Sierra Leone People - 2023

Population

8,908,040 (2023 est.)

Nationality

noun: Sierra Leonean(s)

adjective: Sierra Leonean

Ethnic groups

Temne 35.4%, Mende 30.8%, Limba 8.8%, Kono 4.3%, Korankoh 4%, Fullah 3.8%, Mandingo 2.8%, Loko 2%, Sherbro 1.9%, Creole 1.2% (descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled in the Freetown area in the late-18th century; also known as Krio), other 5% (2019 est.)

Languages

English (official, regular use limited to literate minority), Mende (principal vernacular in the south), Temne (principal vernacular in the north), Krio (English-based Creole, spoken by the descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled in the Freetown area, a lingua franca and a first language for 10% of the population but understood by 95%)

Religions

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

Demographic profile

Sierra Leone’s youthful and growing population is driven by its high total fertility rate (TFR) of almost 4 children per woman as of 2022, which has declined little over the last two decades. Its elevated TFR is sustained by the continued desire for large families, the low level of contraceptive use, and the early start of childbearing. Despite its high TFR, Sierra Leone’s population growth is somewhat tempered by high infant, child, and maternal mortality rates that are among the world’s highest and are a result of poverty, a lack of potable water and sanitation, poor nutrition, limited access to quality health care services, and the prevalence of female genital cutting.

Sierra Leone’s large youth cohort – about 60% of the population is under the age of 25 – continues to struggle with high levels of unemployment, which was one of the major causes of the country’s 1991-2002 civil war and remains a threat to stability today. Its estimated 60% youth unemployment rate is attributed to high levels of illiteracy and unskilled labor, a lack of private sector jobs, and low pay.

Sierra Leone has been a source of and destination for refugees. Sierra Leone’s civil war internally displaced as many as 2 million people, or almost half the population, and forced almost another half million to seek refuge in neighboring countries (370,000 Sierra Leoneans fled to Guinea and 120,000 to Liberia). The UNHCR has helped almost 180,000 Sierra Leoneans to return home, while more than 90,000 others have repatriated on their own. Of the more than 65,000 Liberians who took refuge in Sierra Leone during their country’s civil war (1989-2003), about 50,000 have been voluntarily repatriated by the UNHCR and others have returned home independently.

Age structure

0-14 years: 40.54% (male 1,820,988/female 1,790,185)

15-64 years: 56.89% (male 2,476,286/female 2,591,155)

65 years and over: 2.58% (2023 est.) (male 111,937/female 117,489)

Dependency ratios

total dependency ratio: 74

youth dependency ratio: 68.5

elderly dependency ratio: 5.5

potential support ratio: 18.3 (2020 est.)

Median age

total: 19.1 years

male: 18.5 years

female: 19.7 years (2020 est.)

Population growth rate

2.41% (2023 est.)

Birth rate

31.49 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Death rate

9.14 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Net migration rate

1.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Population distribution

population clusters are found in the lower elevations of the south and west; the northern third of the country is less populated as shown on this population distribution map

Urbanization

urban population: 44.3% of total population (2023)

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

Major urban areas - population

1.309 million FREETOWN (capital) (2023)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.02 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.95 male(s)/female

total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2023 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth

19.6 years (2019 est.)

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

Maternal mortality ratio

443 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 72.3 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 77.24 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 67.22 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 59.07 years

male: 57.48 years

female: 60.71 years (2023 est.)

Total fertility rate

3.71 children born/woman (2023 est.)

Gross reproduction rate

1.83 (2023 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

21.2% (2019)

Drinking water source

improved: urban: 92.5% of population

rural: 58% of population

total: 72.8% of population

unimproved: urban: 7.5% of population

rural: 42% of population

total: 27.2% of population (2020 est.)

Current health expenditure

8.8% of GDP (2020)

Physicians density

0.07 physicians/1,000 population (2018)

Sanitation facility access

improved: urban: 79.5% of population

rural: 35.5% of population

total: 54.4% of population

unimproved: urban: 20.5% of population

rural: 64.5% of population

total: 45.6% of population (2020 est.)

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: very high (2023)

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, the CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine

Obesity - adult prevalence rate

8.7% (2016)

Alcohol consumption per capita

total: 3.22 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

beer: 0.17 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

wine: 0.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

spirits: 0.15 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

other alcohols: 2.9 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

Tobacco use

total: 13.5% (2020 est.)

male: 20.5% (2020 est.)

female: 6.4% (2020 est.)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

13.5% (2019)

Currently married women (ages 15-49)

58.9% (2023 est.)

Child marriage

women married by age 15: 8.6%

women married by age 18: 29.6%

men married by age 18: 4.1% (2019 est.)

Education expenditures

9.1% of GDP (2021 est.)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write English, Mende, Temne, or Arabic

total population: 47.7%

male: 55.3%

female: 39.8% (2021)

Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)

total: 10.8%

male: 15.8%

female: 7.6% (2021 est.)