If you lived in Sierra Leone instead of Central African Republic, you would:

Health

be 41.7% less likely to be living with HIV/AIDS

In Central African Republic, 2.4% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, that number is 1.4% of people as of 2024.

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live 4.3 years longer

In Central African Republic, the average life expectancy is 58 years (56 years for men, 60 years for women) as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, that number is 62 years (60 years for men, 64 years for women) as of 2024.

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be 25.1% less likely to be obese

In Central African Republic, 10.9% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, that number is 8.2% of people as of 2024.

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see 16.3% more spent on your healthcare

Central African Republic spends $137 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Sierra Leone spends $159 as of 2023.

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have 81.1% more doctors per person

Central African Republic has 0.7 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2023. Sierra Leone has 1.3 as of 2022.

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have 28.1% more access to essential health services

Central African Republic scores 32 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Sierra Leone scores 41 as of 2021.

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be 33.2% less likely to die by suicide

Central African Republic has a suicide rate of 9.2 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Sierra Leone, it is 6.1 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Economy

be 49.6% less likely to be unemployed

In Central African Republic, 6.2% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Sierra Leone, that number is 3.1% as of 2025.

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be 17.4% less likely to live below the poverty line

In Central African Republic, 68.8% live below the poverty line as of 2021. In Sierra Leone, however, that number is 56.8% as of 2018.

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make 52.2% more money

Central African Republic has a GDP per capita of $556 as of 2025, while in Sierra Leone, the GDP per capita is $846 as of 2025.

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Life

be 48.8% less likely to die during childbirth

In Central African Republic, approximately 692.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Sierra Leone, 354.0 women do as of 2023.

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be 29.6% more likely to be literate

In Central African Republic, the literacy rate is 37.5% as of 2020. In Sierra Leone, it is 48.6% as of 2022.

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have 34.8% fewer children

In Central African Republic, there are approximately 46.2 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, there are 30.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

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Basic Needs

be 2.0 times more likely to have access to electricity

In Central African Republic, approximately 18% of people have electricity access (37% in urban areas, and 2% in rural areas) as of 2023. In Sierra Leone, that number is 36% of people on average (56% in urban areas, and 19% in rural areas) as of 2023.

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be 82.1% more likely to have internet access

In Central African Republic, approximately 13.8% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, about 25.1% do as of 2024.

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be 86.5% more likely to have access to drinking water

In Central African Republic, approximately 36% of people have access to drinking water (48% in urban areas, and 27% in rural areas) as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, that number is 68% of people on average (82% in urban areas, and 57% in rural areas) as of 2024.

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Expenditures

spend 55.7% less on healthcare

Central African Republic spends 10.7% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2023. In Sierra Leone, that number is 4.7% of GDP as of 2023.

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spend 43.2% more on education

Central African Republic spends 1.8% of its total GDP on education as of 2023. Sierra Leone spends 2.6% of total GDP on education as of 2023.

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Safety

be 46.7% less likely to die in a road accident

In Central African Republic, road accidents kill 25.9 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Sierra Leone, they kill 13.8 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Infrastructure

live with 47.1% more strain on fresh water

Central African Republic withdraws 0% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Sierra Leone withdraws 0% as of 2022.

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Environment

emit 2.8 times more CO2

Central African Republic emits 0.1 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Sierra Leone emits 0.2 tonnes as of 2024.

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Sources: World Bank (2018–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2021), World Health Organization (2024), The World Factbook (2020–2022). How we calculate this

Sierra Leone: At a glance

Sierra Leone is a sovereign country in Africa, with a total land area of approximately 71,620 sq km. Democracy is slowly being reestablished after the civil war from 1991 to 2002 that resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of more than 2 million people (about a third of the population). The military, which took over full responsibility for security following the departure of UN peacekeepers at the end of 2005, is increasingly developing as a guarantor of the country's stability. The armed forces remained on the sideline during the 2007 and 2012 national elections, and over the past year have deployed over 850 peacekeepers in the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). As of January 2014, Sierra Leone also fielded 122 staff for five UN peacekeeping missions. In March 2014, the closure of the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL) marked the end of more than 15 years of peacekeeping and political operations in Sierra Leone. The government's priorities include furthering development, creating jobs, and stamping out endemic corruption.
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How big is Sierra Leone compared to Central African Republic? See an in-depth size comparison.

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