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

Health

be 92.9% less likely to be living with HIV/AIDS

In Sierra Leone, 1.4% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2024. In Australia, that number is 0.1% of people as of 2024.

View global rankings →

live 21.1 years longer

In Sierra Leone, the average life expectancy is 62 years (60 years for men, 64 years for women) as of 2024. In Australia, that number is 83 years (81 years for men, 85 years for women) as of 2024.

View global rankings →

see 48.4 times more spent on your healthcare

Sierra Leone spends $159 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Australia spends $7,691 as of 2023.

View global rankings →

have 30.5 times more doctors per person

Sierra Leone has 1.3 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2022. Australia has 40.9 as of 2022.

View global rankings →

have 2.1 times more access to essential health services

Sierra Leone scores 41 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Australia scores 87 as of 2021.

View global rankings →

be 3.7 times more likely to be obese

In Sierra Leone, 8.2% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Australia, that number is 30.6% of people as of 2024.

View global rankings →

be 2.1 times more likely to die by suicide

Sierra Leone has a suicide rate of 6.1 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Australia, it is 13.1 per 100,000 as of 2021.

View global rankings →

Economy

be 76.4% less likely to live below the poverty line

In Sierra Leone, 56.8% live below the poverty line as of 2018. In Australia, however, that number is 13.4% as of 2020.

View global rankings →

make 77.0 times more money

Sierra Leone has a GDP per capita of $846 as of 2025, while in Australia, the GDP per capita is $65,130 as of 2025.

View global rankings →

be 29.8% more likely to be unemployed

In Sierra Leone, 3.1% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Australia, that number is 4.1% as of 2025.

View global rankings →

Life

be 99.4% less likely to die during childbirth

In Sierra Leone, approximately 354.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Australia, 2.0 women do as of 2023.

View global rankings →

be 94.3% less likely to die during infancy

In Sierra Leone, approximately 54.6 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2024. In Australia, on the other hand, 3.1 children do as of 2024.

View global rankings →

have 64.5% fewer children

In Sierra Leone, there are approximately 30.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Australia, there are 10.7 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

View global rankings →

Basic Needs

be 2.8 times more likely to have access to electricity

In Sierra Leone, approximately 36% of people have electricity access (56% in urban areas, and 19% in rural areas) as of 2023. In Australia, that number is 100% of people on average (100% in urban areas, and 100% in rural areas) as of 2023.

View global rankings →

be 3.8 times more likely to have internet access

In Sierra Leone, approximately 25.1% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Australia, about 96.1% do as of 2024.

View global rankings →

be 46.8% more likely to have access to drinking water

In Sierra Leone, approximately 68% of people have access to drinking water (82% in urban areas, and 57% in rural areas) as of 2024. In Australia, that number is 100% of people on average (100% in urban areas, and 100% in rural areas) as of 2024.

View global rankings →

Expenditures

spend 93.1% more on education

Sierra Leone spends 2.6% of its total GDP on education as of 2023. Australia spends 5.1% of total GDP on education as of 2022.

View global rankings →

spend 2.2 times more on healthcare

Sierra Leone spends 4.7% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2023. In Australia, that number is 10.4% of GDP as of 2023.

View global rankings →

Geography

see 64.1 times more coastline

Sierra Leone has a total of 402 km of coastline. In Australia, that number is 25,760 km.

View global rankings →

Safety

be 61.7% less likely to be murdered

Sierra Leone has a homicide rate of 2.2 per 100,000 people as of 2020. In Australia, that number is 0.8 per 100,000 as of 2023.

View global rankings →

be 67.4% less likely to die in a road accident

In Sierra Leone, road accidents kill 13.8 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Australia, they kill 4.5 per 100,000 as of 2021.

View global rankings →

Infrastructure

live with 9.3 times more strain on fresh water

Sierra Leone withdraws 0% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Australia withdraws 5% as of 2022.

View global rankings →

Environment

be 89.7% less likely to die from air pollution

In Sierra Leone, air pollution causes 97.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Australia, it causes 10.0 as of 2019.

View global rankings →

emit 82.9 times more CO2

Sierra Leone emits 0.2 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Australia emits 14.1 tonnes as of 2024.

View global rankings →


Sources: World Bank (2018–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2021), The World Factbook (2020), World Health Organization (2024). How we calculate this

Australia: At a glance

Australia is a sovereign country in Australia-Oceania, with a total land area of approximately 7,682,300 sq km. Prehistoric settlers arrived on the continent from Southeast Asia at least 40,000 years before the first Europeans began exploration in the 17th century. No formal territorial claims were made until 1770, when Capt. James COOK took possession of the east coast in the name of Great Britain (all of Australia was claimed as British territory in 1829 with the creation of the colony of Western Australia). Six colonies were created in the late 18th and 19th centuries; they federated and became the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. The new country took advantage of its natural resources to rapidly develop agricultural and manufacturing industries and to make a major contribution to the Allied effort in World Wars I and II. In recent decades, Australia has become an internationally competitive, advanced market economy due in large part to economic reforms adopted in the 1980s and its location in one of the fastest growing regions of the world economy. Long-term concerns include aging of the population, pressure on infrastructure, and environmental issues such as floods, droughts, and bushfires. Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth, making it particularly vulnerable to the challenges of climate change. Australia is home to 10 per cent of the world's biodiversity, and a great number of its flora and fauna exist nowhere else in the world. In January 2013, Australia assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2013-14 term.
Read more

How big is Australia compared to Sierra Leone? See an in-depth size comparison.

Share this

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Australia or Sierra Leone. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.