Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Sierra Leone instead of Papua New Guinea, you would:

Health

be 59.2% less likely to be obese

In Papua New Guinea, 21.3% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Sierra Leone, that number is 8.7% of people as of 2016.

be 66.7% more likely to be living with HIV/AIDS

In Papua New Guinea, 0.9% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2020. In Sierra Leone, that number is 1.5% of people as of 2020.

live 10.7 years less

In Papua New Guinea, the average life expectancy is 69 years (68 years for men, 71 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

pay a 28.6% lower top tax rate

Papua New Guinea has a top tax rate of 42.0% as of 2016. In Sierra Leone, the top tax rate is 30.0% as of 2014.

make 57.9% less money

Papua New Guinea has a GDP per capita of $3,800 as of 2022, while in Sierra Leone, the GDP per capita is $1,600 as of 2022.

be 17.6% more likely to be unemployed

In Papua New Guinea, 2.8% of adults are unemployed as of 2022. In Sierra Leone, that number is 3.3% as of 2022.

be 53.5% more likely to live below the poverty line

In Papua New Guinea, 37.0% live below the poverty line as of 2002. In Sierra Leone, however, that number is 56.8% as of 2018.

Life

be 2.3 times more likely to die during childbirth

In Papua New Guinea, approximately 192.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Sierra Leone, 443.0 women do as of 2020.

be 24.3% less likely to be literate

In Papua New Guinea, the literacy rate is 64.2% as of 2015. In Sierra Leone, it is 48.6% as of 2022.

be 2.2 times more likely to die during infancy

In Papua New Guinea, approximately 33.6 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.

Basic Needs

be 31.1% more likely to have access to electricity

In Papua New Guinea, approximately 21% of people have electricity access (65% in urban areas, and 14% in rural areas) as of 2021. In Sierra Leone, that number is 27% of people on average (57% in urban areas, and 5% in rural areas) as of 2021.

be 53.3% more likely to have access to improved drinking water

In Papua New Guinea, approximately 48% of people have improved drinking water access (86% in urban areas, and 42% 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.

be 60.3% less likely to have internet access

In Papua New Guinea, approximately 32.0% of the population has internet access as of 2021. In Sierra Leone, about 12.7% do as of 2022.

Expenditures

spend 6.5 times more on education

Papua New Guinea spends 1.4% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Sierra Leone spends 9.1% of total GDP on education as of 2021.

spend 3.5 times more on healthcare

Papua New Guinea spends 2.5% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Sierra Leone, that number is 8.8% of GDP as of 2020.

Geography

see 92.2% less coastline

Papua New Guinea has a total of 5,152 km of coastline. In Sierra Leone, that number is 402 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook, National Revenue Authority, Internal Revenue Commission, Papua New Guinea.

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 Papua New Guinea? See an in-depth size comparison.

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