Demographics of Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone is a country in West Africa with many different cultures and people. It has 18 ethnic groups. The largest groups are the Temne in the north and the Mende in the south. There are also about 60,000 Krio people. These people are descendants of freed slaves who came back to Sierra Leone from places like Great Britain, North America, and from ships.

In the past, many Sierra Leoneans were good at education, trading, starting businesses, and making beautiful crafts, especially woodcarving. The people of Sierra Leone are also linked to groups in other West African countries. But in the last 30 years, the country’s education and infrastructure have had some big challenges.

Population

Sierra Leone's total population, from 1961 to 2013.

According to the 2022 revision of the World Population Prospects, Sierra Leone had a total population of 8,420,641 in 2021. In 1950, the population was much smaller, at 1,895,000.

In 2010, about 43% of people were under 15 years old. About 55.1% were between 15 and 65 years old. Only 1.9% were 65 years or older.

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020) (Estimates or projections based on the 2015 population census.):

Historical populations of Sierra Leone
Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1963	2,180,355	—
1974	2,735,159	+2.08%
1985	3,515,812	+2.31%
2004	4,976,871	+1.85%
2014	5,743,725	+1.44%
Source:

	Total population	Population aged 0–14 (%)	Population aged 15–64 (%)	Population aged 65+ (%)
1950	1 895 000	39.4	57.6	3.0
1955	2 029 000	39.6	57.5	2.9
1960	2 187 000	39.6	57.5	2.9
1965	2 373 000	39.8	57.3	2.9
1970	2 593 000	40.5	56.9	2.9
1975	2 845 000	40.5	56.6	3.0
1980	3 162 000	41.1	56.0	2.9
1985	3 541 000	42.0	55.3	2.7
1990	3 982 000	42.4	55.1	2.6
1995	3 898 000	42.3	55.3	2.4
2000	4 143 000	42.4	55.5	2.1
2005	5 153 000	42.9	55.2	1.9
2010	5 868 000	43.0	55.1	1.9

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	3 987 250	4 113 068	8 100 318	100
0–4	620 177	639 745	1 259 922	15.55
5–9	546 368	563 608	1 109 976	13.70
10–14	492 216	507 749	999 965	12.34
15–19	415 263	428 368	843 631	10.30
20–24	373 462	385 247	758 709	9.37
25–29	324 639	334 883	659 522	8.14
30–34	272 318	280 911	553 229	6.83
35–39	226 560	233 708	460 268	5.68
40–44	181 985	187 730	369 715	4.56
45–49	144 473	149 031	293 504	3.62
50–54	110 450	113 934	224 384	2.77
55–59	84 146	86 801	170 947	2.11
60–64	64 608	66 647	131 255	1.62
65-69	47 370	48 865	96 235	1.19
70-74	33 569	34 630	68 199	0.84
75-79	22 307	23 010	45 317	0.56
80+	27 339	28 201	55 540	0.69
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	1 658 761	1 711 102	3 369 863	41.60
15–64	2 197 904	2 267 260	4 465 164	55.12
65+	130 585	134 706	265 291	3.28

Vital statistics

In Sierra Leone, keeping track of important life events like births and deaths is not always easy. The website Our World in Data used numbers from the Population Department of the United Nations to make guesses about the population.

The population of Sierra Leone has grown over time. We can see this in the numbers from different years.

Demographic and Health Surveys

We can also look at how many babies are born each year and how many people want to have children. This helps us understand the population better.

