Browse a full set of economic indicators

Sierra Leone

Includes Sierra Leone real Gross Domestic Product growth rate, with latest forecasts and historical data, GDP per capita, GDP composition and breakdown by sector.

Browse additional economic indicators and data sets, selected by Global Finance editors, to learn more about Sierra Leone economic outlook, debt to GDP ratio, international trade performance and population trends. Rankings of Sierra Leone best banks and safest banks are also available.

Basic Information

Government Type: Presidential republic

Capital City: Freetown

GDP & Economic Information

Macroeconomy & Sovereign Data

Central Bank Bank of Sierra Leone

Currency Leones (SLL)

International Reserves USD 0.5 billion (2018)

International Monetary Fund (IMF), data retrieved October 2019
Gross Domestic Product – GDP USD 3.9 billion (2018, estimate)
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) Intl$ 12.3 billion (2018, estimate)

GDP Data

Real GDP growth 2007: 8.1%
2008: 5.4%
2009: 3.2%
2010: 5.3%
2011: 6.3%
2012: 15.2%
2013: 20.7%
2014: 4.6%
2015: -20.5%
2016: 6.4%
2017*: 3.8%
2018*: 3.7%

*Estimate
GDP per capita – current prices USD 515.9 (2018, estimate)
GDP per capita – PPP Intl$ 1,620.2 (2018, estimate)
GDP (PPP) – share of world total 1980: 0.02%
1990: 0.02%
2000: 0.01%
2010: 0.01%
2019*: 0.009%

*Estimate
GDP – composition by sector agriculture: 60.3%
industry: 5.2%
services: 32.4%
(2017 estimate)
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D; (% of GDP) N/A
Inflation 2015: 6.7%
2016: 10.9%
2017*: 18.2%
2018*: 16.9%
2019*: 15.7%

*Estimate

Inflation & Debt

Inflation 2015: 6.7%
2016: 10.9%
2017*: 18.2%
2018*: 16.9%
2019*: 15.7%

*Estimate
Government Bond Ratings Standard & Poor’s: N/A

Moody’s: N/A

Standard & Poor’s / Moody’s
Unemployment rate N/A
Household saving rates N/A
Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP) 2015: 44.9%
2016: 55.5%
2017: 57.9%
2018*: 63%
2019*: 64.5%

*Estimate
Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP) 2015: -4.5%
2016: -8.5%
2017: -8.8%
2018*: -5.8%
2019*: -3.6%

*Estimate
Market value of publicly traded shares N/A
Largest Companies N/A

Import/Export

Exports as percent of GDP (Exports of goods and services) 26.1% (2017)


Shares in world total merchandising export 0.004% (2018)


Shares in world total commercial services export 0.003% (2017)


Total exports USD 802.8 million (2017)
Export commodities Iron ore, diamonds, rutile, cocoa, coffee, fish

Total imports USD 1.6 billion (2017 estimate)

Import commodities Foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuels and lubricants, chemicals

Exports – major partners Cote dIvoire 37.7%, Belgium 20.5%, US 15.7%, China 10.2%, Netherlands 6.1% (2017)

Imports – major partners China 11.5%, US 9.2%, Belgium 8.8%, UAE 7.7%, India 7.4%, Turkey 5.2%, Senegal 5.1%, Netherlands 4.3% (2017)

Competitiveness & Trade

Current account balance USD -0.6 billion (2018 estimate)

Current account balance by percentage of GDP -13.8% (2018 estimate)
FDI inflows 2016: USD 138 million
2017: USD 129 million
2018: USD 599 million
FDI Outflows N/A
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser N/A


United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) – World Investment Report
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2014 N/A
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2015 N/A
Best countries for doing business Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.

Overall ranking:

82 out of 190 countries

​Subcategories:

Starting a Business: 53 out of 190 countries
Dealing with Construction Permits: 166 out of 190 countries
Getting Electricity: 107 out of 190 countries
Registering Property: 98 out of 190 countries
Getting Credit: 48 out of 190 countries
Protecting Minority Investors: 111 out of 190 countries
Paying Taxes: 123 out of 190 countries
Trading across Borders: 25 out of 190 countries
Enforcing Contracts: 120 out of 190 countries
Resolving Insolvency: 39 out of 190 countries
World Bank – Doing Business 2020
Global competitiveness ranking 81 out of 141 (2019)
Index of Economic Freedom Ranking: 167 / Score: 47.5 (Repressed)

(100=totally free 0=totally repressed)

Population & Geographic Data

Time Zone UTC 0

Total Area 71,740 sq km

Total Population 1990: 4.22 million
2000: 4.47 million
2010: 6.28 million
2015: 7.09 million
2020 (estimate): 7.91 million
Urban population as % of total population 1960: 17.4%
1980: 29.8%
2000: 35.6%
2018: 42.1%
Population median age 19.1 years

Population growth rate 2.4% (2018 estimate)

Life expectancy 59 years (2018 estimate)

% of population living on less than $3.10 a day 81.3% (last available estimate, 2011)

Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index)
34 (last available estimate, 2011)

(0=perfect equality, 100=absolute inequality)
Freedom House rating Partly Free
Political Rights: 3
Civil Liberties: 3 (2019)
(1 represents the most free, 7 the least free rating)
Total telephone subscribers as % of population
Fixed: 0.2% Mobile: 88.5% (2017)

(fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)
Internet users as % of total population 9% (2017)

Language & Religon

Languages English (official, regular use limited to literate minority), Mende (principal vernacular in the south), Temne (principal vernacular in the north), Krio (English-based Creole, spoken by the descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled in the Free

Literacy Total population: 48.1%
Male: 58.7%
Female: 37.7%
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write english, mende, temne, or arabic (2015 est.)
Religions Muslim 78.6%, Christian 20.8%, other 0.3%, unspecified 0.2% (2013 est.)

World Rankings

Population 7.91 M
Mercer Cost of living index N/A
C02 Emissions per capita 0.19 metric tons per capita (2014)

Global Finance Rankings & Awards: Sierra Leone

Global Finance Magazine holds several conferences and awards ceremonies throughout the year to recognize the winning financial institutions and companies in a host of categories including World’s Best Trade Finance Banks, World's Biggest Banks, World's Safest Banks, World's Best Developed & Emerging Markets Banks, World's Best Internet Banks, and World’s Best Investment Banks.


Data Sources:

IMF World Economic Outlook

UN World Population Prospects

World Inequality Report

S&P Global Ratings

Moody’s

Fitch Ratings

IMF Direction of Trade Statistics (DOTS)

UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

CIA The World Factbook

World Bank’s World Integrated Trade Solution

Forbes Global 2000

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