8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Africa / Western Africa

Born in Sierra Leone

About 1 in 510 people born in 2023 started life in Sierra Leone. A boy can expect to live 60 years and a girl 64, up from 28 and 30 in 1950. Fewer than half of people live in cities, and 67% have basic drinking water.

1 in 510
odds of being born here
258,900 births · Ranked 77th of 230
60 / 64
years of life, boys / girls
Was 28 / 30 in 1950
$1,765
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 177th of 203 · extrapolated
45%
live in a city
Most live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 33 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 459 in every 1,000 births to 97.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

020406080195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0200400600195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth60.1 years for boys, 63.5 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 597.2 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year70,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people0.1World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles90%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV1.4%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year380 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year284 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.1 children on average in 1950. Now it is 3.8.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman3.79UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth28.6 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 44 and the poorest fifth 8.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2018
8%Poorest fifth
12%Second
15%Middle
21%Fourth
44%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $1,765 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth44% / 8% (2018)World Bank PIP
Unemployment3.1% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises47.6% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person3.4% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming46% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed89% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment87% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Freetown, with 802,639 people.

45%
live in cities
36%
have electricity at home
67%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Freetown802,639
Kenema255,110
Bo233,684
Koidu128,030
Makeni85,116
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Krio95%
English35%
Mende27%
Timne26%
English is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Western Area857,639
Eastern Province399,672
Southern Province289,807
Northern Province141,016
North West44,900

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

People on the move

About 0.7% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Senegal, Liberia, Guinea.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Senegal15,843
Liberia13,878
Guinea8,065
Residents born abroad0.6% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 0.7% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostSenegal (15,843), Liberia (13,878), Guinea (8,065)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $320.8 million a year (2024)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

7% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

7%
of older people receive a pension (2019)
0%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2020)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 2024126Our World in Data, from WHO
Deaths in organized violence20,442 between 1991 and 2001UCDP

Now live it.

Born in Sierra Leone, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Sierra Leone

Elsewhere in Africa

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences