Sierra Leone

Sub-Saharan Africa. Low income. Capital: Freetown. Population 8,819,794 (2025).

Key trends

GDP per person (PPP) (constant international $)

GDP growth (%)

Inflation, consumer prices (% annual)

Life expectancy at birth (years)

Indicators

Each country reports for different years, so check the year beside every figure. Rank 1 is the highest value among countries with recent data.

Economy

Indicator	Latest	Year	5-yr change	10-yr change	Rank
GDP per person (PPP)constant international $	3,176	2025	+424	+548	178 of 199
GDP growth%	4.6%	2025	+5.9 pp	+9.0 pp	58 of 209
GDP per person growth%	2.5%	2025	+6.0 pp	+9.1 pp	103 of 209
GNI per person (Atlas method)current US$	830	2025	−10	−120	191 of 201
Trade% of GDP	49.1%	2025	+18.5 pp	+12.6 pp	146 of 183
Foreign direct investment, net inflows% of GDP	2.4%	2025	+1.6 pp	−1.3 pp	90 of 195

Prices and jobs

Indicator	Latest	Year	5-yr change	10-yr change	Rank	Trend
Inflation, consumer prices% annual	7.5%	2025	−6.0 pp	+0.8 pp	33 of 180
Unemployment (modelled ILO estimate)% of labour force	3.2%	2025	−0.4 pp	−1.3 pp	142 of 186

People and health

Indicator	Latest	Year	5-yr change	10-yr change	Rank
Populationpeople	8,819,794	2025	+907,236	+1,782,139	100 of 217
Population growth% annual	2.0%	2025	−0.3 pp	−0.3 pp	47 of 217
Urban population% of total	45.9%	2025	+2.7 pp	+5.2 pp	158 of 217
Life expectancy at birthyears	62.0	2024	+2.4	+7.7	206 of 217
Infant mortalityper 1,000 live births	54.6	2024	−9.4	−23.2	12 of 196
Health spending% of GDP	4.7%	2023	−0.6 pp	−3.7 pp	131 of 193

Education

Indicator	Latest	Year	5-yr change	10-yr change	Rank	Trend
Adult literacy rate% of people aged 15+	43.6%	2019 *	−0.8 pp	–	–
Government spending on education% of GDP	2.6%	2023	−1.8 pp	+1.1 pp	142 of 171

Access and infrastructure

Indicator	Latest	Year	5-yr change	10-yr change	Rank	Trend
Internet users% of population	25.1%	2024	+9.4 pp	+19.0 pp	172 of 185
Access to electricity% of population	39.2%	2024	+16.5 pp	+20.4 pp	205 of 215

Inequality and poverty

Indicator	Latest	Year	5-yr change	10-yr change	Rank	Trend
Gini index (inequality)index, 0 to 100	35.7	2018 *	+1.7	–	–
Poverty headcount ratio% of population, at the World Bank international poverty line	41.5%	2018 *	−12.2 pp	–	–

Environment and energy

Indicator	Latest	Year	5-yr change	10-yr change	Rank	Trend
Renewable energy% of final energy consumption	71.6%	2022	−3.0 pp	−7.5 pp	25 of 212

* Latest figure is too old to be included in rankings or peer medians.

Advanced metrics

Indicator	Own history		Versus peers (latest)			Growth and catch-up
Indicator	10-yr mean	Z-score	Income group median	Region median	Volatility (σ)	10-yr CAGR	% of high-income median	10 yrs earlier
GDP per person (PPP)	2,840	+2.3	1,964	3,781	146	+1.9%	6%	6%
GDP growth	3.4%	+0.4	5.0%	4.6%	3.5	–	–	–
GDP per person growth	1.0%	+0.4	2.4%	2.5%	3.5	–	–	–
GNI per person (Atlas method)	874	−1.0	830	1,355	46	−1.3%	2%	4%
Trade	41.0%	+1.3	50.2%	59.9%	6.5	–	–	–
Foreign direct investment, net inflows	2.8%	−0.2	2.8%	2.0%	1.7	–	–	–
Inflation, consumer prices	19.5%	−1.0	5.9%	3.5%	12.0	–	–	–
Unemployment (modelled ILO estimate)	3.5%	−0.8	4.4%	5.4%	0.5	–	–	–
Population	7,829,534	+1.8	24,074,580	14,957,094	541,604	+2.3%	301%	268%
Population growth	2.3%	−3.1	2.6%	2.3%	0.1	–	–	–
Urban population	43.0%	+1.9	34.5%	44.9%	1.5	–	–	–
Life expectancy at birth	58.6	+1.4	63.8	64.3	2.5	–	–	–
Infant mortality	66.1	−1.5	43.0	37.2	7.5	–	–	–
Health spending	7.9%	−0.9	4.9%	4.4%	3.6	–	–	–
Government spending on education	3.6%	−0.7	2.8%	3.3%	1.6	–	–	–
Internet users	14.1%	+1.7	20.5%	36.8%	6.4	–	–	–
Access to electricity	25.0%	+2.8	43.7%	57.8%	5.1	–	–	–
Renewable energy	74.6%	−1.5	76.9%	70.6%	2.1	–	–	–

How the advanced metrics are calculated. Change: latest value minus the value 5 or 10 years earlier, using the nearest observation within two years where the exact year is missing (percentage points for % series). CAGR: (latest ÷ earlier value)^(1 ÷ years between) − 1 over about 10 years, shown only for positive levels such as income and population. Volatility: standard deviation of the 10 observations before the latest. Z-score: how many standard deviations the latest value sits from that 10-year mean. Rank: among countries whose latest value is within 3 years of the newest year for that indicator; 1 is the highest value. Peer medians: the same group of recent values, split by income group, region and world. Share of high-income median: the country's value as a percentage of the median high-income country in the same year, compared with 10 years earlier. A rising share means the country is catching up; it is arithmetic about the past, not a forecast.

Compare Sierra Leone with other countries

Source. World Bank, World Development Indicators (datacatalog.worldbank.org), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Data retrieved 2026-11-11. Some series are compiled by third parties such as the ILO and UN agencies and are subject to those sources' notes.

Changes made. ECONDEX has calculated all changes, growth rates, volatility, z-scores, ranks, peer medians and charts. The World Bank did not prepare, review or endorse them.

Read with care. The latest figure for each country is often one to three years old and different countries report different years. Some figures are modelled estimates. Ranks compare countries on values from different years and are not judgements of performance. Country names, groupings and boundaries follow World Bank usage and imply no view on the legal status of any territory.

Not advice. For information only. This is not investment, financial, legal or policy advice. Do not rely on it for decisions without checking the source.