Quality of life comparison

compared to

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

Health

be 68.1% less likely to be living with HIV/AIDS

In Tanzania, 4.7% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2020. In Sierra Leone, that number is 1.5% of people as of 2020.

live 11.4 years less

In Tanzania, the average life expectancy is 70 years (68 years for men, 72 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 38.5% less money

Tanzania has a GDP per capita of $2,600 as of 2020, while in Sierra Leone, the GDP per capita is $1,600 as of 2020.

be 45.6% more likely to be unemployed

In Tanzania, 10.3% of adults are unemployed as of 2014. In Sierra Leone, that number is 15.0% as of 2017.

be 2.2 times more likely to live below the poverty line

In Tanzania, 26.4% live below the poverty line as of 2017. In Sierra Leone, however, that number is 56.8% as of 2018.

Life

be 2.1 times more likely to die during childbirth

In Tanzania, approximately 524.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2017. In Sierra Leone, 1120.0 women do as of 2017.

be 44.5% less likely to be literate

In Tanzania, the literacy rate is 77.9% as of 2015. In Sierra Leone, it is 43.2% as of 2018.

be 2.0 times more likely to die during infancy

In Tanzania, approximately 36.4 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2020. In Sierra Leone, on the other hand, 73.4 children do as of 2022.

Basic Needs

be 35.0% less likely to have access to electricity

In Tanzania, approximately 40% of people have electricity access (71% in urban areas, and 23% 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 18.2% less likely to have internet access

In Tanzania, approximately 22.0% of the population has internet access as of 2020. In Sierra Leone, about 18.0% do as of 2020.

Expenditures

spend 3.0 times more on education

Tanzania spends 3.1% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Sierra Leone spends 9.3% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

spend 2.3 times more on healthcare

Tanzania spends 3.8% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2019. In Sierra Leone, that number is 8.8% of GDP as of 2019.

Geography

see 71.8% less coastline

Tanzania has a total of 1,424 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.
Read more

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

Share this

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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