🇸🇱 Sierra Leone Demographics - Population, Culture & Society

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🇸🇱 Sierra Leone SL / SLE #117

Nomad Score 41.0

Cities 5

Region African Union, Africa, Africa, Western Africa, Least Developed Countries

Currency SLE

📊 KEY DEMOGRAPHICS

Population 8.5M

Density 105.3/km²

HDI 0.467 (Low)

Gini Index (2018) 35.7

Life Expectancy (2023) 61.8 yrs

Fertility Rate (2023) 3.79

Urban Population (2024) 45.4%

Literacy Rate (2019) 43.6%

Labor Force (2025) 54.6%

Gender Wage Gap (2018) 13.3%

Sources: REST Countries v4, World Bank, OWID

🗣 LANGUAGES & CULTURE

Languages

Language	Native Name
English	English

Religions

Religion	Percentage
Islam	78.0%
Christianity	21.0%
Other	1.0%

Ethnicities

Ethnicity	Percentage
Temne	35.5%
Mende	33.2%
Limba	6.4%
Kono	4.4%
Fula	3.4%
Susu	2.9%
Loko	2.9%
Koranko	2.8%
Sherbro	2.6%
Mandingo	2.4%
Krio	1.3%

Demonym (male) Sierra Leonean

Demonym (female) Sierra Leonean

National Anthem High We Exalt Thee, Realm of the Free

📈 POPULATION STRUCTURE

Age Group	Distribution	Share
0-14 Youth		38.1%
15-64 Working		58.7%
65+ Elderly		3.2%

Dependency Ratio 70.4%

Profile Very Young

Urban Pop. (2024) 45.4%

Birth Rate (2023) 30.6 /1000

Death Rate (2023) 8.3 /1000

Largest City (2025) 34.3%

Fertility Rate (2023) 3.79

Infant Mortality (2023) 56.2 /1000

Slum Pop. (2022) 49.3%

Tourism (2019) 71.0K

Source: World Bank

🏥 HEALTHCARE

Life Expectancy (2023) 61.8 yrs

HALE (2021) 53.1 yrs

Health Spending (2023) 4.7% of GDP

Infant Mortality (2023) 56.2/1000

UHC Index (2021) 41/100

Hospital Beds (2006) 0.4/1000

Physicians (2022) 0.13/1000

Nurses (2022) 1.16/1000

Health Spending/cap (2023) $36

Out-of-Pocket (2023) 54.5%

Source: World Bank, WHO

🎓 EDUCATION & TECHNOLOGY

Literacy Rate (2019) 43.6%

Education Spending (2023) 2.6% of GDP

Learning Outcomes (2020) 316

Internet Users (2023) 20.6%

Mobile Subscriptions (2022) 107.9/100

Broadband (2021) 0.0/100

Secure Servers (2024) 11/1M

Source: World Bank, OWID

🌐 BROADBAND CONNECTIVITY

Broadband per 100 (2021) 0.0

Source: ITU / World Bank via OWID. Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people.

🌍 GEOGRAPHY & PRACTICAL

Area 71,740 km²

Capital Freetown 📍

Continent Africa

Region Africa

Subregion Western Africa

Landlocked No

Driving Side Right

Timezones UTC

Calling Codes +232

TLD .sl

Maps Google Maps | OpenStreetMap

Borders 🇬🇳 Guinea, 🇱🇷 Liberia

🏅 NATIONAL SYMBOLS

Flag The flag of Sierra Leone is composed of three equal horizontal bands of green, white and blue.