Mali vs Sierra Leone Demographics: Median age, Gender, Religion

Median age history and projection chart in
Mali vs Sierra Leone

Table

Year	Median age
	Mali	Sierra Leone
1960	19.8	21.1
1961	19.8	21.1
1962	19.8	21.1
1963	19.8	21
1964	19.8	21
1965	19.8	20.9
1966	19.7	20.9
1967	19.6	20.8
1968	19.6	20.7
1969	19.5	20.6
1970	19.4	20.4
1971	19.3	20.2
1972	19.2	20.1
1973	19.1	19.9
1974	19	19.8
1975	18.9	19.6
1976	18.7	19.5
1977	18.6	19.4
1978	18.4	19.3
1979	18.3	19.2
1980	18.1	19.1
1981	17.9	19.1
1982	17.8	19
1983	17.6	18.9
1984	17.5	18.9
1985	17.3	18.8
1986	17.1	18.7
1987	16.9	18.7
1988	16.8	18.6
1989	16.6	18.6
1990	16.5	18.5
1991	16.4	18.5
1992	16.4	18.4
1993	16.3	18.4
1994	16.3	18.3
1995	16.3	18.2
1996	16.3	18.2
1997	16.3	18.1
1998	16.4	18.1
1999	16.4	18
2000	16.5	18
2001	16.5	18
2002	16.6	17.9
2003	16.6	17.9
2004	16.6	17.9
2005	16.6	18
2006	16.6	18
2007	16.6	18
2008	16.5	18.1
2009	16.4	18.1
2010	16.4	18.2
2011	16.3	18.3
2012	16.1	18.4
2013	16	18.5
2014	16	18.6
2015	16	18.7
2016	16	18.9
2017	16	19.1
2018	16	19.2
2019	16.1	19.4
2020	16.2	19.6
2021	16.3	19.8
2022	16.5	20
2023	16.6	20.3
2024	16.7	20.5
2025	16.7	20.7
2026	16.9	20.9
2027	17	21.2
2028	17.2	21.4
2029	17.3	21.7
2030	17.5	21.9
2031	17.7	22.2
2032	17.8	22.4
2033	18	22.7
2034	18.1	23
2035	18.3	23.2
2036	18.5	23.5
2037	18.7	23.8
2038	18.8	24
2039	19	24.3
2040	19.2	24.6
2041	19.4	24.8
2042	19.5	25.1
2043	19.7	25.4
2044	19.9	25.7
2045	20.1	25.9
2046	20.4	26.2
2047	20.6	26.5
2048	20.8	26.8
2049	21	27.1
2050	21.2	27.3

In 1960, the median age in Mali was 19.8 years compared to 21.1 years in Sierra Leone. As of 2024, the median age had changed to 16.7 years in Mali and to 20.5 years in Sierra Leone.

According to United Nations projections, the median age in Mali is expected to increased to around 21.2 years by 2050 compared to 27.3 years in Sierra Leone. The aging demographics forecast is based on previous years' birth rates and increasing life expectancy.

Demographic pyramid: age and gender distribution

Table

Age range	Share of population
	Mali		Sierra Leone
	Male	Female	Male	Female
0-4	8.77%	8.59%	6.85%	6.72%
5-9	7.73%	7.57%	6.32%	6.24%
10-14	6.82%	6.66%	6.01%	5.94%
15-19	5.75%	5.6%	5.48%	5.41%
20-24	4.59%	4.46%	4.9%	4.84%
25-29	3.57%	3.47%	4.17%	4.17%
30-34	2.95%	2.88%	3.52%	3.5%
35-39	2.55%	2.47%	2.96%	2.95%
40-44	2.16%	2.09%	2.45%	2.45%
45-49	1.7%	1.66%	1.99%	2.03%
50-54	1.24%	1.22%	1.59%	1.66%
55-59	0.88%	0.9%	1.25%	1.34%
60-64	0.64%	0.68%	0.94%	1.05%
65-69	0.47%	0.53%	0.65%	0.77%
70-74	0.32%	0.38%	0.4%	0.51%
75-79	0.19%	0.24%	0.24%	0.31%
80+	0.11%	0.15%	0.15%	0.22%

The chart above is a variation of a population pyramid and represents a comparison of age and gender structure. Mali has high demographic potential with 79.4% of people in the 0-34 age group compared to 74.1% and average potential in Sierra Leone.

Age dependency chart

Table

Year	Age dependency ratio
	Mali			Sierra Leone
	Total	Young	Old	Total	Young	Old
1960	75.4%	70.7%	4.75%	72.5%	66%	6.59%
1961	75.7%	70.9%	4.76%	72.8%	66.1%	6.68%
1962	75.8%	71%	4.78%	73.1%	66.3%	6.77%
1963	76.1%	71.3%	4.82%	73.7%	66.9%	6.87%
1964	76.5%	71.7%	4.87%	74.8%	67.9%	6.97%
1965	77%	72%	4.94%	75.9%	68.8%	7.07%
1966	77.4%	72.4%	5.03%	76.7%	69.6%	7.15%
1967	77.9%	72.8%	5.14%	77.6%	70.4%	7.23%
1968	78.5%	73.2%	5.26%	78.5%	71.2%	7.31%
1969	79.2%	73.8%	5.39%	79.3%	72%	7.38%
1970	79.8%	74.3%	5.52%	80.1%	72.7%	7.44%
1971	80.6%	74.9%	5.65%	80.8%	73.3%	7.49%
1972	81.4%	75.6%	5.78%	81.5%	73.9%	7.54%
1973	82.3%	76.3%	5.9%	82.1%	74.5%	7.57%
1974	83.2%	77.1%	6.03%	82.7%	75.1%	7.61%
1975	84.2%	78%	6.17%	83.3%	75.7%	7.63%
1976	85.4%	79.1%	6.3%	83.8%	76.2%	7.65%
1977	86.6%	80.1%	6.43%	84.3%	76.6%	7.66%
1978	87.8%	81.2%	6.56%	84.7%	77%	7.67%
1979	89%	82.3%	6.69%	85.1%	77.4%	7.68%
1980	90.3%	83.5%	6.81%	85.4%	77.7%	7.67%
1981	91.6%	84.6%	6.92%	85.7%	78.1%	7.67%
1982	92.8%	85.7%	7.03%	86.1%	78.4%	7.66%
1983	93.9%	86.8%	7.12%	86.4%	78.7%	7.64%
1984	95%	87.8%	7.21%	86.7%	79.1%	7.62%
1985	96.2%	88.9%	7.29%	87%	79.4%	7.6%
1986	97.6%	90.2%	7.36%	87.3%	79.7%	7.57%
1987	99.1%	91.7%	7.43%	87.6%	80%	7.54%
1988	100.5%	93%	7.47%	87.9%	80.4%	7.5%
1989	101.5%	94%	7.48%	88.1%	80.6%	7.46%
1990	102.1%	94.6%	7.47%	88.2%	80.8%	7.41%
1991	102.5%	95.1%	7.44%	88.4%	81%	7.36%
1992	102.9%	95.5%	7.38%	88.6%	81.3%	7.3%
1993	102.9%	95.6%	7.31%	88.7%	81.5%	7.23%
1994	102.8%	95.6%	7.22%	88.9%	81.8%	7.17%
1995	102.4%	95.3%	7.11%	89.1%	82%	7.09%
1996	102%	95%	6.99%	89.3%	82.3%	7.02%
1997	101.4%	94.6%	6.87%	89.4%	82.5%	6.95%
1998	100.8%	94%	6.73%	89.6%	82.7%	6.87%
1999	100%	93.4%	6.58%	89.9%	83.1%	6.8%
2000	99.3%	92.9%	6.42%	90%	83.3%	6.73%
2001	98.6%	92.3%	6.27%	90.1%	83.4%	6.66%
2002	98%	91.9%	6.13%	90%	83.5%	6.59%
2003	97.6%	91.6%	6%	89.9%	83.4%	6.53%
2004	97.4%	91.5%	5.88%	89.7%	83.2%	6.46%
2005	97.5%	91.7%	5.81%	89.4%	83%	6.4%
2006	97.8%	92.1%	5.76%	89%	82.6%	6.34%
2007	98.2%	92.5%	5.73%	88.5%	82.2%	6.28%
2008	98.6%	92.9%	5.7%	88%	81.8%	6.22%
2009	99.2%	93.5%	5.67%	87.5%	81.3%	6.18%
2010	99.8%	94.2%	5.62%	86.9%	80.7%	6.14%
2011	100.4%	94.9%	5.56%	86.2%	80.1%	6.09%
2012	101.5%	96%	5.53%	85.4%	79.3%	6.03%
2013	102.4%	96.9%	5.49%	84.3%	78.4%	5.95%
2014	102.5%	97.1%	5.41%	83.1%	77.3%	5.83%
2015	102.5%	97.2%	5.33%	81.8%	76%	5.73%
2016	102.3%	97%	5.27%	80.4%	74.8%	5.67%
2017	101.9%	96.7%	5.2%	79.1%	73.5%	5.61%
2018	101.3%	96.2%	5.13%	77.7%	72.2%	5.56%
2019	100.4%	95.4%	5.06%	76.5%	70.9%	5.53%
2020	99.2%	94.3%	4.96%	75.3%	69.8%	5.51%
2021	98%	93.1%	4.86%	74.1%	68.6%	5.49%
2022	96.8%	92%	4.77%	72.9%	67.4%	5.49%
2023	95.6%	90.9%	4.7%	71.6%	66.1%	5.5%
2024	94.3%	89.6%	4.63%	70.4%	64.9%	5.53%

