Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Sierra Leone instead of Gambia, you would:

Health

be 16.7% less likely to be living with HIV/AIDS

In Gambia, 1.8% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2020. In Sierra Leone, that number is 1.5% of people as of 2020.

be 15.5% less likely to be obese

In Gambia, 10.3% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Sierra Leone, that number is 8.7% of people as of 2016.

live 8.8 years less

In Gambia, the average life expectancy is 68 years (66 years for men, 69 years for women) as of 2022. In Sierra Leone, that number is 59 years (57 years for men, 60 years for women) as of 2022.

Economy

be 23.4% less likely to be unemployed

In Gambia, 4.3% of adults are unemployed as of 2022. In Sierra Leone, that number is 3.3% as of 2022.

make 23.8% less money

Gambia has a GDP per capita of $2,100 as of 2022, while in Sierra Leone, the GDP per capita is $1,600 as of 2022.

Life

have 12.8% more children

In Gambia, there are approximately 27.3 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Sierra Leone, there are 30.8 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

be 16.4% less likely to be literate

In Gambia, the literacy rate is 58.1% as of 2021. In Sierra Leone, it is 48.6% as of 2022.

be 97.4% more likely to die during infancy

In Gambia, approximately 37.2 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Sierra Leone, on the other hand, 73.4 children do as of 2022.

Basic Needs

be 56.9% less likely to have access to electricity

In Gambia, approximately 64% of people have electricity access (82% in urban areas, and 31% in rural areas) as of 2021. In Sierra Leone, that number is 27% of people on average (57% in urban areas, and 5% in rural areas) as of 2021.

be 61.5% less likely to have internet access

In Gambia, approximately 33.0% of the population has internet access as of 2021. In Sierra Leone, about 12.7% do as of 2022.

be 18.7% less likely to have access to improved drinking water

In Gambia, approximately 90% of people have improved drinking water access (92% in urban areas, and 86% in rural areas) as of 2020. In Sierra Leone, that number is 73% of people on average (92% in urban areas, and 58% in rural areas) as of 2020.

Expenditures

spend 3.2 times more on education

Gambia spends 2.8% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Sierra Leone spends 9.1% of total GDP on education as of 2021.

spend 3.4 times more on healthcare

Gambia spends 2.6% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Sierra Leone, that number is 8.8% of GDP as of 2020.

Geography

see 5.0 times more coastline

Gambia has a total of 80 km of coastline. In Sierra Leone, that number is 402 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook.

Sierra Leone: At a glance

Sierra Leone is a sovereign country in Africa, with a total land area of approximately 71,620 sq km. Democracy is slowly being reestablished after the civil war from 1991 to 2002 that resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of more than 2 million people (about a third of the population). The military, which took over full responsibility for security following the departure of UN peacekeepers at the end of 2005, is increasingly developing as a guarantor of the country's stability. The armed forces remained on the sideline during the 2007 and 2012 national elections, and over the past year have deployed over 850 peacekeepers in the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). As of January 2014, Sierra Leone also fielded 122 staff for five UN peacekeeping missions. In March 2014, the closure of the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL) marked the end of more than 15 years of peacekeeping and political operations in Sierra Leone. The government's priorities include furthering development, creating jobs, and stamping out endemic corruption.
Read more

How big is Sierra Leone compared to Gambia? See an in-depth size comparison.

Share this

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Sierra Leone.or Gambia It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.