MONROVIA, Tuesday, November 3, 2026 — Liberia’s economy expanded by 5.1 percent in 2025, but the country’s latest economic gains have not translated into improved welfare for many households. A new World Bank report says extreme poverty is estimated to have increased from 34.6 percent in 2024 to 36.1 percent in 2025, underscoring a widening gap between headline growth and the economic conditions experienced by ordinary people.
The findings are contained in the World Bank Group’s seventh Liberia Economic Update, titled Beyond Growth: Addressing Structural Constraints to Job-Rich Growth in Liberia, launched in Monrovia on November 3. The report argues that the central challenge is no longer growth alone, but whether investment and economic activity can generate productive jobs, stronger local businesses and better household incomes.
Mining leads, while agriculture remains slow
The World Bank says real gross domestic product growth accelerated from 4.0 percent in 2024 to 5.1 percent in 2025. Mining expanded by 17.0 percent, services by 4.6 percent and agriculture by 2.6 percent. The report says the recovery was driven largely by capital-intensive, price-sensitive sectors, while activities on which many households depend continued to face structural constraints.
Within industry, iron ore production surged by 42 percent and gold output increased by 5.2 percent. Manufacturing moved in the opposite direction, contracting by 2.8 percent, according to the report. Agricultural growth slowed from 3.4 percent in 2024 to 2.6 percent in 2025, with the World Bank citing weaker rubber growth, slower domestic rice production and persistent constraints affecting productivity and value chains.
Growth is not yet creating enough secure work
The report highlights the scale of informal and low-productivity employment. It estimates that 78 percent of workers remain in informal self-employment or contributing family work. It also says 86 percent of firms are micro-sized and nearly 89 percent operate as single-person enterprises.
These figures help explain why faster national output does not automatically mean that more Liberians have stable jobs or rising incomes. Small businesses face high operating costs, unreliable infrastructure, limited access to finance and weak market connections. Agriculture, manufacturing and smaller service businesses—sectors with potential to employ more people—are particularly affected.
Fiscal indicators improved, but public investment fell
The World Bank reports that the overall fiscal deficit narrowed from 2.5 percent of GDP in 2024 to 2.1 percent in 2025. Public debt declined from 56.4 percent to 55.1 percent of GDP. International reserves, however, covered about 1.6 months of imports at the end of 2025, leaving Liberia exposed to external shocks.
The report also identifies a difficult policy trade-off. Capital expenditure fell from 8.5 percent of GDP in 2024 to 5.7 percent in 2025. The World Bank says fiscal consolidation strengthened macroeconomic stability, but the reduction in capital spending constrained investment in infrastructure, agriculture and other areas that could raise productivity over time.
State-owned enterprises face an accountability test
A major part of the report examines the governance and financial oversight of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), which play important roles in electricity, ports, petroleum supply, water and transport. The World Bank says fragmented responsibilities, incomplete financial reporting, limited audit coverage and weak performance monitoring make it difficult to assess the condition and fiscal risks of much of the state-owned portfolio.
The report does not claim that every state-owned enterprise is failing, nor does it present a complete, verified estimate of the portfolio’s total fiscal exposure. Instead, it says the information needed for effective oversight is incomplete. It recommends a verified register of public entities and directors, standardised financial reporting, reduced audit backlogs and clearer accountability for financial and operational performance.
What the findings mean for Liberia
The report’s message is that macroeconomic stability is necessary but not sufficient. Liberia will need to reduce the cost and improve the reliability of electricity, transport and finance; expand productive lending; strengthen agricultural productivity and domestic value addition; and create conditions in which small firms can grow and hire workers.
For policymakers, the challenge is to connect national growth targets to measurable improvements in employment, household welfare and public services. That means publishing credible implementation plans, tracking outcomes and making public institutions answerable for the resources they manage.
HeartTalk perspective: Measure growth by its impact on people
Liberia’s 5.1 percent growth is a significant macroeconomic result. But the reported increase in extreme poverty is a reminder that growth figures cannot stand alone as a measure of national progress. Citizens need to know whether more people are finding decent work, whether farmers and local businesses can expand, whether essential services are becoming more reliable and whether public enterprises are managing public resources transparently.
The next test for government is implementation: policies that turn investment into jobs, stronger domestic production and visible improvements in everyday life. HeartTalk Network will continue to follow the evidence and the public commitments made in response to these findings.
Sources and further reading
- World Bank Group: Liberia’s Economy Grows 5.1 Percent, but More and Better Jobs Are Needed to Reduce Poverty (November 3, 2026).
- Liberia Economic Update, Edition No. 7: Beyond Growth—Addressing Structural Constraints to Job-Rich Growth in Liberia (October 2026).
Related coverage: Read the November 3 HeartTalk Network Daily Digital Magazine.
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