Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Macau instead of Sierra Leone, you would:
Health
live 21.4 years longer
In Sierra Leone, the average life expectancy is 62 years (60 years for men, 64 years for women) as of 2024. In Macau, that number is 83 years (81 years for men, 86 years for women) as of 2024.
Economy
be 25.4% less likely to be unemployed
In Sierra Leone, 3.1% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Macau, that number is 2.4% as of 2025.
make 89.7 times more money
Sierra Leone has a GDP per capita of $846 as of 2025, while in Macau, the GDP per capita is $75,902 as of 2025.
Life
be 99.8% more likely to be literate
In Sierra Leone, the literacy rate is 48.6% as of 2022. In Macau, it is 97.1% as of 2021.
be 91.6% 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 Macau, on the other hand, 4.6 children do as of 2022.
have 82.4% fewer children
In Sierra Leone, there are approximately 30.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Macau, there are 5.3 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.
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 Macau, that number is 100% of people on average (100% in urban areas, and 100% in rural areas) as of 2023.
be 3.6 times more likely to have internet access
In Sierra Leone, approximately 25.1% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Macau, about 89.8% do as of 2024.
be 46.9% more likely to have access to drinking water
In Sierra Leone, approximately 68% of people have access to drinking water as of 2024. In Macau, 100% of people do as of 2024.
Expenditures
spend 33.6% more on education
Sierra Leone spends 2.6% of its total GDP on education as of 2023. Macau spends 3.5% of total GDP on education as of 2023.
Geography
see 89.8% less coastline
Sierra Leone has a total of 402 km of coastline. In Macau, that number is 41 km.
Safety
be 74.8% less likely to be murdered
Sierra Leone has a homicide rate of 2.2 per 100,000 people as of 2020. In Macau, that number is 0.6 per 100,000 as of 2023.
Environment
emit 14.9 times more CO2
Sierra Leone emits 0.2 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Macau emits 2.5 tonnes as of 2024.
Sources: World Bank (2020–2025), The World Factbook (2021–2022). How we calculate this
Compare further: Sierra Leone vs. Macau
Macau: At a glance
How big is Macau compared to Sierra Leone? See an in-depth size comparison.