Libya ranks 64th (out of 186 countries) in the Human Development Index for 2012. This puts it in the category of ‘high human development’. It is positioned well ahead of neighbouring countries, such as Tunisia (94), Algeria (94), Morocco (130), and Egypt (112), while major oil- and gas-exporting countries, such as United Arab Emirates (41), Qatar (36), Bahrain (48), Saudi Arabia (57) and Kuwait (54), are ranked ahead of Libya.

Libya scores well by some measures: the literacy rate is 89.2 percent, and gross enrolment of students in primary, secondary, and tertiary education is high (83 percent). There has been a general improvement in many factors over the past thirty years: life expectancy, for instance, increased from 46.6 years in 1960 to 60 years in 1980 and 74.9 years in 2011 (World Bank).

Libya’s score, in international terms, is low (0.216) on the gender-inequality index (GDI), at 64, below Saudi Arabia but above Lebanon, Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco.