Population living in slums in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone: Population living in slums was 49.3% in 2022. ▼ Falling
Population living in slums in Sierra Leone, 2000–2022
Source: Urban Indicators Database, UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). Measured in % of urban population.
Analysis
In 2022, population living in slums in Sierra Leone stood at 49.3%. That is the lowest value across all 12 years on record.
That represents a change of down 2.7% on the previous year and down 20.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, population living in slums in Sierra Leone peaked at 73.9% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 49.3%, in 2022.
That places Sierra Leone 32nd out of 174 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 12 years of available data.
Population living in slums in Sierra Leone, year by year
| Year | % of urban population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 73.9% | — |
| 2002 | 73.9% | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 72.5% | -1.8% |
| 2006 | 69.8% | -3.8% |
| 2008 | 67.1% | -3.9% |
| 2010 | 64.3% | -4.1% |
| 2012 | 61.6% | -4.3% |
| 2014 | 58.9% | -4.4% |
| 2016 | 56.1% | -4.7% |
| 2018 | 53.4% | -4.9% |
| 2020 | 50.6% | -5.1% |
| 2022 | 49.3% | -2.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 71.4% | 67.1% | 73.9% | 5 |
| 2010s | 58.9% | 53.4% | 64.3% | 5 |
| 2020s | 50.0% | 49.3% | 50.6% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Sierra Leone
More poverty & inequality data for Sierra Leone
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 1 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 3.79 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 1,470 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate -25.13 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 6.33 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 6.3% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is population living in slums in Sierra Leone?
- Population living in slums in Sierra Leone was 49.3% in 2022, according to Urban Indicators Database, UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).
- What is the highest population living in slums recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The highest recorded value was 73.9% in 2000.
- What is the lowest population living in slums recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The lowest recorded value was 49.3% in 2022.
- How does Sierra Leone rank for population living in slums?
- Sierra Leone ranks 32nd out of 174 countries with data for 2022.
- Is population living in slums rising or falling in Sierra Leone?
- Over the last ten years it is down 20.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sierra Leone data come from?
- The figures come from Urban Indicators Database, UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), published as part of Population living in slums (% of urban population). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 12 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Population living in slums is the proportion of the urban population living in slum households. A slum household is defined as a group of individuals living under the same roof lacking one or more of the following conditions: access to improved water, access to improved sanitation, sufficient living area, housing durability, and security of tenure, as adopted in the Millennium Development Goal Target 7.D. The successor, the Sustainable Development Goal 11.1.1, considers inadequate housing (housing affordability) to complement the above definition of slums/informal settlements.