Quality of life comparison
If you lived in North Korea instead of Sierra Leone, you would:
Health
live 13.0 years longer
In Sierra Leone, the average life expectancy is 59 years (57 years for men, 60 years for women) as of 2022. In North Korea, that number is 72 years (68 years for men, 76 years for women) as of 2022.
be 21.8% less likely to be obese
In Sierra Leone, 8.7% of adults are obese as of 2016. In North Korea, that number is 6.8% of people as of 2016.
Life
be 75.8% less likely to die during childbirth
In Sierra Leone, approximately 443.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In North Korea, 107.0 women do as of 2020.
be 2.1 times more likely to be literate
In Sierra Leone, the literacy rate is 48.6% as of 2022. In North Korea, it is 100.0% as of 2015.
be 69.7% less likely to die during infancy
In Sierra Leone, approximately 73.4 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In North Korea, on the other hand, 22.2 children do as of 2022.
have 57.1% fewer children
In Sierra Leone, there are approximately 30.8 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In North Korea, there are 13.2 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.
Basic Needs
be 86.1% more likely to have access to electricity
In Sierra Leone, approximately 29% of people have electricity access (57% in urban areas, and 5% in rural areas) as of 2022. In North Korea, that number is 55% of people on average (36% in urban areas, and 11% in rural areas) as of 2022.
be 29.8% more likely to have access to improved drinking water
In Sierra Leone, approximately 73% of people have improved drinking water access (92% in urban areas, and 58% in rural areas) as of 2020. In North Korea, that number is 94% of people on average (98% in urban areas, and 89% in rural areas) as of 2020.
Geography
see 6.2 times more coastline
Sierra Leone has a total of 402 km of coastline. In North Korea, that number is 2,495 km.
The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook.
North Korea: At a glance
How big is North Korea compared to Sierra Leone? See an in-depth size comparison.