The Plenary of the House of Representatives has mandated the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS) to provide a breakdown of the country’s population by electoral districts.
However, the House decision came after LISGIS submission of the final report of the 2022 Census, which shows that Liberia’s population increased by almost two million, with Montserrado and Nimba counties accounting for nearly half of the national population.
Furthermore, the district report as being requested by the House is aimed at getting a detailed breakdown of the country’s population by electoral districts, which would aid in the pending demarcation.
According to LISGIS recently released preliminary Census results, the current population for Liberia stands at 5.2 million, an increase of 50.4 percent when compared with the 2008 census result of 3.5 million.
It further represents a population gain of over 1.7 million people in the space of 14 years with urban growth up by 52 percent, while rural growth is down by 48 percent.
The data also shows that 50.4 percent of the country’s 5.2 million people are male, while 49.6 percent are female — giving a national sex ratio of 101.5 males for every 100 females.
Estimates for each county showed that Liberia’s population remained heavily concentrated in four counties — Montserrado, Nimba, Bong, and Lofa County and the counties sharing the least population distributions are Rivercess, Gbarpolu, Grand Kru, and River Gee.
These counties are among the poorest in the country, lacking basic social services, fueled by decades of government neglect. The population growth rate, according to LISGIS, stands at 3 percent with an average household size of 4.4 persons — representing a decrease — a trend since 1984.
Meanwhile, the Legislature is expected to begin recess on July 17 after returning to session for the second quarter which started May 2, 2023.