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 the global level, or roughly one-fiftieth. Low-carbon electricity generation was 24 kWh per person, equivalent to about a third of consumption. The supplied figures do not specify the full consumption mix, so the remainder cannot confidently be classified as fossil electricity rather than imports or other sources. Such limited electricity availability can constrain healthcare, education, refrigeration and business activity, while holding back electrification and new digital services.

Is Electricity Growing in Liberia?

Liberia’s latest figures do **not show growth relative to its historical peaks**, although they alone cannot establish the recent year-to-year trend. Electricity consumption in 2023 was about 83% below the record of 415 kWh per person set in 1980—a fall of 344 kWh per person. Low-carbon generation was similarly far below its 1980 record: 24 kWh per person versus 156, a decline of 132 kWh per person, or about 85%. These substantial shortfalls underline the need to rebuild electricity supply and expand clean generation beyond previous records.

Suggestions

Liberia could prioritize solar installations alongside stronger grids, storage and local electricity networks to expand access. Relevant examples include South Africa, which generated about 20 TWh of solar electricity, and tropical Vietnam, which generated 21 TWh; their experience offers lessons in scaling deployment, though these totals are not targets directly transferable to Liberia. South Africa also generated 12 TWh each from wind and nuclear, illustrating how different clean sources can contribute together. Liberia should assess wind opportunities where measurements support them and consider nuclear electricity within long-term national or regional planning. France’s 376 TWh of nuclear generation offers lessons in sustaining substantial low-carbon output, while regional cooperation could help Liberia develop the institutions, skills and electricity infrastructure needed for future nuclear participation.

History

The supplied history shows mostly unchanged hydroelectric generation during the 1980s, interrupted by a decline of **0.1 TWh in 1984** and an equal recovery in 1985. Generation then remained unchanged through 1989 in the listed records. The next reported increase was **0.1 TWh in 2018**, followed by no annual change from 2019 through 2023. That recent stagnation is disappointing given Liberia’s exceptionally low electricity consumption: a sustained expansion of low-carbon generation is needed rather than another extended plateau. The supplied history contains no entries for 1990–2017, so it does not establish what happened throughout that interval.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade