Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Sierra Leone instead of Portugal, you would:
Health
be 54.7% less likely to be obese
In Portugal, 18.1% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, that number is 8.2% of people as of 2024.
be 46.7% less likely to die by suicide
Portugal has a suicide rate of 11.5 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Sierra Leone, it is 6.1 per 100,000 as of 2021.
be 2.8 times more likely to be living with HIV/AIDS
In Portugal, 0.5% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, that number is 1.4% of people as of 2024.
live 20.4 years less
In Portugal, the average life expectancy is 82 years (80 years for men, 85 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 96.8% less spent on your healthcare
Portugal spends $4,928 per person on healthcare as of 2024 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Sierra Leone spends $159 as of 2023.
have 97.7% fewer doctors per person
Portugal has 58.5 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2022. Sierra Leone has 1.3 as of 2022.
have 53.4% less access to essential health services
Portugal scores 88 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Sierra Leone scores 41 as of 2021.
Economy
be 48.9% less likely to be unemployed
In Portugal, 6.2% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Sierra Leone, that number is 3.1% as of 2025.
be 3.5 times more likely to live below the poverty line
In Portugal, 16.4% live below the poverty line as of 2021. In Sierra Leone, however, that number is 56.8% as of 2018.
make 97.4% less money
Portugal has a GDP per capita of $32,082 as of 2025, while in Sierra Leone, the GDP per capita is $846 as of 2025.
Life
have 3.8 times more children
In Portugal, there are approximately 7.9 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, there are 30.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.
be 23.6 times more likely to die during childbirth
In Portugal, approximately 15.0 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 49.3% less likely to be literate
In Portugal, the literacy rate is 95.9% as of 2021. In Sierra Leone, it is 48.6% as of 2022.
be 20.2 times more likely to die during infancy
In Portugal, approximately 2.7 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 Portugal, 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 71.6% less likely to have internet access
In Portugal, approximately 88.5% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, about 25.1% do as of 2024.
be 31.4% less likely to have access to drinking water
In Portugal, approximately 99% of people have access to drinking water (100% in urban areas, and 98% 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 42.4% less on education
Portugal spends 4.5% of its total GDP on education as of 2022. Sierra Leone spends 2.6% of total GDP on education as of 2023.
spend 53.9% less on healthcare
Portugal spends 10.2% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, that number is 4.7% of GDP as of 2023.
Geography
see 77.6% less coastline
Portugal has a total of 1,793 km of coastline. In Sierra Leone, that number is 402 km.
Safety
be 3.1 times more likely to be murdered
Portugal has a homicide rate of 0.7 per 100,000 people as of 2022. In Sierra Leone, that number is 2.2 per 100,000 as of 2020.
be 91.7% more likely to die in a road accident
In Portugal, road accidents kill 7.2 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Sierra Leone, they kill 13.8 per 100,000 as of 2021.
Infrastructure
live with 95.9% less strain on fresh water
Portugal withdraws 12% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Sierra Leone withdraws 0% as of 2022.
Environment
emit 94.9% less CO2
Portugal emits 3.3 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Sierra Leone emits 0.2 tonnes as of 2024.
be 9.7 times more likely to die from air pollution
In Portugal, air pollution causes 10.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Sierra Leone, it causes 97.0 as of 2019.
Sources: World Bank (2018–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2021), The World Factbook (2021–2022), World Health Organization (2024). How we calculate this
Compare further: Portugal vs. Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone: At a glance
How big is Sierra Leone compared to Portugal? See an in-depth size comparison.