Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Sierra Leone instead of Cuba, you would:
Health
be 64.4% less likely to be obese
In Cuba, 23.0% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, that number is 8.2% of people as of 2024.
be 55.5% less likely to die by suicide
Cuba has a suicide rate of 13.8 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Sierra Leone, it is 6.1 per 100,000 as of 2021.
be 2.3 times more likely to be living with HIV/AIDS
In Cuba, 0.6% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, that number is 1.4% of people as of 2024.
live 16.3 years less
In Cuba, the average life expectancy is 78 years (76 years for men, 81 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.
see 93.8% less spent on your healthcare
Cuba spends $2,575 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Sierra Leone spends $159 as of 2023.
have 98.6% fewer doctors per person
Cuba has 95.4 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2021. Sierra Leone has 1.3 as of 2022.
have 50.6% less access to essential health services
Cuba scores 83 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Sierra Leone scores 41 as of 2021.
Economy
be 80.0% more likely to be unemployed
In Cuba, 1.8% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Sierra Leone, that number is 3.1% as of 2025.
Life
have 3.5 times more children
In Cuba, there are approximately 8.6 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, there are 30.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.
be 10.1 times more likely to die during childbirth
In Cuba, approximately 35.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Sierra Leone, 354.0 women do as of 2023.
be 51.3% less likely to be literate
In Cuba, the literacy rate is 99.7% as of 2021. In Sierra Leone, it is 48.6% as of 2022.
be 8.0 times more likely to die during infancy
In Cuba, approximately 6.8 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, on the other hand, 54.6 children do as of 2024.
Basic Needs
be 64.5% less likely to have access to electricity
In Cuba, approximately 100% of people have electricity access (100% in urban areas, and 100% 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.
be 64.4% less likely to have internet access
In Cuba, approximately 70.5% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, about 25.1% do as of 2024.
be 28.4% less likely to have access to drinking water
In Cuba, approximately 95% of people have access to drinking water (96% in urban areas, and 92% 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.
Expenditures
spend 69.0% less on education
Cuba spends 8.4% of its total GDP on education as of 2022. Sierra Leone spends 2.6% of total GDP on education as of 2023.
spend 49.7% less on healthcare
Cuba spends 9.4% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2023. In Sierra Leone, that number is 4.7% of GDP as of 2023.
Geography
see 89.2% less coastline
Cuba has a total of 3,735 km of coastline. In Sierra Leone, that number is 402 km.
Safety
be 50.2% less likely to be murdered
Cuba has a homicide rate of 4.5 per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Sierra Leone, that number is 2.2 per 100,000 as of 2020.
be 2.6 times more likely to die in a road accident
In Cuba, road accidents kill 5.4 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Sierra Leone, they kill 13.8 per 100,000 as of 2021.
Infrastructure
live with 97.9% less strain on fresh water
Cuba withdraws 24% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Sierra Leone withdraws 0% as of 2022.
Environment
emit 91.1% less CO2
Cuba emits 1.9 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Sierra Leone emits 0.2 tonnes as of 2024.
be 3.1 times more likely to die from air pollution
In Cuba, air pollution causes 31.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Sierra Leone, it causes 97.0 as of 2019.
Sources: World Bank (2019–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2021), The World Factbook (2021–2022), World Health Organization (2024). How we calculate this
Compare further: Cuba vs. Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone: At a glance
How big is Sierra Leone compared to Cuba? See an in-depth size comparison.