Age dependency is the ratio of people not in the labor force (children under 15 and adults 64+) to people aged 15 to 64.

Age dependency in Mali decreased from 97.4% to 94.3% between 2004 and 2024.

In Sierra Leone, the ratio of dependent people decreased from 89.7% to 70.4% between 2004 and 2024 with a decreased share of young people and a decreased proportion of people aged 65+.

Working age demographic

Table

Year	Working age population share
	Mali	Sierra Leone
1960	57%	58%
1961	56.9%	57.9%
1962	56.9%	57.8%
1963	56.8%	57.6%
1964	56.6%	57.2%
1965	56.5%	56.9%
1966	56.4%	56.6%
1967	56.2%	56.3%
1968	56%	56%
1969	55.8%	55.8%
1970	55.6%	55.5%
1971	55.4%	55.3%
1972	55.1%	55.1%
1973	54.9%	54.9%
1974	54.6%	54.7%
1975	54.3%	54.6%
1976	53.9%	54.4%
1977	53.6%	54.3%
1978	53.3%	54.1%
1979	52.9%	54%
1980	52.5%	53.9%
1981	52.2%	53.8%
1982	51.9%	53.7%
1983	51.6%	53.7%
1984	51.3%	53.6%
1985	51%	53.5%
1986	50.6%	53.4%
1987	50.2%	53.3%
1988	49.9%	53.2%
1989	49.6%	53.2%
1990	49.5%	53.1%
1991	49.4%	53.1%
1992	49.3%	53%
1993	49.3%	53%
1994	49.3%	52.9%
1995	49.4%	52.9%
1996	49.5%	52.8%
1997	49.6%	52.8%
1998	49.8%	52.7%
1999	50%	52.7%
2000	50.2%	52.6%
2001	50.4%	52.6%
2002	50.5%	52.6%
2003	50.6%	52.6%
2004	50.6%	52.7%
2005	50.6%	52.8%
2006	50.5%	52.9%
2007	50.5%	53%
2008	50.3%	53.2%
2009	50.2%	53.3%
2010	50.1%	53.5%
2011	49.9%	53.7%
2012	49.6%	53.9%
2013	49.4%	54.2%
2014	49.4%	54.6%
2015	49.4%	55%
2016	49.4%	55.4%
2017	49.5%	55.8%
2018	49.7%	56.3%
2019	49.9%	56.7%
2020	50.2%	57%
2021	50.5%	57.4%
2022	50.8%	57.8%
2023	51.1%	58.3%
2024	51.5%	58.7%
2025	51.8%	59.1%
2026	52.2%	59.5%
2027	52.6%	59.9%
2028	53%	60.2%
2029	53.3%	60.6%
2030	53.7%	60.9%
2031	54%	61.2%
2032	54.3%	61.6%
2033	54.7%	61.9%
2034	54.9%	62.2%
2035	55.2%	62.5%
2036	55.5%	62.9%
2037	55.7%	63.2%
2038	56%	63.5%
2039	56.3%	63.8%
2040	56.6%	64.1%
2041	56.9%	64.3%
2042	57.2%	64.6%
2043	57.5%	64.8%
2044	57.8%	65.1%
2045	58.1%	65.3%
2046	58.5%	65.5%
2047	58.8%	65.7%
2048	59.1%	65.9%
2049	59.5%	66.1%
2050	59.8%	66.3%

