Child Mortality (under 5) in Sierra Leone: 1800 to Today (and Tomorrow)

Data journalism is rarely just about numbers; it is about the quiet weight of human lives measured in fractions of a thousand. At MYRIAD, we look at the statistics of human existence to understand the sheer scale of generational experience. When we examine child mortality under five in Sierra Leone, we are tracking the profound vulnerability of early life across more than two centuries. Every data point represents countless families navigating the fragile boundary between birth and a child's fifth birthday, charting a reality that shapes communities, households, and the collective memory of a nation.

The historical arc across these three centuries reveals a slow, persistent transformation. In the 1800s estimate, the toll was immense at 450 per 1,000 births, easing very gradually through the 1810s estimate, the 1820s estimate, the 1830s estimate, the 1840s estimate, the 1850s estimate, the 1860s estimate, the 1870s estimate, the 1880s estimate, and the 1890s estimate. By 1900 it was 430 per 1,000 births, continuing down through the 1910s estimate, the 1920s estimate, the 1930s estimate, the 1940s estimate, the 1950s, the 1960s, the 1970s, the 1980s, the 1990s, the 2000s, and the 2010s. In the 2020s, child mortality under five in Sierra Leone stands at 75 per 1,000 births, ranking #148 of 157 countries.

Looking forward, the projections outline a continuation of this trajectory into the future through the 2030s projection, the 2040s projection, the 2050s projection, the 2060s projection, the 2070s projection, the 2080s projection, the 2090s projection, and the 2100s projection. For anyone born in Sierra Leone across these eras, the statistical landscape dictates the very contours of family life and survival. Understanding these figures allows us to perceive the changing probabilities that accompany every generation. Where do YOU rank among everyone ever born?