Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Sierra Leone instead of Iceland, you would:
Health
be 63.1% less likely to be obese
In Iceland, 22.2% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, that number is 8.2% of people as of 2024.
be 48.4% less likely to die by suicide
Iceland has a suicide rate of 11.9 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Sierra Leone, it is 6.1 per 100,000 as of 2021.
be 14.0 times more likely to be living with HIV/AIDS
In Iceland, 0.1% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, that number is 1.4% of people as of 2024.
live 20.9 years less
In Iceland, the average life expectancy is 83 years (81 years for men, 84 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 97.7% less spent on your healthcare
Iceland spends $6,927 per person on healthcare as of 2024 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Sierra Leone spends $159 as of 2023.
have 96.9% fewer doctors per person
Iceland has 43.7 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2023. Sierra Leone has 1.3 as of 2022.
have 53.9% less access to essential health services
Iceland scores 89 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Sierra Leone scores 41 as of 2021.
Economy
be 13.0% less likely to be unemployed
In Iceland, 3.6% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Sierra Leone, that number is 3.1% as of 2025.
be 6.5 times more likely to live below the poverty line
In Iceland, 8.8% live below the poverty line as of 2017. In Sierra Leone, however, that number is 56.8% as of 2018.
make 99.1% less money
Iceland has a GDP per capita of $98,323 as of 2025, while in Sierra Leone, the GDP per capita is $846 as of 2025.
Life
have 2.7 times more children
In Iceland, there are approximately 11.2 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, there are 30.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.
be 118.0 times more likely to die during childbirth
In Iceland, approximately 3.0 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 26.0 times more likely to die during infancy
In Iceland, approximately 2.1 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 Iceland, 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 74.4% less likely to have internet access
In Iceland, approximately 98.2% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, about 25.1% do as of 2024.
be 31.9% less likely to have access to drinking water
In Iceland, approximately 100% of people have access to drinking water (100% in urban areas, and 100% 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 64.2% less on education
Iceland spends 7.3% of its total GDP on education as of 2022. Sierra Leone spends 2.6% of total GDP on education as of 2023.
spend 47.4% less on healthcare
Iceland spends 9.0% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, that number is 4.7% of GDP as of 2023.
Geography
see 91.9% less coastline
Iceland has a total of 4,970 km of coastline. In Sierra Leone, that number is 402 km.
Safety
be 72.1% more likely to be murdered
Iceland has a homicide rate of 1.3 per 100,000 people as of 2023. In Sierra Leone, that number is 2.2 per 100,000 as of 2020.
be 5.8 times more likely to die in a road accident
In Iceland, road accidents kill 2.4 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Sierra Leone, they kill 13.8 per 100,000 as of 2021.
Infrastructure
live with 28.2% more strain on fresh water
Iceland withdraws 0% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Sierra Leone withdraws 0% as of 2022.
Environment
emit 98.0% less CO2
Iceland emits 8.5 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Sierra Leone emits 0.2 tonnes as of 2024.
be 12.1 times more likely to die from air pollution
In Iceland, air pollution causes 8.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Sierra Leone, it causes 97.0 as of 2019.
Sources: World Bank (2017–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2021), World Health Organization (2024), The World Factbook. How we calculate this
Compare further: Iceland vs. Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone: At a glance
How big is Sierra Leone compared to Iceland? See an in-depth size comparison.