LEROY M. SONPON, III
Africa-Press – Liberia. Members of the Plenary of the House of Representatives mandated the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS) to provide a breakdown of the country’s population by electoral districts.
The House decision came following 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.
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.
The House is of the view that a segregated report will facilitate targeted development initiatives and resource allocation at the ‘district level’.
According to LISGIS, 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.
This 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.
Nearly all of the country’s population live in regular households, with less than 2 percent living in institutional households such as boarding schools and prisons, while 0.4% of Liberians are floating or homeless.
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.
It is the same as the 2008 census result, where the female population was 49.4 percent compared to 50.6 percent for male. This resulted into —a sex ratio of 102.3 — which was the same as that for 1984.
Estimates for each county showed that Liberia’s population remained heavily concentrated in four counties — Montserrado, Nimba, Bong, and Lofa County.
These counties constitute nearly two-thirds or 65 percent of the total population — following a similar pattern in 2008 — which could inform many long-term national projections.
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.
Household size declined from 6.2 persons in 1984 to 5.1, which implies that, in a situation of increasing urbanization and modernization, household size will reduce.
Compared with a few countries in West Africa, Liberia’s household size is larger than Ghana and La Côte d’Ivoire, but lesser than Sierra Leone and Mali, LISGIS data shows.
Also, Liberia’s population growth rate is higher than that of Ghana, Guinea, and La Côte d’Ivoire, but lower than that of Mali and Sierra Leone.
Meanwhile, the Legislature is expected to begin recess on July 17 after returning to session for the second quarter which started May 2.
However, it is rumored that the session would be extended for a month to address other important issues which need urgent priority.
The extension would require the signature of the President, according to Article 32(b) of the Constitution.
The Proclamation must be issued within 48 hours of receiving the certificate from at least one-fourth of the total membership of each House. If the President does not issue the proclamation within this time frame, the Legislature will automatically recess.
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