	Mid-year population (thousands)	Live births (thousands)	Deaths (thousands)	Natural change (thousands)	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Total fertility rate (TFR)	Infant mortality (per 1000 live births)	Life expectancy (in years)
1950	2 001	97	68	29	48.6	34.1	14.5	6.09	251.2	29.6
1951	2 027	98	69	30	48.5	33.8	14.7	6.07	249.5	29.8
1952	2 053	99	68	31	48.2	33.3	15.0	6.03	246.1	30.3
1953	2 079	100	68	32	48.0	32.7	15.2	6.00	242.9	30.9
1954	2 107	102	68	33	48.3	32.4	15.9	6.05	239.9	31.3
1955	2 136	104	69	35	48.4	32.1	16.4	6.07	237.0	31.8
1956	2 166	105	69	36	48.6	31.8	16.8	6.10	234.3	32.2
1957	2 198	107	69	38	48.6	31.6	17.1	6.12	231.4	32.6
1958	2 230	109	70	39	48.7	31.3	17.4	6.13	228.5	33.0
1959	2 264	110	70	40	48.7	30.9	17.8	6.15	225.6	33.5
1960	2 301	113	71	42	48.9	30.6	18.3	6.18	222.7	34.0
1961	2 341	115	71	44	49.0	30.3	18.7	6.21	219.8	34.4
1962	2 383	117	71	45	49.0	30.0	19.1	6.22	217.0	34.9
1963	2 427	119	72	47	49.1	29.6	19.5	6.26	214.1	35.3
1964	2 473	121	72	49	49.1	29.2	19.9	6.29	211.1	35.9
1965	2 521	123	72	51	48.8	28.7	20.1	6.31	208.2	36.4
1966	2 570	125	73	52	48.7	28.3	20.4	6.35	205.2	36.9
1967	2 620	127	73	55	48.6	27.8	20.8	6.38	202.3	37.4
1968	2 672	129	73	56	48.3	27.4	20.9	6.39	199.5	37.8
1969	2 725	131	74	57	48.0	27.0	21.0	6.39	196.7	38.2
1970	2 779	133	74	59	47.8	26.5	21.3	6.41	194.0	38.8
1971	2 832	135	74	61	47.7	26.0	21.7	6.43	191.4	39.3
1972	2 887	137	74	63	47.5	25.6	22.0	6.45	188.8	39.8
1973	2 942	140	74	65	47.4	25.2	22.2	6.47	186.4	40.2
1974	2 999	143	74	68	47.5	24.8	22.7	6.53	184.0	40.7
1975	3 056	145	75	70	47.3	24.4	23.0	6.55	181.5	41.2
1976	3 113	147	75	72	47.1	24.0	23.2	6.55	179.2	41.6
1977	3 172	149	75	74	47.0	23.6	23.4	6.57	177.0	42.1
1978	3 235	152	75	77	47.0	23.2	23.7	6.59	174.9	42.5
1979	3 300	155	76	79	46.7	22.9	23.9	6.58	172.9	42.9
1980	3 367	157	76	81	46.5	22.6	23.9	6.56	171.1	43.1
1981	3 437	160	77	83	46.4	22.4	24.1	6.55	169.3	43.4
1982	3 509	163	78	85	46.5	22.2	24.3	6.56	167.5	43.6
1983	3 586	167	79	88	46.5	22.0	24.5	6.57	165.9	43.8
1984	3 666	171	80	91	46.5	21.9	24.7	6.59	164.4	43.9
1985	3 749	174	82	92	46.4	21.8	24.6	6.59	163.1	43.9
1986	3 843	178	84	94	46.4	21.8	24.6	6.60	161.9	43.8
1987	3 948	183	85	98	46.4	21.6	24.8	6.61	160.3	44.0
1988	4 056	187	87	100	46.2	21.5	24.6	6.59	159.0	44.0
1989	4 159	191	89	102	45.9	21.4	24.4	6.57	157.9	44.0
1990	4 325	195	91	104	45.8	21.3	24.5	6.57	156.9	44.1
1991	4 378	206	97	109	45.8	21.7	24.2	6.55	156.4	43.5
1992	4 302	201	94	107	45.9	21.5	24.4	6.56	154.8	43.6
1993	4 296	200	93	107	46.0	21.5	24.5	6.57	153.6	43.6
1994	4 315	200	95	105	46.0	21.9	24.1	6.56	153.4	42.9
1995	4 324	200	96	104	45.7	22.0	23.7	6.56	152.0	42.7
1996	4 347	200	93	108	45.8	21.2	24.6	6.55	149.2	43.7
1997	4 405	202	93	108	45.5	21.1	24.5	6.53	147.1	43.7
1998	4 450	204	97	107	45.4	21.6	23.8	6.50	145.8	42.8
1999	4 475	204	99	105	45.2	21.9	23.3	6.42	141.6	42.1
2000	4 584	204	90	114	45.0	19.8	25.2	6.36	139.2	45.1
2001	4 857	212	91	121	44.7	19.2	25.5	6.31	136.0	45.7
2002	5 140	226	95	131	44.3	18.7	25.7	6.23	133.1	46.4
2003	5 351	231	96	135	43.5	18.1	25.4	6.09	130.0	47.0
2004	5 533	233	97	137	42.3	17.5	24.8	5.92	126.8	47.6
2005	5 683	237	96	141	41.7	16.9	24.8	5.81	123.4	48.2
2006	5 810	241	94	148	41.4	16.1	25.3	5.74	119.9	49.3
2007	5 939	242	91	151	40.8	15.3	25.5	5.64	116.1	50.4
2008	6 091	246	89	157	40.3	14.5	25.8	5.56	112.2	51.5
2009	6 260	248	86	162	39.7	13.8	25.9	5.45	108.5	52.6
2010	6 437	250	84	166	38.9	13.1	25.8	5.33	104.4	53.7
2011	6 612	253	82	171	38.3	12.5	25.8	5.21	100.6	54.6
2012	6 789	255	81	174	37.6	11.9	25.6	5.06	97.1	55.5
2013	6 965	254	79	175	36.5	11.4	25.1	4.87	93.6	56.3
2014	7 141	254	80	174	35.5	11.2	24.3	4.70	91.2	56.4
2015	7 315	253	78	174	34.6	10.7	23.8	4.55	88.1	57.2
2016	7 494	255	75	180	34.0	10.0	24.0	4.47	84.6	58.4
2017	7 678	258	76	182	33.6	9.9	23.7	4.39	82.1	58.7
2018	7 861	260	73	187	33.1	9.3	23.8	4.29	79.2	59.8
2019	8 047	262	73	189	32.5	9.1	23.5	4.19	76.7	60.3
2020	7 913	255	74	181	32.2	9.3	22.9	4.08	78.8	59.7
2021	8 095	256	73	183	31.6	9.0	22.6	3.98	76.3	60.3
2022	8 277	257	71	187	31.1	8.5	22.5	3.88	73.9	61.3
2023	8 461	259	70	189	30.6	8.3	22.3	3.79	71.6	61.8
2024					30.1	8.2	21.9	3.70
2025					29.5	8.1	21.4	3.61

