Language

Official language
Arabic (93%)

Actual languages
Armenian (2.9%), other (4.1%)

English 30%, French 45%. While Arabic is Lebanon’s official language, English and French are widely spoken. 

T-index
0.071%

T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales.

Other languages
Armenian 6% and Kurdish 1%

English
Moderate proficiency (EF) – 34 of 112 countries/regions in the world- 1/12 position in Middle East.

Demography

Capital: Beirut
Currency: Lebanese Pound
Population: 6.77 m
Population density: 667/km2

Economy

GDP: 18.08 billion USD (2021)
GDP per capita: 2,670.4 USD ‎(2021) ‎
Exports: $4.24 billion (2020)

Statistics

Internet users: 89.3% penetration, 6.01 million
Unemployment rate: 14.5% (2021)
Urbanisation: 88.76% (2019)
Literacy: 99.13 % (2019)

Conventions

Numbering system
Arabic numerals and comma as decimal separator
Date format: dd – mm – yyyy
Time: 24h time system
Country code: 00961

Economy

Imports
$12.9 billion (2020). Petroleum oils and oils from bituminous minerals, not crude ($2.81B), Medicaments ($681M), Gold ($587M), Aircraft ($521M), and Turbo-jets, turbo-propellers and other gas turbines ($460M), importing mostly from Turkey ($945M), China ($919M), Germany ($897M), United States ($857M), and United Arab Emirates ($837M).

Financial inclusion factors (over 15 years of  age)
• 45% have an account with a financial institution
• 15% have a credit card
• 0.7% have a mobile money account
• 16% make online purchases

Ease of doing business
It is easy to conduct business (rated 66.1 out of 100) ranked 15th out of 20 Middle Eastern and Northern African countries and 143rd out of 190 countries worldwide (2020, World Bank)

Exports
$4.24 billion (2020). Gold ($1.05B), Diamonds ($257M), Ferrous waste and scrap ($167M), Jewellery ($164M), and Motor cars and other motor vehicles ($109M), exporting mostly to Switzerland ($1.1B), United Arab Emirates ($574M), Saudi Arabia ($233M), United States ($182M), and Qatar ($161M).

Economic freedom
Mostly not free’ (rated 47.3 out of 100) ranked 12th out of 14 Middle Eastern countries and ranked 162nd out of 186 countries worldwide (2022, Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal)

Global Innovation Index
Ranked 16th out of 19 Northern African and Western Asian countries, 92nd out of 132 worldwide.

The Global Innovation Index captures the innovation
ecosystem performance of 132 economies and tracks the most recent global innovation trends.

Media

Media language Arabic, English

Information channels
Lebanon’s broadcasting scene is developed and lively and reflects the country’s pluralism and its divisions. It was the first Arab country to permit private radio and TV and has become a regional media hub. Media freedom is enshrined in the constitution, although curbs forbid the media from defaming the president or other heads of state and inciting sectarian strife. Almost all TVs and radios are privately-owned and many are affiliated with political groups. Al-Manar TV is operated by militant group Hezbollah. Take-up of satellite and cable is widespread. Lebanese TVs are known for hosting some of the most daring cultural and social talks shows in the Middle East. There are dozens of private radio stations. BBC Arabic and Radio France Internationale are carried by partner stations. There are no widespread access curbs, although some sites relating to gambling and pornography, as well as some Israeli websites, are blocked. News websites across the political spectrum are a key information source.

The press

An-Nahar – (The Day) daily
Nidaa al-Watan – (Call of the Nation) daily
Al-Diyar – (The Homeland) daily
L’Orient-Le Jour – in French
The Daily Star – in English

Television

Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International (LBCi) – commercial, market leader and pan-regional broadcaster
Future TV – commercial, owned by Hariri family
Al-Jadeed – commercial
Murr TV (MTV) – commercial
Tele-Liban – state-run
Al-Manar – (The Beacon), pro-Hezbollah

Radio

Voice of Lebanon – commercialSawt al-Ghad – (Voice of Tomorrow), commercial
Radio Orient – commercial
Radio Liban – state-run

News agency

Lebanese National News Agency – state-run, pages in English
Naharnet – news website, pages in English
Ya Libnan – news site, in English
Lebanon 24 – news site, in Arabic

Internet Data

Internet users
89.3% penetration, 6.01 million

Share of web traffic by device
Mobile phones 61.5%, laptops and desktop computers 35.95%, tablet devices 2.09%, other devices 0.11%

Median speed of mobile Internet connection
21.30 Mbps

Median speed of fixed Internet connection
7.67 Mbps

Mobile connection as a percentage of total population: 68.4%

Percentage of mobile connections that are broadband (3G-5G): 93.7%

Most popular web search engines
Google (97.15%), Bing (1.95%), and Yahoo (0.57%) DuckDuckgo (0.13), Petal search (0.08%), Yandex (0.07%)

Most used social media
Facebook (79.1%), YouTube (9.46%), Twitter (4.27%), Instagram (4.12%), Pinterest (2.51%), Reddit (0.38%)

Social statistics

Life expectancy
79 yrs (2020)

Average age of population
29.6 yrs (2019)

Unemployment rate
11.3% (2019)

Gender
The Lebanese have equal opportunities in all jobs and, of course, in education. However, Lebanese women who are married to non-Lebanese are not permitted to pass citizenship to their kids. Women are rarely appointed to high-ranking political positions.

Class
With the present economic situation, almost every Lebanese home needs two incomes to function. The Lebanese class situation ranges from either poor to very wealthy. Lebanon has limited offerings in terms of welfare, healthcare, old-age pensions and life after retiring.

Literacy
95% (2019)

Healthcare expenditure
12.32% of GDP (2019)

Urbanisation
88.76% (2020)

Religion
Lebanon is the most religiously diverse country in the Middle East. Some say that religious beliefs affect one’s chances of being hired in some places and that people sometimes hire others from the same religion. Where you are from in Lebanon very often indicates your religious beliefs.

Ethnicity
All Lebanese communities share the same ethnic roots except the Armenians, who fled their country and came to Lebanon. In order to keep their identity, Armenians tend to live in the same areas and do business mostly with each other. Many international workers (non-Westerners) come to Lebanon for jobs. Many house helpers, nannies, janitors, people at gas stations and manual workers come from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and Syria.