Sierra Leone Population
Sierra Leone had an estimated population of 8,819,794 in mid-2025 (World Bank), making it the 100th most populous of 217 countries and territories, with 0.11% of everyone alive. The counter above projects that figure forward at the current growth rate of +2.04% a year.
Sierra Leone at a glance
How Sierra Leone's population is changing
Sierra Leone's population is growing fast: +2.04% a year, which works out to about +179,588 people per year, or +492 a day. Births (30.1 per 1,000) and deaths (8.2 per 1,000) alone would give +2.19% a year; net migration removes about 11,309 people a year (−0.13%). Roughly one in every 931 people on Earth lives in Sierra Leone.
Population of Sierra Leone since 1960
In 1960, Sierra Leone had 2,268,356 people. By 2025 that was 8,819,794 — 3.9× larger. The fastest growth came between 2000 and 2010, when the population rose by 41%.
| Year | Population | Change vs previous row |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 2,268,356 | — |
| 1970 | 2,712,286 | +19.6% |
| 1980 | 3,272,089 | +20.6% |
| 1990 | 4,196,828 | +28.3% |
| 2000 | 4,423,611 | +5.4% |
| 2010 | 6,222,714 | +40.7% |
| 2020 | 7,912,558 | +27.2% |
| 2025 | 8,819,794 | +11.5% |
Sierra Leone from 1800 to 2100
Modelled estimates put Sierra Leone at about 794,264 people in 1800; the UN estimates 8,819,796 in 2025 (11× 1800) and projects 15,934,260 for 2100 in its medium scenario. That is still 81% growth over the rest of this century.
| Year | Population | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| 1800 | 794,264 | modelled estimate |
| 1850 | 781,365 | modelled estimate |
| 1900 | 1,095,929 | modelled estimate |
| 1950 | 1,999,628 | UN estimate |
| 2000 | 4,423,615 | UN estimate |
| 2025 | 8,819,796 | UN projection |
| 2050 | 12,948,331 | UN projection |
| 2075 | 15,507,870 | UN projection |
| 2100 | 15,934,260 | UN projection |
Country live/base figures use World Bank estimates; this historical/future chart uses a separate UN series and need not match the World Bank base in overlapping years. Before 1950: HYDE 3.3 / Gapminder reconstructions via Our World in Data — historical modelling, not censuses. 1950–2023: UN World Population Prospects 2024. 2024–2100: UN medium projection. Open the time machine to see the whole map in any year.
Largest listed places in Sierra Leone
10 records sorted by displayed base population. Definitions vary (province/administrative unit, UN urban centre or GeoNames settlement); this is not a harmonised city ranking. Shares use World Bank 2025 country population 8,819,794. Dates and boundaries may differ. Overlapping entities are not summed.
| # | Place | Population | Definition | Share | Source / reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Freetown | 1,935,761 | UN urban centre | 21.95% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 2 | Bo | 345,988 | UN urban centre | 3.92% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 3 | Kenema | 249,485 | UN urban centre | 2.83% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 4 | Makeni | 200,865 | UN urban centre | 2.28% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 5 | Koidu | 128,030 | GeoNames settlement | 1.45% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 6 | Waterloo | 55,000 | GeoNames settlement | 0.62% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 7 | Port Loko | 44,900 | GeoNames settlement | 0.51% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 8 | Njala | 40,000 | GeoNames settlement | 0.45% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 9 | Lunsar | 22,461 | GeoNames settlement | 0.25% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 10 | Kabala | 17,948 | GeoNames settlement | 0.20% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
How Sierra Leone compares
Sierra Leone has almost the same population as Togo (8,591,626).
| Rank | Country | Population | vs Sierra Leone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #98 |  Switzerland | 9,092,436 | +3% | compare → |
| #99 |  Belarus | 9,085,991 | +3% | compare → |
| #101 |  Togo | 8,591,626 | −3% | compare → |
| #102 |  Laos | 7,873,046 | −11% | compare → |
Compare Sierra Leone with any country →
Same region (Sub-Saharan Africa): Nigeria, Ethiopia, DR Congo, Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya.
Explore around Sierra Leone
Land neighbours (2)
Sierra Leone's 2 neighbours together hold 20,830,933 people — 2.4× Sierra Leone's population. The most populous is Guinea (15,099,727).
In its region
Sierra Leone is the 29th most populous of the 48 economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, holding 0.7% of the region's 1,321,654,217 people.
Rankings
Largest countries, fastest-growing, oldest populations, densest — all rankings.
Cities
Freetown, Bo, Kenema, Makeni, Koidu, Waterloo, Port Loko, Njala — all Sierra Leone's cities on the map.
World population history · The world when you were born · Sierra Leone when you were born · Time machine · Embed this live counter on your site
About these numbers
Population, growth, birth and death rates, migration, density, age structure, life expectancy, fertility and GDP per capita come from the World Bank Indicators API (latest available year shown beside each figure). The live counter applies the annual growth rate continuously from 1 July 2025 — a model, not a measurement. City populations are the latest census or official estimate held by GeoNames and are not projected. Sub-city units are folded into their parent city.
What changed during your lifetime?
Turn these figures into a private, five-scene personal world story.
Read this country carefully
This page is a structured reference entry. Its sources, geographic definition and reference dates determine what the figures mean; it is not independent reporting about the causes of change. Read the accompanying explanation before comparing different places or vintages.