Cost of Living in Libya
Image credit: Tarek Siala from Tripoli, Libya
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Libya: $12,584/capita.
Cities in Libya
Income Category
Happiness
5.9 / 10
#65 globally
GDP per Capita
Population
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 82% lower than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).
Child Education
Public-schooling rules are not sourced for Libya yet. Country-level enrollment, instruction-language, and homeschool notes will appear here once verified.
Childcare & Domestic Help
Nanny, housekeeper, and driver pricing is not yet sourced for Libya. We publish this section only when we can tie it to verified local samples or a clearly marked country fallback.
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Libya.
Method: country metrics come from public system indicators, facility coverage reflects mapped providers we can inventory, direct pricing only reflects observed self-pay pages, and relative care cost can fall back to broad cost-of-living healthcare indices. Sparse pricing does not imply sparse healthcare availability.
Healthcare system
GoodSolid hospital-bed capacity support this rating.
Public care
StrongStrong public funding, relatively low patient cost-sharing, and a visible public hospital footprint support this rating.
Private care
MixedA large tracked hospital and clinic network help, but self-pay pricing transparency is still sparse.
UHC coverage
71/100
2023
Physicians
2.04/1k
2017
Hospital beds
3.50/1k
2022
Out of pocket
19%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
71.1 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
59/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
5.2/1k
2024
International patient readiness
MixedMultiple facilities have websites and there is visible specialty depth help, but price transparency is still sparse.
Pricing transparency
LimitedMultiple facilities have crawlable websites help, but published self-pay prices are scarce.
Facility coverage
Self-pay pricing visibility
No verified self-pay prices are published for the tracked facilities in Libya yet.
This usually reflects low online price transparency rather than a lack of healthcare providers.
Notable facilities
System metrics: World Bank WDI · Updated 2026-06-01
Safety & Governance
Street Safety
Source: Numbeo where a city row is matched; otherwise World Bank WGI and country-level safety context.
Political Stability
World Bank WGI scale: -2.5 to +2.5.
Wages by Sector
| Sector | Median |
|---|---|
| Administrative & Support Services | — |
| Agriculture & Farming | — |
| Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | — |
| Construction | — |
| Education | — |
| Finance & Insurance | — |
| Healthcare & Social Work | — |
| Hospitality & Food Service | — |
| Information & Technology | — |
| Manufacturing | — |
| Mining & Quarrying | — |
| Other Services | — |
| Professional & Scientific Services | — |
| Public Administration & Defence | — |
| Real Estate | — |
| Retail & Wholesale Trade | — |
| Transport & Logistics | — |
| Utilities | — |
2024 annual wages in Libya · Source: GDP-derived estimate
Visa Information (US passport)
Short-stay entry
US passport holders need advance travel authorization or a visa before entry.
About Libya
Libya is an upper middle income North African country of 7,381,023 people, with Tripoli as the capital and the main practical base for any foreign presence. Its cost level is low relative to many places in the region, but that headline is weakened by limited goods availability, slow and unreliable internet, and healthcare that is limited in quality and mainly concentrated in Tripoli. Arabic is the official language, so everyday administration and services will not be easy for non-Arabic speakers. Relocators should treat Libya less as a budget destination and more as a high-friction posting: visa access is very restrictive, there is no easy residency route, and current security risks and travel warnings make it unsuitable for most quality-of-life moves. The hot desert climate also brings extreme summers above 45°C.
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Common questions about Libya
Sourced from SortaRich's public-data ranking engine — every figure links to its institutional source.
Is Libya a good country to live in?
Libya is a moderately rated country to live in per the World Happiness Report (5.9 of 10, ranking #65 globally). Whether it's right for you depends on your priorities — use SortaRich's free quiz to see how Libya ranks for your specific income, family, and visa profile.
Sources: World Happiness Report, SortaRich Methodology
How much does it cost to live in Libya?
The cost of living in Libya is about 82% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), with an overall cost-of-living index of 18. SortaRich personalizes these numbers to your home city's purchasing power so the comparison is real, not nominal.
Sources: SortaRich Cost of Living, World Bank ICP 2021
How far does $1 go in Libya?
$1 goes about 2.9x further in Libya than in the baseline market — your home-country income stretches that much more (current PPP ratio: 2.86). The figure adjusts every year as exchange rates and local prices shift. SortaRich uses World Bank ICP 2021 as the anchor and Penn World Tables 11.0 for cross-validation.
Sources: World Bank ICP 2021, Penn World Tables 11.0
What visa do I need to move to Libya?
To move to Libya you have these visa options: Tourist entry: evisa. Visa rules change frequently — confirm the current terms with the official immigration authority before booking flights.
Source: SortaRich Visa Database
What are the best cities to live in Libya?
The best cities to live in Libya are Tripoli — those are the most-searched options among the 1 cities profiled in the SortaRich database. Each city page includes a personalized PPP comparison versus your home city plus subnational price data where available.
Source: SortaRich City Index