Demographics of Sierra Leone

The demographics of Sierra Leone are made up of an indigenous population from 18 ethnic groups. The Temne in the north and the Mende in the south are the largest. About 60,000 are Krio, the descendants of freed slaves who returned to Sierra Leone from Great Britain, North America and slave ships captured on the high seas.

Demographics of Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone population pyramid in 2020
Population	8,420,641
Density	80.06 inhabitants per sq km.
Growth rate	15.40% (2004–2014 est.)
Birth rate	37.40 births/1,000 inhabitants
Death rate	11.03 deaths/1,000 inhabitants
Life expectancy	57.39 years
• male	54.85 years
• female	60.00 years
Fertility rate	4.2 children born/women
Infant mortality rate	73.29 deaths/1,000 births
Age structure
0–14 years	41.9%
15–64 years	54.4%
65 and over	3.7%
Sex ratio
Total	0.94 male(s)/female
At birth	1.03 male(s)/female
Under 15	0.99 male(s)/female
15–64 years	0.94 male(s)/female
65 and over	0.78 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	Sierra Leonean(s)
Major ethnic	Temne 25.2%, Mende 30.5%
Minor ethnic	Fula 5.4%, Limba 6.4%, Kono 10.4%, Loko 2.9%, Koranko 2.8%, Sherbro 2.6%, Mandingo 2.4%, Creole 5.2%, Other 5.2%
Language
Official	English
Spoken	Krio, Temne, Mende

In the past, some Sierra Leoneans were noted for their educational achievements, trading activity, entrepreneurial skills, and arts and crafts work, particularly woodcarving. Many are part of larger ethnic networks extending into several countries, which link West African states in the area. Their level of education and infrastructure have declined sharply over the last 30 years.^[1]

Population

Historical populations of Sierra Leone

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1963	2,180,355	—
1974	2,735,159	+2.08%
1985	3,515,812	+2.31%
2004	4,976,871	+1.85%
2014	5,743,725	+1.44%
Source: [2]

Sierra Leone's total population, from 1961 to 2013.

According to the 2022 revision of the World Population Prospects^[3][4] the total population was 8,420,641 in 2021, compared to only 1 895 000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 43%, 55.1% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 1.9% was 65 years or older .^[5]

	Total population	Population aged 0–14 (%)	Population aged 15–64 (%)	Population aged 65+ (%)
1950	1 895 000	39.4	57.6	3.0
1955	2 029 000	39.6	57.5	2.9
1960	2 187 000	39.6	57.5	2.9
1965	2 373 000	39.8	57.3	2.9
1970	2 593 000	40.5	56.9	2.9
1975	2 845 000	40.5	56.6	3.0
1980	3 162 000	41.1	56.0	2.9
1985	3 541 000	42.0	55.3	2.7
1990	3 982 000	42.4	55.1	2.6
1995	3 898 000	42.3	55.3	2.4
2000	4 143 000	42.4	55.5	2.1
2005	5 153 000	42.9	55.2	1.9
2010	5 868 000	43.0	55.1	1.9

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020) (Estimates or projections based on the 2015 population census.): ^[6]

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	3 987 250	4 113 068	8 100 318	100
0–4	620 177	639 745	1 259 922	15.55
5–9	546 368	563 608	1 109 976	13.70
10–14	492 216	507 749	999 965	12.34
15–19	415 263	428 368	843 631	10.30
20–24	373 462	385 247	758 709	9.37
25–29	324 639	334 883	659 522	8.14
30–34	272 318	280 911	553 229	6.83
35–39	226 560	233 708	460 268	5.68
40–44	181 985	187 730	369 715	4.56
45–49	144 473	149 031	293 504	3.62
50–54	110 450	113 934	224 384	2.77
55–59	84 146	86 801	170 947	2.11
60–64	64 608	66 647	131 255	1.62
65-69	47 370	48 865	96 235	1.19
70-74	33 569	34 630	68 199	0.84
75-79	22 307	23 010	45 317	0.56
80+	27 339	28 201	55 540	0.69
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	1 658 761	1 711 102	3 369 863	41.60
15–64	2 197 904	2 267 260	4 465 164	55.12
65+	130 585	134 706	265 291	3.28

Vital statistics

Registration of vital events is in Sierra Leone not complete. The website Our World in Data prepared the following estimates based on statistics from the Population Department of the United Nations.^[7]

	Mid-year population (thousands)	Live births (thousands)	Deaths (thousands)	Natural change (thousands)	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Total fertility rate (TFR)	Infant mortality (per 1000 live births)	Life expectancy (in years)
1950	2 001	97	68	29	48.6	34.1	14.5	6.09	251.2	29.6
1951	2 027	98	69	30	48.5	33.8	14.7	6.07	249.5	29.8
1952	2 053	99	68	31	48.2	33.3	15.0	6.03	246.1	30.3
1953	2 079	100	68	32	48.0	32.7	15.2	6.00	242.9	30.9
1954	2 107	102	68	33	48.3	32.4	15.9	6.05	239.9	31.3
1955	2 136	104	69	35	48.4	32.1	16.4	6.07	237.0	31.8
1956	2 166	105	69	36	48.6	31.8	16.8	6.10	234.3	32.2
1957	2 198	107	69	38	48.6	31.6	17.1	6.12	231.4	32.6
1958	2 230	109	70	39	48.7	31.3	17.4	6.13	228.5	33.0
1959	2 264	110	70	40	48.7	30.9	17.8	6.15	225.6	33.5
1960	2 301	113	71	42	48.9	30.6	18.3	6.18	222.7	34.0
1961	2 341	115	71	44	49.0	30.3	18.7	6.21	219.8	34.4
1962	2 383	117	71	45	49.0	30.0	19.1	6.22	217.0	34.9
1963	2 427	119	72	47	49.1	29.6	19.5	6.26	214.1	35.3
1964	2 473	121	72	49	49.1	29.2	19.9	6.29	211.1	35.9
1965	2 521	123	72	51	48.8	28.7	20.1	6.31	208.2	36.4
1966	2 570	125	73	52	48.7	28.3	20.4	6.35	205.2	36.9
1967	2 620	127	73	55	48.6	27.8	20.8	6.38	202.3	37.4
1968	2 672	129	73	56	48.3	27.4	20.9	6.39	199.5	37.8
1969	2 725	131	74	57	48.0	27.0	21.0	6.39	196.7	38.2
1970	2 779	133	74	59	47.8	26.5	21.3	6.41	194.0	38.8
1971	2 832	135	74	61	47.7	26.0	21.7	6.43	191.4	39.3
1972	2 887	137	74	63	47.5	25.6	22.0	6.45	188.8	39.8
1973	2 942	140	74	65	47.4	25.2	22.2	6.47	186.4	40.2
1974	2 999	143	74	68	47.5	24.8	22.7	6.53	184.0	40.7
1975	3 056	145	75	70	47.3	24.4	23.0	6.55	181.5	41.2
1976	3 113	147	75	72	47.1	24.0	23.2	6.55	179.2	41.6
1977	3 172	149	75	74	47.0	23.6	23.4	6.57	177.0	42.1
1978	3 235	152	75	77	47.0	23.2	23.7	6.59	174.9	42.5
1979	3 300	155	76	79	46.7	22.9	23.9	6.58	172.9	42.9
1980	3 367	157	76	81	46.5	22.6	23.9	6.56	171.1	43.1
1981	3 437	160	77	83	46.4	22.4	24.1	6.55	169.3	43.4
1982	3 509	163	78	85	46.5	22.2	24.3	6.56	167.5	43.6
1983	3 586	167	79	88	46.5	22.0	24.5	6.57	165.9	43.8
1984	3 666	171	80	91	46.5	21.9	24.7	6.59	164.4	43.9
1985	3 749	174	82	92	46.4	21.8	24.6	6.59	163.1	43.9
1986	3 843	178	84	94	46.4	21.8	24.6	6.60	161.9	43.8
1987	3 948	183	85	98	46.4	21.6	24.8	6.61	160.3	44.0
1988	4 056	187	87	100	46.2	21.5	24.6	6.59	159.0	44.0
1989	4 159	191	89	102	45.9	21.4	24.4	6.57	157.9	44.0
1990	4 325	195	91	104	45.8	21.3	24.5	6.57	156.9	44.1
1991	4 378	206	97	109	45.8	21.7	24.2	6.55	156.4	43.5
1992	4 302	201	94	107	45.9	21.5	24.4	6.56	154.8	43.6
1993	4 296	200	93	107	46.0	21.5	24.5	6.57	153.6	43.6
1994	4 315	200	95	105	46.0	21.9	24.1	6.56	153.4	42.9
1995	4 324	200	96	104	45.7	22.0	23.7	6.56	152.0	42.7
1996	4 347	200	93	108	45.8	21.2	24.6	6.55	149.2	43.7
1997	4 405	202	93	108	45.5	21.1	24.5	6.53	147.1	43.7
1998	4 450	204	97	107	45.4	21.6	23.8	6.50	145.8	42.8
1999	4 475	204	99	105	45.2	21.9	23.3	6.42	141.6	42.1
2000	4 584	204	90	114	45.0	19.8	25.2	6.36	139.2	45.1
2001	4 857	212	91	121	44.7	19.2	25.5	6.31	136.0	45.7
2002	5 140	226	95	131	44.3	18.7	25.7	6.23	133.1	46.4
2003	5 351	231	96	135	43.5	18.1	25.4	6.09	130.0	47.0
2004	5 533	233	97	137	42.3	17.5	24.8	5.92	126.8	47.6
2005	5 683	237	96	141	41.7	16.9	24.8	5.81	123.4	48.2
2006	5 810	241	94	148	41.4	16.1	25.3	5.74	119.9	49.3
2007	5 939	242	91	151	40.8	15.3	25.5	5.64	116.1	50.4
2008	6 091	246	89	157	40.3	14.5	25.8	5.56	112.2	51.5
2009	6 260	248	86	162	39.7	13.8	25.9	5.45	108.5	52.6
2010	6 437	250	84	166	38.9	13.1	25.8	5.33	104.4	53.7
2011	6 612	253	82	171	38.3	12.5	25.8	5.21	100.6	54.6
2012	6 789	255	81	174	37.6	11.9	25.6	5.06	97.1	55.5
2013	6 965	254	79	175	36.5	11.4	25.1	4.87	93.6	56.3
2014	7 141	254	80	174	35.5	11.2	24.3	4.70	91.2	56.4
2015	7 315	253	78	174	34.6	10.7	23.8	4.55	88.1	57.2
2016	7 494	255	75	180	34.0	10.0	24.0	4.47	84.6	58.4
2017	7 678	258	76	182	33.6	9.9	23.7	4.39	82.1	58.7
2018	7 861	260	73	187	33.1	9.3	23.8	4.29	79.2	59.8
2019	8 047	262	73	189	32.5	9.1	23.5	4.19	76.7	60.3
2020	8 234	263	77	186	31.9	9.3	22.6	4.08	74.3	59.8
2021	8 421	264	77	187	31.4	9.1	22.2	3.98	72.0	60.1

