Sierra Leone birth & fertility rate charts by year

Fertility rate in Sierra Leone chart

According to the latest birth rate data available, the fertility rate in Sierra Leone is 3.79, which is above the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman. In 1993, the fertility rate was 6.57 — a -42.3% decline in 30 years.

Check population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases the historical changes in birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	Sierra Leone	World
1960	6.18	4.69
1961	6.21	4.56
1962	6.22	5.02
1963	6.26	5.31
1964	6.29	5.13
1965	6.31	5.08
1966	6.35	4.97
1967	6.38	4.87
1968	6.39	4.98
1969	6.39	4.88
1970	6.41	4.84
1971	6.43	4.69
1972	6.45	4.55
1973	6.47	4.42
1974	6.53	4.26
1975	6.55	4.07
1976	6.55	3.97
1977	6.57	3.84
1978	6.59	3.77
1979	6.58	3.76
1980	6.56	3.73
1981	6.55	3.71
1982	6.56	3.72
1983	6.57	3.59
1984	6.59	3.57
1985	6.59	3.53
1986	6.6	3.51
1987	6.61	3.48
1988	6.59	3.39
1989	6.57	3.35
1990	6.57	3.31
1991	6.55	3.13
1992	6.56	3.04
1993	6.57	2.97
1994	6.56	2.92
1995	6.56	2.87
1996	6.55	2.82
1997	6.53	2.78
1998	6.5	2.75
1999	6.42	2.72
2000	6.36	2.73
2001	6.31	2.69
2002	6.23	2.66
2003	6.09	2.64
2004	5.92	2.63
2005	5.81	2.61
2006	5.74	2.61
2007	5.64	2.6
2008	5.56	2.6
2009	5.45	2.59
2010	5.33	2.57
2011	5.21	2.55
2012	5.06	2.56
2013	4.87	2.53
2014	4.7	2.52
2015	4.55	2.49
2016	4.47	2.49
2017	4.39	2.46
2018	4.29	2.39
2019	4.19	2.35
2020	4.08	2.28
2021	3.98	2.25
2022	3.88	2.22
2023	3.79	2.2
2024	3.7	2.19
2025	3.61	2.18
2026	3.53	2.18
2027	3.47	2.17
2028	3.37	2.16
2029	3.3	2.15
2030	3.23	2.14
2031	3.18	2.13
2032	3.12	2.12
2033	3.07	2.12
2034	3.02	2.11
2035	2.97	2.1
2036	2.92	2.09
2037	2.88	2.09
2038	2.84	2.08
2039	2.79	2.08
2040	2.76	2.08
2041	2.72	2.07
2042	2.68	2.07
2043	2.65	2.07
2044	2.62	2.07
2045	2.58	2.06
2046	2.55	2.06
2047	2.53	2.06
2048	2.5	2.05
2049	2.47	2.05
2050	2.45	2.05

Birth rates by women ages chart

In 2025, of all live births 16.4% were to women under 20 years old, 52.4% to women ages 20-29, and 31.2% to women ages 30 and above. In comparison, the percentages in 1990 were 18%, 46.4%, and 35.6% for the same age groups respectively. A chart displaying the historical birth rates in Sierra Leone by maternal age is provided below.

Annual births per 1,000 women ages

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Children 0-14 as share of population
	Sierra Leone	World
1960	38.2%	37.4%
1961	38.3%	37.5%
1962	38.3%	37.6%
1963	38.5%	37.8%
1964	38.8%	38%
1965	39.1%	38%
1966	39.4%	38%
1967	39.6%	38%
1968	39.9%	37.9%
1969	40.1%	37.8%
1970	40.3%	37.7%
1971	40.6%	37.6%
1972	40.7%	37.5%
1973	40.9%	37.3%
1974	41.1%	37.2%
1975	41.3%	37.1%
1976	41.4%	36.9%
1977	41.6%	36.7%
1978	41.7%	36.3%
1979	41.8%	35.9%
1980	41.9%	35.5%
1981	42%	35.2%
1982	42.1%	34.9%
1983	42.2%	34.6%
1984	42.3%	34.3%
1985	42.5%	34%
1986	42.6%	33.8%
1987	42.7%	33.6%
1988	42.8%	33.4%
1989	42.9%	33.2%
1990	42.9%	33%
1991	43%	32.9%
1992	43.1%	32.7%
1993	43.2%	32.5%
1994	43.3%	32.3%
1995	43.4%	32.1%
1996	43.5%	31.8%
1997	43.5%	31.5%
1998	43.6%	31.1%
1999	43.7%	30.8%
2000	43.8%	30.4%
2001	43.9%	30%
2002	43.9%	29.6%
2003	43.9%	29.2%
2004	43.9%	28.8%
2005	43.8%	28.5%
2006	43.7%	28.1%
2007	43.6%	27.9%
2008	43.5%	27.6%
2009	43.4%	27.5%
2010	43.2%	27.3%
2011	43%	27.1%
2012	42.8%	27%
2013	42.5%	26.9%
2014	42.2%	26.8%
2015	41.8%	26.6%
2016	41.4%	26.5%
2017	41%	26.4%
2018	40.6%	26.2%
2019	40.2%	26%
2020	39.8%	25.8%
2021	39.4%	25.6%
2022	39%	25.3%
2023	38.5%	25%
2024	38.1%	24.7%
2025	37.7%	24.4%
2026	37.2%	24.1%
2027	36.8%	23.8%
2028	36.3%	23.4%
2029	35.9%	23.1%
2030	35.5%	22.8%
2031	35.2%	22.6%
2032	34.8%	22.3%
2033	34.4%	22.1%
2034	34%	21.9%
2035	33.6%	21.7%
2036	33.2%	21.6%
2037	32.8%	21.5%
2038	32.4%	21.4%
2039	32%	21.3%
2040	31.6%	21.2%
2041	31.2%	21.1%
2042	30.9%	21%
2043	30.5%	21%
2044	30.2%	20.9%
2045	29.8%	20.8%
2046	29.5%	20.7%
2047	29.2%	20.7%
2048	28.8%	20.6%
2049	28.5%	20.5%
2050	28.2%	20.4%

The share of children aged 0-14 in Sierra Leone was 38.2% in 1960, 43.2% in 1993, and 38.1% as of the latest data in 2025.

