In Summary: Liberia 26th President Joseph Boakai in his annual message claimed that economic growth slowed from 4.8% to 4.6% between 2022 and 2023 and that inflation rose from 7.6% to 10.1% during the same period. We have checked and found that Mr. Boakai is mostly correct.
On January 29, President Boakai delivered his first annual message to the legislature reporting about the state of nation in last year and his plans for 2024. While giving his speech, President Boakai made several claims about the state of the economy including economic growth and the inflation.
Said President Boakai: “Economic growth slowed between 2022 and 2023, from 4.8 percent to 4.6 percent. Inflation during the period 2023 rose to 10.1 percent at the end of December, from 7.6 percent in 2022.”
Claim #1
“Economic growth slowed between 2022 and 2023, from 4.8% to 4.6%”
Verdict: Correct
Rating Justification
To fact check this claim, we first searched publicly available data on Liberia’s economic growth for 2022 and 2023.
We first reviewed data published by the International Monetary Fund – a global organization that foster international financial stability by offering policy advice, financial assistance and capacity development to its 190 member states. Liberia country data on the IMF graph shows that economic growth (real GDP growth) in 2022 was at 4.8% and drop to 4.6% in 2023.
Screenshot of graph on IMF website showing Liberia’s economic in 2023
The latest publicly available data from the World Bank on Liberia also shows that Liberia economic growth in 2022 was at 4.8%. The bank has not released Liberia’s economic data for 2023.
Based on these evidence published by IMF and the World Bank, it is correct that economic growth in Liberia decline from 4.8% in 2022 to 4.6% in 2023.
Claim #2
Inflation during the period 2023 rose to 10.1% at the end of December from 7.6% in 2022.
Verdict: Mostly Correct
Rating Justification
To fact check this, we also review data from the IMF which show that the inflation rate of average consumer prices in Liberia stood at 7.6% in 2022 but increased to 10.6% in 2023.
Also, Liberia overview which was last updated by the World Bank on October 6, 2023 states that “annual average inflation slowed to 7.6% in 2022 — down from 7.8% in 2021”.
The publication did not account for inflation in 2023.
It is reported by both the World Bank and the IMF that inflation in 2022 was at 7.6%. IMF data also shows that inflation in 2023 stood at 10.6%.
Conclusion
Based on these facts, we conclude that the claims made by President Boakai that economic growth slowed from 4.8% in 2022 to 4.6% in 2023 is correct.
Both the IMF and World Bank data reported the same percentage as stated by President Boakai.
However, his claim that inflation rose from 7.6% in 2022 to 10.1% in 2023 is mostly correct. IMF data shows that inflation rose from 7.6% in 2022 to 10.6% in 2023.
World Bank has not released inflation data for 2023, but the latest available data for 2022 show that inflation was at 7.6%.