If you lived in Sierra Leone instead of Gabon, you would:

Health

be 50.0% less likely to be living with HIV/AIDS

In Gabon, 2.8% 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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be 63.9% less likely to be obese

In Gabon, 22.7% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, that number is 8.2% of people as of 2024.

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be 15.9% less likely to die by suicide

Gabon has a suicide rate of 7.3 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Sierra Leone, it is 6.1 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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live 6.6 years less

In Gabon, the average life expectancy is 69 years (66 years for men, 71 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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see 76.4% less spent on your healthcare

Gabon spends $673 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Sierra Leone spends $159 as of 2023.

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have 74.3% fewer doctors per person

Gabon has 5.2 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2022. Sierra Leone has 1.3 as of 2022.

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have 16.3% less access to essential health services

Gabon scores 49 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Sierra Leone scores 41 as of 2021.

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Economy

be 84.4% less likely to be unemployed

In Gabon, 20.1% 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 70.1% more likely to live below the poverty line

In Gabon, 33.4% live below the poverty line as of 2017. In Sierra Leone, however, that number is 56.8% as of 2018.

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make 89.8% less money

Gabon has a GDP per capita of $8,263 as of 2025, while in Sierra Leone, the GDP per capita is $846 as of 2025.

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Life

have 11.0% more children

In Gabon, there are approximately 27.1 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 51.9% more likely to die during childbirth

In Gabon, approximately 233.0 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 45.3% less likely to be literate

In Gabon, the literacy rate is 88.9% as of 2021. In Sierra Leone, it is 48.6% as of 2022.

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be 2.1 times more likely to die during infancy

In Gabon, approximately 25.9 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.

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Basic Needs

be 62.3% less likely to have access to electricity

In Gabon, approximately 94% of people have electricity access (99% in urban areas, and 29% 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 63.5% less likely to have internet access

In Gabon, approximately 68.7% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, about 25.1% do as of 2024.

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be 23.2% less likely to have access to drinking water

In Gabon, approximately 89% of people have access to drinking water (92% in urban areas, and 49% 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 12.9% more on education

Gabon spends 2.3% 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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spend 50.8% more on healthcare

Gabon spends 3.1% 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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Geography

see 54.6% less coastline

Gabon has a total of 885 km of coastline. In Sierra Leone, that number is 402 km.

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Safety

be 10.4% more likely to die in a road accident

In Gabon, road accidents kill 12.5 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Sierra Leone, they kill 13.8 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Environment

emit 91.7% less CO2

Gabon emits 2.0 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Sierra Leone emits 0.2 tonnes as of 2024.

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be 83.0% more likely to die from air pollution

In Gabon, air pollution causes 53.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Sierra Leone, it causes 97.0 as of 2019.

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Sources: World Bank (2017–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2021), The World Factbook (2022), World Health Organization (2024). 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 Gabon? See an in-depth size comparison.

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