More about the demographics of Sierra Leone.

Natural population change by year

For the past 10 years, the natural population change in Sierra Leone, excluding migration, has been +2.31% annually. On average, 176,404 more people were born each year than died.

Table

Year	Population change due to births and deaths
	Sierra Leone
1960	38,192
1961	40,022
1962	41,603
1963	43,569
1964	45,487
1965	47,223
1966	49,486
1967	51,734
1968	53,126
1969	54,768
1970	56,513
1971	58,484
1972	60,279
1973	62,443
1974	65,357
1975	67,560
1976	69,506
1977	71,663
1978	74,130
1979	75,992
1980	77,932
1981	80,111
1982	82,457
1983	84,628
1984	87,072
1985	88,869
1986	90,902
1987	94,235
1988	96,344
1989	98,298
1990	100,778
1991	105,477
1992	103,251
1993	103,317
1994	101,486
1995	100,885
1996	104,140
1997	105,433
1998	103,906
1999	102,295
2000	110,754
2001	116,647
2002	126,429
2003	130,312
2004	132,661
2005	137,234
2006	144,127
2007	145,740
2008	149,855
2009	152,669
2010	155,338
2011	158,858
2012	160,915
2013	161,265
2014	160,137
2015	162,275
2016	168,784
2017	173,259
2018	178,772
2019	181,068
2020	181,015
2021	183,326
2022	186,625
2023	188,788

Maternal mortality chart

The maternal mortality rate in Sierra Leone was 354 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023 — a 0.35% chance of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination. This is a -77.9% decrease compared to the year 2000.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Sierra Leone	World
1985	1,506	460
1986	1,530	438
1987	1,533	429
1988	1,549	414
1989	1,575	401
1990	1,572	391
1991	1,699	395
1992	1,681	395
1993	1,696	389
1994	1,755	382
1995	1,777	371
1996	1,726	366
1997	1,721	358
1998	1,753	360
1999	1,731	340
2000	1,603	328
2001	1,518	321
2002	1,492	311
2003	1,433	301
2004	1,366	291
2005	1,294	283
2006	1,168	276
2007	1,132	269
2008	1,093	264
2009	1,054	258
2010	1,018	253
2011	967	247
2012	915	239
2013	842	235
2014	821	231
2015	730	228
2016	633	220
2017	578	215
2018	491	211
2019	464	207
2020	422	211
2021	403	242
2022	370	203
2023	354	197

Under-five mortality rate chart

The under-5 mortality rate in Sierra Leone was 94.3 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2023 — a 9.43% chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five. This is down from 223.7 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000.

Table

Year	Mortality rate before reaching 5 years of age, per 1,000 live births
	Sierra Leone	World
1960	39.1%	18.5%
1961	38.5%	18.1%
1962	38%	17.8%
1963	37.4%	17.5%
1964	36.8%	17.7%
1965	36.2%	17.5%
1966	35.6%	17.3%
1967	35%	17%
1968	34.5%	16.5%
1969	33.9%	15.5%
1970	33.4%	15.2%
1971	32.9%	15.1%
1972	32.3%	14.4%
1973	31.9%	14.1%
1974	31.4%	13.7%
1975	30.9%	13.4%
1976	30.5%	13%
1977	30%	12.5%
1978	29.6%	12.1%
1979	29.2%	11.7%
1980	28.9%	11.4%
1981	28.5%	11%
1982	28.1%	10.8%
1983	27.8%	10.6%
1984	27.5%	10.4%
1985	27.2%	10.1%
1986	26.9%	9.81%
1987	26.6%	9.47%
1988	26.4%	9.31%
1989	26.2%	9.02%
1990	25.9%	8.81%
1991	25.7%	8.66%
1992	25.5%	8.46%
1993	25.3%	8.19%
1994	25%	7.98%
1995	24.7%	7.76%
1996	24.3%	7.52%
1997	23.9%	7.28%
1998	23.4%	7.05%
1999	22.9%	6.76%
2000	22.4%	6.48%
2001	21.8%	6.21%
2002	21.3%	5.94%
2003	20.7%	5.65%
2004	20.1%	5.43%
2005	19.4%	5.16%
2006	18.8%	4.92%
2007	18.1%	4.7%
2008	17.3%	4.5%
2009	16.6%	4.31%
2010	15.9%	4.11%
2011	15.2%	3.97%
2012	14.5%	3.77%
2013	13.9%	3.61%
2014	13.7%	3.48%
2015	13.8%	3.35%
2016	12.3%	3.23%
2017	11.8%	3.11%
2018	11.3%	2.97%
2019	10.9%	2.86%
2020	10.5%	2.75%
2021	10.1%	2.66%
2022	9.77%	2.59%
2023	9.43%	2.49%