Fertility and Births

Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):^[8]

Year	CBR (Total)	TFR (Total)	CBR (Urban)	TFR (Urban)	CBR (Rural)	TFR (Rural)
2008	31.5	5.1 (4.5)	27.3	3.8 (3.4)	33.4	5.8 (5.2)
2013	35.7	4.9 (4.2)	29.5	3.5 (3.0)	38.2	5.7 (4.9)
2019	30.0	4.2 (3.8)	26	3.1 (2.9)	33	5.1 (4.7)

Other demographic statistics

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.^[9]

• One birth every 2 minutes
• One death every 6 minutes
• One net migrant every 131 minutes
• Net gain of one person every 3 minutes

The following demographic are from the CIA World Factbook^[10] unless otherwise indicated.

Population

8,692,606 (2022 est.)

6,312,212 (July 2018 est.)

Religions

Main article: Religion in Sierra Leone

Muslim 77.1%, Christian 22.9% (2019 est.)

Age structure

Population pyramid of Sierra Leone in 2020

0-14 years: 41.38% (male 1,369,942/female 1,371,537)

15-24 years: 18.83% (male 610,396/female 636,880)

25-54 years: 32.21% (male 1,020,741/female 1,112,946)

55-64 years: 3.89% (male 121,733/female 135,664)

65 years and over: 3.7% (2020 est.) (male 100,712/female 144,382)

0-14 years: 41.71% (male 1,314,905 /female 1,317,921)

15-24 years: 18.6% (male 572,274 /female 602,105)

25-54 years: 32.23% (male 973,698 /female 1,060,688)

55-64 years: 3.7% (male 110,176 /female 123,268)

65 years and over: 3.76% (male 97,922 /female 139,255) (2018 est.)

Birth rate

32.2 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 24th

36 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 18th

38.12 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

Death rate

9.32 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 50th

10.2 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 33rd

11.41 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Total fertility rate

3.8 children born/woman (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 31st

4.69 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 21st

4.9 children born/woman (2012 est.)

Population growth rate

2.49% (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 23rd

2.4% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 27th

2.33% growth rate (2014 est.)

