Lebanon

Economy & income

Currency

• Lebanese pound (LBP, ل.ل)
• ~89,500 per USD (unified official rate since early 2024; 2025-2026)
• Heavily dollarized ('fresh dollar' economy)

GDP per capita

• ~$6,400 nominal (IMF est., 2025; nominal GDP ~$34.5B)
• ~$9,988 PPP (IMF, 2025) — figures carry high uncertainty after the 2019-2023 collapse and GDP rebasing

Average salary

• ~$704 net/mo (Numbeo, Jun-Jul 2026)
• gross ~$800-850 (low effective income tax)
• Pre-crisis average was ~$1,000-1,600

Median salary

• n/a — no reliable official median since the 2019 crisis
• private-sector pay clusters ~$400-800/mo (LeBusiness Salary Report 2026)

Minimum wage

• LBP 28,000,000/mo (Decree #699, from 1 Aug 2025) ≈ ~$313/mo at ~89,500/USD
• public-sector base far lower (~LBP 6.75M)

Cost of living

• Medium in USD terms — Numbeo COL index ~40 (Jun 2026), ~26% below Germany
• but very expensive relative to collapsed local incomes (Beirut 1-bed downtown ~$849/mo, transport pass ~$78)

Digital landscape

Population

5.83 million (Jan 2025; urban ~89.7%)

Internet users

91.6% (~5.34M users, Jan 2025)

Social media users

68.9% (~4.02M social media identities; skews ~60% male)

Mobile connections

4.68M cellular connections = 80.4% of population

Devices

desktop ~62% / mobile ~37.5% / tablet ~1% (StatCounter, Jun 2026) — unusually desktop-heavy for the region

Ad spend

• Digital ~$30M (2024, IAA Lebanon — spend on Meta/TikTok/Google)
• mostly international advertisers, largely bypassing local media
• total ad market small and crisis-hit (no reliable national figure)

Top social platforms

TikTok ~4.0M ad reach, 18+

YouTube ~3.19M / 54.8%

Facebook ~3.15M / 54.1%

Instagram ~2.50M / 42.9%

Facebook Messenger ~1.60M / 27.5%

LinkedIn ~1.30M / 22.3%

Snapchat ~1.24M / 21.2%

Messengers

• WhatsApp (dominant, near-universal for chat & business)
• Facebook Messenger (~1.60M reach)
• Telegram (groups/news)
• Instagram Direct

Payments & behaviour

Payment methods

• Cash on delivery (~60-70% of e-commerce orders)
• Visa/Mastercard 'fresh dollar' debit & credit cards
• Bank transfer / OMT counter payments
• Mobile wallets (Whish, OMT Pay)

E-wallets

• Whish Money (leading, 1M+ users; BDL-licensed)
• OMT Pay (linked to Western Union)
• Bank/PurplePay card wallets

Cash on delivery

Very high — COD is the default and most-trusted method, ~60-70% of online orders

E-commerce

• Low-to-moderate
• cash-heavy, USD-dominated economy since the 2019 crisis
• adoption rising among urban youth

Notes

• Dual-currency (USD + LBP)
• 'fresh dollar' cards vs frozen legacy bank accounts create friction
• card declines/FX limits common
• remittances are central to the economy and flow via OMT, Western Union and Whish Money

Audience & culture

Languages

• Arabic (official, near-universal; Lebanese dialect)
• French (~40-45%, business/education, upscale)
• English (widely used, esp. youth & business)
• Armenian (minority community)

Religion

• Muslim ~67-69% (Sunni ~31%, Shia ~32%, plus Alawite/Ismaili) and Christian ~28-33% (Maronite Catholic largest, then Greek Orthodox, Melkite, Armenian), Druze ~5%
• 18 recognized sects, no official census since 1932

Median age

28.8 years (DataReportal, Jan 2025)

Key seasons

• Ramadan + Eid al-Fitr (night-active shopping/media)
• Eid al-Adha
• Summer Jun-Aug (diaspora return, tourism, weddings, festivals — biggest commercial window)
• Christmas & New Year (large Christian population)
• Back-to-school (September)