Between 2004 and 2024, the share of working-age demographics aged 15-64 changed from 50.6% to 51.5% in Mali and from 52.7% to 58.7% in Sierra Leone.

Share of young demographic (0-14 years old)

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Mali	Sierra Leone
1960	40.3%	38.2%
1961	40.4%	38.3%
1962	40.4%	38.3%
1963	40.5%	38.5%
1964	40.6%	38.8%
1965	40.7%	39.1%
1966	40.8%	39.4%
1967	40.9%	39.6%
1968	41%	39.9%
1969	41.2%	40.1%
1970	41.3%	40.3%
1971	41.5%	40.6%
1972	41.7%	40.7%
1973	41.9%	40.9%
1974	42.1%	41.1%
1975	42.4%	41.3%
1976	42.7%	41.4%
1977	43%	41.6%
1978	43.2%	41.7%
1979	43.6%	41.8%
1980	43.9%	41.9%
1981	44.2%	42%
1982	44.5%	42.1%
1983	44.7%	42.2%
1984	45%	42.3%
1985	45.3%	42.5%
1986	45.7%	42.6%
1987	46%	42.7%
1988	46.4%	42.8%
1989	46.7%	42.9%
1990	46.8%	42.9%
1991	47%	43%
1992	47.1%	43.1%
1993	47.1%	43.2%
1994	47.1%	43.3%
1995	47.1%	43.4%
1996	47%	43.5%
1997	47%	43.5%
1998	46.8%	43.6%
1999	46.7%	43.7%
2000	46.6%	43.8%
2001	46.5%	43.9%
2002	46.4%	43.9%
2003	46.4%	43.9%
2004	46.4%	43.9%
2005	46.4%	43.8%
2006	46.5%	43.7%
2007	46.6%	43.6%
2008	46.8%	43.5%
2009	46.9%	43.4%
2010	47.1%	43.2%
2011	47.3%	43%
2012	47.6%	42.8%
2013	47.9%	42.5%
2014	48%	42.2%
2015	48%	41.8%
2016	48%	41.4%
2017	47.9%	41%
2018	47.8%	40.6%
2019	47.6%	40.2%
2020	47.3%	39.8%
2021	47%	39.4%
2022	46.8%	39%
2023	46.5%	38.5%
2024	46.1%	38.1%
2025	45.8%	37.7%
2026	45.4%	37.2%
2027	45.1%	36.8%
2028	44.7%	36.3%
2029	44.4%	35.9%
2030	44%	35.5%
2031	43.7%	35.2%
2032	43.4%	34.8%
2033	43%	34.4%
2034	42.7%	34%
2035	42.4%	33.6%
2036	42.1%	33.2%
2037	41.8%	32.8%
2038	41.5%	32.4%
2039	41.1%	32%
2040	40.8%	31.6%
2041	40.4%	31.2%
2042	40%	30.9%
2043	39.6%	30.5%
2044	39.2%	30.2%
2045	38.8%	29.8%
2046	38.4%	29.5%
2047	38%	29.2%
2048	37.6%	28.8%
2049	37.1%	28.5%
2050	36.7%	28.2%

