Freetown — UN urban centre
Freetown: 1,935,761 people. Reference: 2025 annual estimate · World rank #256 of 12,138 source urban centres. Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025 (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Source identifier: 41; territory: Sierra Leone (SLE). UN source workbook.
Method: Degree of Urbanisation (contiguous 1 km2 cells, density 1,500+ people/km2, total 50,000+). This is a source-defined urban centre, not a municipality or province. No association with a separate administrative entity is inferred from proximity or name.
Source centroid: 8.462, -13.2287. National context uses World Bank estimates, a separate series and geography; no national share is inferred here.
UN population series
| Year | People | Method |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 309,753 | Estimate |
| 1980 | 396,739 | Estimate |
| 1985 | 502,079 | Estimate |
| 1990 | 582,090 | Estimate |
| 1995 | 693,122 | Estimate |
| 2000 | 798,827 | Estimate |
| 2005 | 940,323 | Estimate |
| 2010 | 1,147,415 | Estimate |
| 2015 | 1,366,568 | Estimate |
| 2020 | 1,768,832 | Estimate |
| 2025 | 1,935,761 | Estimate |
| 2030 | 2,109,382 | Projection |
| 2035 | 2,259,111 | Projection |
| 2040 | 2,401,801 | Projection |
| 2045 | 2,535,931 | Projection |
| 2050 | 2,650,410 | Projection |
Largest UN urban centres · Fastest-growing urban centres
What changed during your lifetime?
Turn these figures into a private, five-scene personal world story.
Use this source record with the right definition
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.