Cultural notes

• Highly online, multilingual and brand/status-conscious
• strong diaspora ties and remittance culture
• heavy WhatsApp + Instagram/TikTok use
• the economic crisis drives strong interest in bargains, side-income, remittances and crypto/USD savings

Where to find creators

• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube
• StarNgage / HypeAuditor rankings

Media landscape

Creators & public figures

Top creators

Celebrities

Nancy Ajram ~40M Instagram

Singer, 'Queen of Arab Pop', Coca-Cola/brand ambassador

Myriam Fares ~33.6M Instagram

Singer, dancer & performer ('Queen of Stage')

Elissa ~20M Instagram

Singer, multi-award-winning Arab pop star

Nadine Nassib Njeim ~17.1M Instagram

Actress & former Miss Lebanon; top Arab drama star

Haifa Wehbe ~14M Instagram

Singer & actress, pop/celebrity icon

Ragheb Alama ~5M Instagram

Singer & TV talent-show judge (Arab megastar)

Affiliate & traffic

Hot verticals

• Nutra (COD, weight-loss/beauty — Halal framing wins)
• iGaming/betting (grey, cloaked traffic)
• Crypto / forex (crisis-driven demand)
• Dating
• E-commerce / dropshipping
• Mobile apps & games

Active networks

• AdCombo (COD nutra, MENA)
• CPAgetti (nutra + gambling)
• ArabClicks / Boostiny (MENA e-commerce)
• Mobidea
• RichAds (push/native + offers)
• Admitad / Mitgo
• local performance agencies

Payouts

• COD nutra CPA ~$8-20
• dating/finance CPL ~$1-6
• iGaming CPA higher but restricted/cloaked
• USD payouts strongly preferred by local affiliates

Competition

• Moderate — Lebanon is usually bundled into MENA/Levant campaigns rather than targeted alone
• Arabic creatives with local dialect + before/after and Halal framing perform best

Seasonality

• Ramadan (late nights) and summer diaspora return are peaks
• ongoing crisis lifts crypto, remittance and side-income offers year-round

Traffic sources

• Meta (Facebook/Instagram) ads
• TikTok ads
• Snapchat
• Google / YouTube
• Push & native (RichAds/others)
• Influencer & WhatsApp distribution

Good to know

Capital

Beirut

Major cities

• Beirut
• Tripoli
• Sidon (Saida)
• Tyre (Sour)
• Zahlé
• Jounieh
• Byblos (Jbeil)

Time zones

• Single zone — Eastern European Time (EET, UTC+2), standard
• DST to EEST (UTC+3) roughly late Mar to late Oct

Android vs iOS

69% 31%

Android 69% iOS 31%

Phone brands

• Apple (~31%)
• Samsung (~29%)
• Tecno (~9%)
• Infinix (~4%)
• Xiaomi (~3%)

Top e-commerce

• Ishtari (local marketplace leader)
• Toters (on-demand delivery/quick-commerce)
• Ubuy Lebanon (cross-border)
• Abed Tahan (electronics)
• Beytech (premium appliances)
• Shein / Amazon via forwarding (Aramex Shop & Ship)

Peak activity

Evenings ~8-11pm local; strongly post-iftar late nights during Ramadan; weekend (Sat-Sun) daytime also strong

Creative taboos

Sectarian/political affiliations, religion & the civil war, Israel/Hezbollah, LGBTQ+ (Penal Code Art. 534), and pork/alcohol framing for Muslim segments — tread carefully

Also worth knowing

• Web traffic is unusually desktop-heavy (~62%) for the region — don't assume mobile-only funnels
• Heavily dollarized 'fresh dollar' economy with a huge diaspora and remittance flows (via OMT/Whish/Western Union) makes remittance, crypto/USD-savings and side-income offers a strong fit
• Trilingual (Arabic/French/English) and brand-conscious — French/English creatives work well for upscale Beirut audiences