The share of young people aged below 15 is 46.1% in Mali and 38.1% in Sierra Leone. Birth rates in Mali compared to Sierra Leone .

Share of old population (65+)

Table

Year	Share of population 65+ years old
	Mali	Sierra Leone
1960	2.71%	3.82%
1961	2.71%	3.87%
1962	2.72%	3.91%
1963	2.74%	3.95%
1964	2.76%	3.99%
1965	2.79%	4.02%
1966	2.84%	4.05%
1967	2.89%	4.07%
1968	2.95%	4.09%
1969	3.01%	4.11%
1970	3.07%	4.13%
1971	3.13%	4.14%
1972	3.18%	4.15%
1973	3.24%	4.16%
1974	3.29%	4.16%
1975	3.35%	4.16%
1976	3.4%	4.16%
1977	3.45%	4.16%
1978	3.49%	4.15%
1979	3.54%	4.15%
1980	3.58%	4.14%
1981	3.61%	4.13%
1982	3.64%	4.12%
1983	3.67%	4.1%
1984	3.7%	4.08%
1985	3.72%	4.06%
1986	3.73%	4.04%
1987	3.73%	4.02%
1988	3.73%	3.99%
1989	3.71%	3.97%
1990	3.7%	3.94%
1991	3.67%	3.91%
1992	3.64%	3.87%
1993	3.6%	3.83%
1994	3.56%	3.79%
1995	3.51%	3.75%
1996	3.46%	3.71%
1997	3.41%	3.67%
1998	3.35%	3.62%
1999	3.29%	3.58%
2000	3.22%	3.54%
2001	3.16%	3.5%
2002	3.09%	3.47%
2003	3.03%	3.44%
2004	2.98%	3.41%
2005	2.94%	3.38%
2006	2.91%	3.35%
2007	2.89%	3.33%
2008	2.87%	3.31%
2009	2.85%	3.3%
2010	2.81%	3.28%
2011	2.77%	3.27%
2012	2.74%	3.26%
2013	2.71%	3.23%
2014	2.67%	3.19%
2015	2.63%	3.15%
2016	2.6%	3.14%
2017	2.58%	3.13%
2018	2.55%	3.13%
2019	2.52%	3.14%
2020	2.49%	3.14%
2021	2.45%	3.15%
2022	2.43%	3.18%
2023	2.41%	3.21%
2024	2.38%	3.24%
2025	2.36%	3.28%
2026	2.34%	3.33%
2027	2.33%	3.38%
2028	2.32%	3.43%
2029	2.31%	3.49%
2030	2.3%	3.56%
2031	2.31%	3.62%
2032	2.31%	3.69%
2033	2.33%	3.76%
2034	2.35%	3.83%
2035	2.38%	3.91%
2036	2.42%	3.99%
2037	2.46%	4.07%
2038	2.51%	4.15%
2039	2.57%	4.24%
2040	2.64%	4.33%
2041	2.71%	4.43%
2042	2.79%	4.53%
2043	2.87%	4.64%
2044	2.95%	4.75%
2045	3.04%	4.86%
2046	3.13%	4.98%
2047	3.22%	5.1%
2048	3.31%	5.23%
2049	3.39%	5.36%
2050	3.47%	5.5%

The share of older people aged 65 and over is 2.38% in Mali and 3.24% in Sierra Leone. Life expectancy in Mali compared to Sierra Leone .