Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Sierra Leone instead of Cook Islands, you would:

Health

be 88.7% less likely to be obese

In Cook Islands, 72.4% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, that number is 8.2% of people as of 2024.

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live 15.2 years less

In Cook Islands, the average life expectancy is 77 years (74 years for men, 80 years for women) as of 2022. In Sierra Leone, that number is 62 years (60 years for men, 64 years for women) as of 2024.

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have 90.0% fewer doctors per person

Cook Islands has 13.4 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2019. Sierra Leone has 1.3 as of 2022.

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have 10.9% less access to essential health services

Cook Islands scores 46 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Sierra Leone scores 41 as of 2021.

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Life

have 2.5 times more children

In Cook Islands, there are approximately 12.1 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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be 3.4 times more likely to die during infancy

In Cook Islands, approximately 15.9 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Sierra Leone, on the other hand, 54.6 children do as of 2024.

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Basic Needs

be 61.3% less likely to have internet access

In Cook Islands, approximately 64.8% of the population has internet access as of 2021. In Sierra Leone, about 25.1% do as of 2024.

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Expenditures

spend 43.0% less on education

Cook Islands spends 4.6% of its total GDP on education as of 2021. Sierra Leone spends 2.6% of total GDP on education as of 2023.

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spend 47.5% more on healthcare

Cook Islands spends 3.2% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Sierra Leone, that number is 4.7% of GDP as of 2023.

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Geography

see 3.4 times more coastline

Cook Islands has a total of 120 km of coastline. In Sierra Leone, that number is 402 km.

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Safety

be 21.6% less likely to die in a road accident

In Cook Islands, road accidents kill 17.6 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Sierra Leone, they kill 13.8 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Sources: The World Factbook (2020–2024), World Bank (2022–2024), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2021), World Health Organization (2024). How we calculate this

Compare further: Cook Islands vs. Sierra Leone

Cost of Living Comparison · 5 categories - 2026 data
Sierra Leone is 8.2% cheaper than Cook Islands overall
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Size Comparison · See true size
Cook Islands is about 304 times smaller than Sierra Leone.
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Moving from Cook Islands to Sierra Leone · Cost, visas & climate
Compare cost of living, salary and climate.
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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 Cook Islands? See an in-depth size comparison.

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