 10.57 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)
total: 11.48 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 12.97 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 9.93 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)
Life expectancy at birthtotal population: 76.57 years

male: 74.88 years

female: 78.36 years (2021 est.)
total population: 76.93 years

male: 74.68 years

female: 79.29 years (2021 est.)
Total fertility rate2.03 children born/woman (2021 est.)3.13 children born/woman (2021 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate<.1% (2020 est.)0.1% (2020)
Nationalitynoun: Tunisian(s)

adjective: Tunisian
noun: Libyan(s)

adjective: Libyan
Ethnic groupsArab 98%, European 1%, Jewish and other 1%Berber and Arab 97%, other 3% (includes Egyptian, Greek, Indian, Italian, Maltese, Pakistani, Tunisian, and Turkish)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS4,500 (2020 est.)9,500 (2020)
ReligionsMuslim (official; Sunni) 99%, other (includes Christian, Jewish, Shia Muslim, and Baha'i) <1%Muslim (official; virtually all Sunni) 96.6%, Christian 2.7%, Buddhist 0.3%, Hindu <0.1, Jewish <0.1, folk religion <0.1, unafilliated 0.2%, other <0.1 (2010 est.)

note: non-Sunni Muslims include native Ibadhi Muslims (<1% of the population) and foreign Muslims
HIV/AIDS - deaths<200 (2020 est.)<100 (2020)
LanguagesArabic (official, one of the languages of commerce), French (commerce), Berber (Tamazight); note - despite having no official status, French plays a major role in the country and is spoken by about two thirds of the population

major-language sample(s):
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The World Factbook, une source indispensable d'informations de base. (French)

The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Arabic (official), Italian, English (all widely understood in the major cities); Berber (Nafusi, Ghadamis, Suknah, Awjilah, Tamasheq)

major-language sample(s):
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The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Literacydefinition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 81.8%

male: 89.6%

female: 74.2% (2015)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 91%

male: 96.7%

female: 85.6% (2015)
Education expenditures6.6% of GDP (2015)NA
Urbanizationurban population: 69.9% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: 1.34% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
urban population: 81% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: 1.45% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Drinking water sourceimproved: urban: 100% of population

rural: 94.3% of population

total: 98.2% of population

unimproved: urban: 0% of population

rural: 5.7% of population

total: 1.8% of population (2017 est.)
improved: total: 98.5% of population

unimproved: total: 1.5% of population (2017 est.)
Sanitation facility accessimproved: urban: 97.6% of population

rural: 92.4% of population

total: 95.9% of population

unimproved: urban: 2.4% of population

rural: 7.6% of population

total: 4.1% of population (2017 est.)
improved: total: 100% of population

unimproved: total: 0% of population (2017 est.)
Major cities - population2.403 million TUNIS (capital) (2021)1.170 million TRIPOLI (capital), 919,000 Misratah, 836,000 Benghazi (2021)
Maternal mortality rate43 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)72 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight1.6% (2018)11.7% (2014)
Physicians density1.3 physicians/1,000 population (2017)2.09 physicians/1,000 population (2017)
Hospital bed density2.2 beds/1,000 population (2017)3.2 beds/1,000 population (2017)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate26.9% (2016)32.5% (2016)
Demographic profile

The Tunisian Government took steps in the 1960s to decrease population growth and gender inequality in order to improve socioeconomic development. Through its introduction of a national family planning program (the first in Africa) and by raising the legal age of marriage, Tunisia rapidly reduced its total fertility rate from about 7 children per woman in 1960 to 2 today. Unlike many of its North African and Middle Eastern neighbors, Tunisia will soon be shifting from being a youth-bulge country to having a transitional age structure, characterized by lower fertility and mortality rates, a slower population growth rate, a rising median age, and a longer average life expectancy.