Median age

total: 19.1 years. Country comparison to the world: 206th

male: 18.5 years

female: 19.7 years (2020 est.)

total: 19.1 years. Country comparison to the world: 201st

male: 18.4 years

female: 19.7 years (2018 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth

19.6 years (2019 est.)

note: median age at first birth among women 20-49

Contraceptive prevalence rate

21.2% (2019)

16.6% (2013)

Net migration rate

2.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 50th

-1.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 160th

-3.86 migrants/1,000 population (2012 est.)

Dependency ratios

total dependency ratio: 82.6 (2015 est.)

youth dependency ratio: 78 (2015 est.)

elderly dependency ratio: 4.6 (2015 est.)

potential support ratio: 21.9 (2015 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 0.99 male(s)/female

15–64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female

total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

Maternal Mortality Ratio

890 deaths/100 000 births (2010)

Sierra Leone's MMR is the worst of any country in the world, according to the 2000 WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA report.

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 58.76 years. Country comparison to the world: 223rd

male: 57.16 years

female: 60.41 years (2022 est.)

total population: 59 years

male: 56.4 years

female: 61.7 years (2018 est.)

total population: 56.55 years

male: 54.08 years

female: 59.11 years (2012 est.)

total population: 45.25 years

male: 42.37 years

female: 48.21 years (2000 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 43.8% of total population (2022)

rate of urbanization: 3.02% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

urban population: 42.1% of total population (2018)

rate of urbanization: 3.12% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

Education expenditures

4.6% of GDP (2017)

Health expenditures

11.1% of GDP (2014)

Physicians density

0.02 physicians/1,000 population (2010)

Hospital bed density

0.4 beds/1,000 population (2008)

HIV/AIDS

adult prevalence rate: 1.4% (2017 est.)

people living with HIV/AIDS: 61,000 (2017 est.)

deaths: 2,600 (2017 est.)

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: very high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever

water contact diseases: schistosomiasis

animal contact diseases: rabies

aerosolized dust or soil contact diseases: Lassa fever

note: on 21 March 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Sierra Leone is currently considered a high risk to travelers for circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV); vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain of the weakened poliovirus that was initially included in oral polio vaccine (OPV) and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally occurring virus; this means it can be spread more easily to people who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or respiratory secretions, such as from a sneeze, of an "infected" person who received oral polio vaccine; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine

Nationality

noun: Sierra Leonean(s)

adjective: Sierra Leonean

Ethnic groups

Further information: Ethnic groups in Sierra Leone

18 native African tribes 90% (Temne 30.5%, Mende 29.2%, Fula 12.4% Limba 6.4%, Kono 4.4%, Mandingo 2.4, Creole 1.2%, other 13.5%)

Creole (descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled in the Freetown area in the late-18th century)

Refugees from Liberia's recent civil war

Small numbers of Lebanese^[11]

Languages

Further information: Languages of Sierra Leone

English (official, regular use limited to literate minority)

Mende (principal vernacular in the south)

Temne (principal vernacular in the north)

Fula (principal language in Sierra Leone, it is also strongly and widely spoken across West Africa and beyond...)

Krio (English-based Creole, spoken by the descendants of freed American and West Indian slaves and Liberated Africans who were settled in the Freetown area, a lingua franca and a first language for 10% of the population but understood by 95%)

Education expenditure

9.3% of GDP (2020) Country comparison to the world: 7th

Literacy

Definition: Age 15 and over can read and write English, Mende, Temne, or Arabic

Year	Total population	Male	Female
1995 est.	31.4%	45.4%	18.2%
2004 est.	35.1%	46.9%	24.4%
2015 est.	48.1%	58.7%	37.7%
2018	43.2%	51.6%	39.8%

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24

total: 9.4%

male: 14.8%

female: 6.1% (2014 est.)

References

1. "Sierra Leone (02/08)". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 2008-02-17.
2. "FINAL RESULTS 2004 POPULATION AND HOUSING CENSUS" (PDF). Sierra-leone.org. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
3. "World Population Prospects 2022". United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
4. "World Population Prospects 2022: Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950-2100" (XSLX) ("Total Population, as of 1 July (thousands)"). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
5. Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision Archived May 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
6. "UNSD — Demographic and Social Statistics".
7. "Population & Demography Data Explorer". Our World in Data. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
8. "Sierra Leone - Demographic and Health Survey 2008". microdata.worldbank.org.
9. [worldpopulationreview.com/countries/sierra-leone-population/ "Sierra Leone Population 2022"], World Population Review {{citation}}: Check |url= value (help)
10. "The World FactBook - Sierra Leone", The World Factbook, July 12, 2018 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
11. "Sierra Leone (04/06) - State.gov".