Life Expectancy at Birth in Sierra Leone: 1800 to Today (and Tomorrow)

At MYRIAD, we examine the statistics of human lives to understand the sheer weight of a single number: how many years a newborn could expect to live, given the mortality of the time and place. For Sierra Leone, this metric captures the changing realities of existence across centuries, reflecting the silent accumulation of months and years. Every value recorded here is a statistical fact about the lives actually lived there, mapping the fundamental arc of human survival from birth into the unpredictable world.

The historical arc of this survival reveals a slow, deliberate shift across generations. In the 1800s estimate, life expectancy sat at 27 years, ticking upward by fractions of a year through the decades until reaching an 1890s estimate of 27.9 and 28 in the 1900s estimate. The pace quickened as time moved forward, climbing through the 1910s estimate of 29.6, the 1940s estimate of 34.4, and the 1960s at 40. By the 2020s, life expectancy at birth in Sierra Leone stands at 62 years, ranking #148 of 157 countries, with future decades anticipated to rise steadily toward the 2100s projection of 71.6.

If you were born in Sierra Leone in 1900, your expected horizon was just 28 years, a starkly compressed window compared to the 62 years measured in the 2020s. Each sequential decade—from the 1920s estimate of 31.2 to the 1950s at 36, the 1980s at 48, and the 2010s at 56—tells a story of expanding possibility for every newborn. Looking ahead, projections for the 2030s projection of 63.2 and the 2060s projection of 66.8 point toward a continuing trajectory of longevity. Where do YOU rank among everyone ever born? →