Year	CBR (Total)	TFR (Total)	CBR (Urban)	TFR (Urban)	CBR (Rural)	TFR (Rural)
2008	31.5	5.1 (4.5)	27.3	3.8 (3.4)	33.4	5.8 (5.2)
2013	35.7	4.9 (4.2)	29.5	3.5 (3.0)	38.2	5.7 (4.9)
2019	30.0	4.2 (3.8)	26	3.1 (2.9)	33	5.1 (4.7)

Ethnic groups

Further information: Ethnic groups in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone has 18 native African tribes. The biggest groups are the Temne in the north and the Mende in the south. Other groups include the Fula, Limba, Kono, Mandingo, and Creole. The Creole people come from freed Jamaican slaves who settled in Freetown long ago.

There are also a few refugees from Liberia and some Lebanese people living in Sierra Leone.

Languages

Further information: Languages of Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone has many languages. English is the official language, but most people use it only for reading and writing. In the south, many people speak Mende, and in the north, Temne is common. Fula is also widely spoken. Krio is a special language based on English. It is used by the descendants of freed slaves from America and West India who settled in Freetown. Krio is understood by almost everyone in Sierra Leone.

Religion

Main article: Religion in Sierra Leone

Most people in Sierra Leone follow a belief called Islam. Another group follows a belief called Christianity. These numbers are from an estimate made in 2019.

Population	8,420,641
Official language	English
Area	71,740 square kilometers

Population

Vital statistics

Demographic and Health Surveys

Ethnic groups

Languages

Religion

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