Currently, the sizable young working-age population is straining Tunisia's labor market and education and health care systems. Persistent high unemployment among Tunisia's growing workforce, particularly its increasing number of university graduates and women, was a key factor in the uprisings that led to the overthrow of the BEN ALI regime in 2011. In the near term, Tunisia's large number of jobless young, working-age adults; deficiencies in primary and secondary education; and the ongoing lack of job creation and skills mismatches could contribute to future unrest. In the longer term, a sustained low fertility rate will shrink future youth cohorts and alleviate demographic pressure on Tunisia's labor market, but employment and education hurdles will still need to be addressed.

Tunisia has a history of labor emigration. In the 1960s, workers migrated to European countries to escape poor economic conditions and to fill Europe's need for low-skilled labor in construction and manufacturing. The Tunisian Government signed bilateral labor agreements with France, Germany, Belgium, Hungary, and the Netherlands, with the expectation that Tunisian workers would eventually return home. At the same time, growing numbers of Tunisians headed to Libya, often illegally, to work in the expanding oil industry. In the mid-1970s, with European countries beginning to restrict immigration and Tunisian-Libyan tensions brewing, Tunisian economic migrants turned toward the Gulf countries. After mass expulsions from Libya in 1983, Tunisian migrants increasingly sought family reunification in Europe or moved illegally to southern Europe, while Tunisia itself developed into a transit point for Sub-Saharan migrants heading to Europe.

Following the ousting of BEN ALI in 2011, the illegal migration of unemployed Tunisian youths to Italy and onward to France soared into the tens of thousands. Thousands more Tunisian and foreign workers escaping civil war in Libya flooded into Tunisia and joined the exodus. A readmission agreement signed by Italy and Tunisia in April 2011 helped stem the outflow, leaving Tunisia and international organizations to repatriate, resettle, or accommodate some 1 million Libyans and third-country nationals.

Despite continuing unrest, Libya remains a destination country for economic migrants. It is also a hub for transit migration to Europe because of its proximity to southern Europe and its lax border controls. Labor migrants have been drawn to Libya since the development of its oil sector in the 1960s. Until the latter part of the 1990s, most migrants to Libya were Arab (primarily Egyptians and Sudanese). However, international isolation stemming from Libya's involvement in international terrorism and a perceived lack of support from Arab countries led QADHAFI in 1998 to adopt a decade-long pan-African policy that enabled large numbers of Sub-Saharan migrants to enter Libya without visas to work in the construction and agricultural industries. Although Sub-Saharan Africans provided a cheap labor source, they were poorly treated and were subjected to periodic mass expulsions.

By the mid-2000s, domestic animosity toward African migrants and a desire to reintegrate into the international community motivated QADHAFI to impose entry visas on Arab and African immigrants and to agree to joint maritime patrols and migrant repatriations with Italy, the main recipient of illegal migrants departing Libya. As his regime neared collapse in 2011, QADHAFI reversed his policy of cooperating with Italy to curb illegal migration and sent boats loaded with migrants and asylum seekers to strain European resources. Libya's 2011 revolution decreased immigration drastically and prompted nearly 800,000 migrants to flee to third countries, mainly Tunisia and Egypt, or to their countries of origin. The inflow of migrants declined in 2012 but returned to normal levels by 2013, despite continued hostility toward Sub-Saharan Africans and a less-inviting job market.

While Libya is not an appealing destination for migrants, since 2014, transiting migrants - primarily from East and West Africa - continue to exploit its political instability and weak border controls and use it as a primary departure area to migrate across the central Mediterranean to Europe in growing numbers. In addition, more than 200,000 people were displaced internally as of August 2017 by fighting between armed groups in eastern and western Libya and, to a lesser extent, by inter-tribal clashes in the country's south.

Contraceptive prevalence rate50.7% (2018)27.7% (2014)
Dependency ratiostotal dependency ratio: 49.6

youth dependency ratio: 36.3

elderly dependency ratio: 13.3

potential support ratio: 7.5 (2020 est.)
total dependency ratio: 47.7

youth dependency ratio: 41

elderly dependency ratio: 6.7

potential support ratio: 15 (2020 est.)

Source: CIA Factbook