Urban population share in Sierra Leone

45.9% of people in Sierra Leone lived in urban areas in 2025. The value for 2025 is the highest in the series, which starts in 1960.

Measure: Urban population share Unit: % of total population Data: 1960 to 2025 Source: World Bank
Sierra Leone, 2025 45.9% % of total population
Change from 2024 +0.6percentage points 2024: 45.4%
World, 2025 57.8% Official aggregate
Position in 2025 158th of 217 See the full ranking

Urban population share in Sierra Leone over time

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Sierra Leone World ×

% of total population. Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators. Gaps mean no published value; points are not joined across missing years.

Urban population share (% of total population), 2001 to 2025
Period Sierra LeoneWorld
2025 45.9% 57.8%
2024 45.4% 57.6%
2023 44.8% 57.3%
2022 44.3% 57.1%
2021 43.7% 56.8%
2020 43.2% 56.4%
2019 42.7% 56.1%
2018 42.2% 55.8%
2017 41.7% 55.3%
2016 41.2% 54.9%
2015 40.8% 54.4%
2014 40.3% 53.9%
2013 39.9% 53.4%
2012 39.5% 52.9%
2011 39.0% 52.5%
2010 38.6% 51.8%
2009 38.2% 51.4%
2008 37.9% 50.9%
2007 37.5% 50.4%
2006 37.2% 49.9%
2005 36.8% 49.4%
2004 36.5% 48.9%
2003 36.3% 48.4%
2002 36.0% 47.8%
2001 35.8% 47.3%

A dash means no value was published for that period.

In short

  • That is a change of +0.6 percentage points from 45.4% in 2024.
  • Since 2015, when it was 40.8%, the figure has changed by +5.2 percentage points.
  • Among the 217 countries with data for 2025, Sierra Leone has the 158th highest value.
  • The figure for the world in 2025 was 57.8%.

More for Sierra Leone

All statistics for Sierra Leone

Source and dates

Original producer
United Nations Population Division, World Urbanization Prospects
Distributed by
World Bank, World Development Indicators
Dataset or series code
SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS · dataset details · view at source
Observation period
1960 to 2025 for Sierra Leone
Provider update
8 October 2026
Retrieved
9 November 2026
Published here
9 November 2026
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (per series metadata)
Attribution
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators, original data: United Nations Population Division, World Urbanization Prospects