Summary:
- Daniel Sando, Deputy Information Minister for Press and Public Affairs, claimed that Liberia achieved an economic growth rate of 5.1% in 2024.
- Sando made the claim while highlighting the current administration’s accomplishments in comparison to the achievements of the previous administration within its first year in office.
- We have verified this claim by reviewing relevant authoritative sources and found the statement to be correct.
On January 9, 2025, Deputy Information Minister Daniel Sando claimed that Liberia has achieved a growth rate of 5.1% in 2024. The claim was made at the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT) regular press briefing at (17:02 of this video).
He was highlighting the current administration’s first-year accomplishments in comparison to the achievements of the previous administration within the first year in office.
Claim
Said Sando: “We achieved a growth rate of 5.1% in 2024.”
Rating Justification
To verify this claim, we reviewed publicly available data from credible sources regarding Liberia’s economic performance in 2024.
We first reviewed the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning’s website and found a press release dated July 17, 2024. The press release disclosed that Liberia had experienced an economic growth of 5.1%.
According to the then-acting MFDP Minister, Anthony G. Myers, key sectors such as mining, agriculture, fisheries, and services were the primary drivers of this growth.
The release stated:
“The Acting Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Hon. Anthony G. Myers, has provided a mid-year update on the state of the Liberian economy, projecting a growth rate of 5.1 percent.
Speaking at a Special News Briefing at the Ministry of Information, Culture Affairs and Tourism on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, Acting Minister Anthony G. Myers said the Economic Growth is driven by strong performances in key sectors such as mining, agriculture, fisheries, and services.”
We also reviewed data published by the International Monetary Fund, a global organization dedicated to promoting international financial stability by providing policy advice, financial assistance, and capacity-building support to its 190 member countries.
Liberia’s economic data published by the IMF in April 2024 supports the Finance Ministry’s figure.
The IMF country data graph for Liberia indicated a Real GDP growth rate of 5.1% as of April 2024.
In addition, Liberia’s Economic Outlook for 2024 as published by the African Development Bank projected Liberia’s economic growth by 5.2% in 2024.
It is important to note that the World Bank has not yet released its 2024 economic report on Liberia’s economic growth for 2024.
However, the Bank’s most recent available data for 2023 shows that Liberia’s growth rate for 2023 was 4.7%.
Conclusion
Based on the review of all the data provided by authoritative sources, we conclude that the claim made by Deputy Minister Sando that Liberia achieved an economic growth rate of 5.1% in 2024 is correct. Both the Finance Ministry and the IMF support this figure.
