Quality of life comparison

compared to

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

Health

be 12.1% less likely to be obese

In Liberia, 9.9% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Sierra Leone, that number is 8.7% of people as of 2016.

be 36.4% more likely to be living with HIV/AIDS

In Liberia, 1.1% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2020. In Sierra Leone, that number is 1.5% of people as of 2020.

live 6.7 years less

In Liberia, the average life expectancy is 65 years (63 years for men, 68 years for women) as of 2022. In Sierra Leone, that number is 59 years (57 years for men, 60 years for women) as of 2022.

Economy

make 14.3% more money

Liberia has a GDP per capita of $1,400 as of 2020, while in Sierra Leone, the GDP per capita is $1,600 as of 2020.

be 5.4 times more likely to be unemployed

In Liberia, 2.8% of adults are unemployed as of 2014. In Sierra Leone, that number is 15.0% as of 2017.

be 11.6% more likely to live below the poverty line

In Liberia, 50.9% live below the poverty line as of 2016. In Sierra Leone, however, that number is 56.8% as of 2018.

Life

be 69.4% more likely to die during childbirth

In Liberia, approximately 661.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2017. In Sierra Leone, 1120.0 women do as of 2017.

be 10.6% less likely to be literate

In Liberia, the literacy rate is 48.3% as of 2017. In Sierra Leone, it is 43.2% as of 2018.

be 64.7% more likely to die during infancy

In Liberia, approximately 44.6 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Sierra Leone, on the other hand, 73.4 children do as of 2022.

have 12.1% fewer children

In Liberia, there are approximately 36.6 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022. In Sierra Leone, there are 32.2 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022.

Basic Needs

be 2.2 times more likely to have access to electricity

In Liberia, approximately 12% of people have electricity access (18% in urban areas, and 6% in rural areas) as of 2019. In Sierra Leone, that number is 26% of people on average (52% in urban areas, and 6% in rural areas) as of 2019.

be 30.8% less likely to have internet access

In Liberia, approximately 26.0% of the population has internet access as of 2020. In Sierra Leone, about 18.0% do as of 2020.

be 13.3% less likely to have access to improved drinking water

In Liberia, approximately 84% of people have improved drinking water access (96% in urban areas, and 71% in rural areas) as of 2020. In Sierra Leone, that number is 73% of people on average (92% in urban areas, and 58% in rural areas) as of 2020.

Expenditures

spend 4.0 times more on education

Liberia spends 2.3% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Sierra Leone spends 9.3% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

Geography

see 30.6% less coastline

Liberia has a total of 579 km of coastline. In Sierra Leone, that number is 402 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook.

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 Liberia? See an in-depth size comparison.

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