The current population of Sierra Leone is 8,961,932 people, as of 2025 based on the adjusted UN estimation. The latest officially reported number was 8,642,022 in 2024.
Population facts:
- Sierra Leone accounts for 0.11% of the world's population.
- Sierra Leone is ranked 102/197 by population and was ranked 106th in 2005.
- For the last 20 years, Sierra Leone has had an average growth rate of 3.14% per year.
- Since 2005, population has increased from 5.5M people to 8.96M (62.9% growth in 20 years).
- Sierra Leone is projected to reach 16M people in 2092.
Sierra Leone population clock
Sierra Leone
|
World
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Current population |
8961932
|
8266870341
|
| Population rank | 102/197 | N/A |
| Percent of world population | 0.11% | N/A |
| One net population change |
2.9 minutes
|
0.41 seconds
|
| One birth every |
2.03 minutes
|
0.24 seconds
|
| One death every |
7.5 minutes
|
0.52 seconds
|
| Daily growth/decline | +497 | +211,178 |
| Annual growth/decline | +181,510 | +77,079,845 |
| Annual growth/decline rate | +2.15% | +0.96% |
| Population growth rate rank | 49/197 | N/A |
| One migration net change every |
47.8 minutes
|
N/A |
| Annual migration change | -11,000 | N/A |
Sierra Leone population history and growth rate by year chart
| Year | Population | Growth rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 2,268,356 | - |
| 1961 | 2,304,227 | 1.58% |
| 1962 | 2,342,242 | 1.65% |
| 1963 | 2,382,258 | 1.71% |
| 1964 | 2,424,390 | 1.77% |
| 1965 | 2,468,666 | 1.83% |
| 1966 | 2,514,638 | 1.86% |
| 1967 | 2,562,384 | 1.9% |
| 1968 | 2,611,532 | 1.92% |
| 1969 | 2,661,365 | 1.91% |
| 1970 | 2,712,286 | 1.91% |
| 1971 | 2,763,222 | 1.88% |
| 1972 | 2,814,388 | 1.85% |
| 1973 | 2,866,955 | 1.87% |
| 1974 | 2,920,459 | 1.87% |
| 1975 | 2,974,657 | 1.86% |
| 1976 | 3,028,820 | 1.82% |
| 1977 | 3,085,354 | 1.87% |
| 1978 | 3,145,517 | 1.95% |
| 1979 | 3,207,499 | 1.97% |
| 1980 | 3,272,089 | 2.01% |
| 1981 | 3,338,940 | 2.04% |
| 1982 | 3,408,183 | 2.07% |
| 1983 | 3,481,646 | 2.16% |
| 1984 | 3,558,758 | 2.21% |
| 1985 | 3,638,438 | 2.24% |
| 1986 | 3,728,380 | 2.47% |
| 1987 | 3,829,718 | 2.72% |
| 1988 | 3,934,517 | 2.74% |
| 1989 | 4,034,037 | 2.53% |
| 1990 | 4,196,828 | 4.04% |
| 1991 | 4,246,267 | 1.18% |
| 1992 | 4,166,366 | -1.88% |
| 1993 | 4,157,130 | -0.22% |
| 1994 | 4,173,105 | 0.38% |
| 1995 | 4,179,179 | 0.15% |
| 1996 | 4,199,210 | 0.48% |
| 1997 | 4,253,716 | 1.3% |
| 1998 | 4,295,785 | 0.99% |
| 1999 | 4,318,043 | 0.52% |
| 2000 | 4,423,611 | 2.44% |
| 2001 | 4,692,716 | 6.08% |
| 2002 | 4,971,435 | 5.94% |
| 2003 | 5,177,687 | 4.15% |
| 2004 | 5,355,717 | 3.44% |
| 2005 | 5,501,712 | 2.73% |
| 2006 | 5,624,466 | 2.23% |
| 2007 | 5,749,352 | 2.22% |
| 2008 | 5,894,722 | 2.53% |
| 2009 | 6,055,646 | 2.73% |
| 2010 | 6,222,714 | 2.76% |
| 2011 | 6,387,251 | 2.64% |
| 2012 | 6,551,080 | 2.56% |
| 2013 | 6,714,051 | 2.49% |
| 2014 | 6,876,385 | 2.42% |
| 2015 | 7,037,655 | 2.35% |
| 2016 | 7,205,328 | 2.38% |
| 2017 | 7,379,299 | 2.41% |
| 2018 | 7,554,563 | 2.38% |
| 2019 | 7,731,991 | 2.35% |
| 2020 | 7,912,558 | 2.34% |
| 2021 | 8,094,602 | 2.3% |
| 2022 | 8,276,807 | 2.25% |
| 2023 | 8,460,512 | 2.22% |
| 2024 | 8,642,022 | 2.15% |
| 2025 | 8,819,789 | 2.06% |
| 2026 | 8,996,743 | 2.01% |
| 2027 | 9,174,695 | 1.98% |
| 2028 | 9,349,021 | 1.9% |
| 2029 | 9,520,811 | 1.84% |
| 2030 | 9,694,851 | 1.83% |
| 2031 | 9,870,295 | 1.81% |
| 2032 | 10,047,193 | 1.79% |
| 2033 | 10,221,006 | 1.73% |
| 2034 | 10,391,485 | 1.67% |
| 2035 | 10,563,163 | 1.65% |
| 2036 | 10,734,341 | 1.62% |
| 2037 | 10,902,263 | 1.56% |
| 2038 | 11,066,143 | 1.5% |
| 2039 | 11,230,060 | 1.48% |
| 2040 | 11,398,391 | 1.5% |
| 2041 | 11,566,213 | 1.47% |
| 2042 | 11,728,787 | 1.41% |
| 2043 | 11,887,934 | 1.36% |
| 2044 | 12,049,424 | 1.36% |
| 2045 | 12,208,872 | 1.32% |
| 2046 | 12,363,446 | 1.27% |
| 2047 | 12,512,739 | 1.21% |
| 2048 | 12,659,609 | 1.17% |
| 2049 | 12,805,136 | 1.15% |
| 2050 | 12,948,320 | 1.12% |
Sierra Leone has a population of 8.96M as of 2025, compared to 7.04M in 2015, 5.5M in 2005, and 4.18M in 1995.
Over the past 10 years, the population has had a trend to increase by an average of 2.73% per year. Sierra Leone is ranked 43rd out of 197 countries by a 10-year average growth rate.
The UN's World Population Prospects forecasts that with changing growth rate trends in 20 years (in 2045) Sierra Leone will have 12,208,872 people (36.2% growth) with a rank change from 102nd to 91st.
By the year 2100, Sierra Leone's population is projected to grow by 77.8% to 15.9M people.
Largest cities by population
|
Sierra Leone
|
|
|---|---|
| City | Population |
| Freetown | 951K |
| Bo | 234K |
| Kenema | 188K |
Compare countries by 7 more topics
Sierra Leone population statistics
|
Sierra Leone
|
World
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy | 62.2 years | 73.5 years |
| Average age | 24.4 years | 33.8 years |
| Median age | 20.5 years | 31.6 years |
| Male:Female ratio | 49.9:50.1 | 50.3:49.7 |
| Fertility rate | 3.79 births per woman | 2.2 births per woman |
| Population density | 310 ppl/mi² | 141.6 ppl/mi² |
Population map with other countries
Population
Growth rate visualization in other countries
Growth rate
Relevant pages:
Sierra Leone topic pages:
Population comparisons
