In 2023, Liberia’s electricity consumption was just **71 kWh per person**, compared with a global average of **3,794 kWh per person**—less than 2% of that average. Low-carbon electricity generation amounted to **24 kWh per person**, equivalent to roughly a third of consumption. The supplied figures do not identify the sources covering the remainder, so they cannot establish the precise fossil-fuel share. Such limited electricity availability can constrain healthcare, education, business activity and household living standards. Expanding clean electricity would help support development and meet growing demand from electrification and digital services, without the climate and air-pollution impacts of fossil fuels.

Is Electricity Growing in Liberia?

Liberia’s latest figures show that electricity has **not recovered to its historic peak**, although a comparison with records alone does not establish whether it grew in 2023. Consumption of 71 kWh per person was about **344 kWh below** the 1980 record of 415 kWh—an approximately **83% decline**. Low-carbon generation likewise stood at 24 kWh per person, about **132 kWh below** its 1980 record of 156 kWh—roughly **85% lower**. These large shortfalls are worrying: Liberia needs substantial growth in both electricity availability and clean generation, rather than simply maintaining today’s very low levels.

Suggestions

Liberia can expand low-carbon electricity by prioritizing solar projects, strengthening its grid and developing clean electricity connections across the region. **South Africa** provides a relevant African example, generating about **20 TWh from solar** and **12 TWh each from wind and nuclear**. **Vietnam**, another tropical setting, generated about **21 TWh from solar**, offering a useful reference for solar deployment. Liberia could also assess wind opportunities where local measurements demonstrate suitable resources. For longer-term planning, it should consider nuclear electricity through regional cooperation and the development of appropriate institutions and skills, drawing lessons from South Africa and **France**, whose nuclear generation reached about **379 TWh**. These figures illustrate possibilities, not directly transferable targets; Liberia should adapt the lessons to its own electricity needs.

History

The supplied history of Liberia’s low-carbon electricity concerns **hydropower**. Generation showed no reported year-to-year change in the early 1980s, before falling by **0.1 TWh in 1984** and recovering by the same amount in 1985. It then remained unchanged through the remaining listed years of that decade. The next reported increase was **0.1 TWh in 2018**, followed by no reported annual change from **2019 through 2023**. That increase was welcome, but the subsequent lack of growth highlights the need for sustained investment in additional clean electricity. The supplied history contains no entries for 1990–2017, so it does not establish what happened during that interval.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade