# Liberia and Sierra Leone compared Liberia and Sierra Leone side by side: 39 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, and the 3 events their chronicles record of each other. Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/lbr-vs-sle Updated: 2026-08-10 (latest of the two dossiers' refreshes and the two chronicles' verification dates) Two sourced records set beside each other — nothing on this page was written for the pair. Every figure is the same observation, with the same source, as on the two national dossiers; every event is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle. Figures are compared, never graded. A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero; each value shows its own observation year — vintages differ by indicator and nation. ## Formation - Liberia: 26 July 1847 — The settlement constitutes itself as the Republic of Liberia - Sierra Leone: 27 April 1961 — Sierra Leone becomes independent of Britain ## Economy | Metric | Liberia | Observed | Sierra Leone | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | GDP | $4.8 B | 2024 | $7.0 B | 2024 | | GDP per capita | $851 | 2024 | $807 | 2024 | | GDP growth | 4.0% | 2024 | 4.3% | 2024 | | Inflation | 8.2% | 2024 | 28.6% | 2024 | | Trade openness | — | — | 40.5% | 2024 | ## Society | Metric | Liberia | Observed | Sierra Leone | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population | 5.6 m | 2024 | 8.6 m | 2024 | | Life expectancy | 62.3 yrs | 2024 | 62.0 yrs | 2024 | | Urban population | 55.5% | 2024 | 45.4% | 2024 | | Fertility rate | 3.9 | 2024 | 3.7 | 2024 | ## Governance | Metric | Liberia | Observed | Sierra Leone | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Voice & accountability | 54.9 | 2024 | 47.9 | 2024 | | Political stability | 62.0 | 2024 | 58.2 | 2024 | | Government effectiveness | 27.1 | 2024 | 32.5 | 2024 | | Regulatory quality | 41.6 | 2024 | 38.2 | 2024 | | Rule of law | 42.0 | 2024 | 42.5 | 2024 | | Control of corruption | 26.7 | 2024 | 33.6 | 2024 | ## Health | Metric | Liberia | Observed | Sierra Leone | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Health spending | 13.0% | 2023 | 4.7% | 2023 | | Physicians | 0.18 | 2022 | 0.13 | 2022 | | Under-5 mortality | 86.4 | 2024 | 90.5 | 2024 | | Measles immunisation | 82.0% | 2024 | 90.0% | 2024 | | Safe drinking water | — | — | 10.9% | 2024 | ## Education | Metric | Liberia | Observed | Sierra Leone | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Adult literacy | 59.4% | 2010 | 43.6% | 2019 | | Education spending | 2.3% | 2023 | 2.6% | 2023 | | Primary enrolment | 66.6% | 2022 | 162.1% | 2024 | | Secondary enrolment | 37.7% | 2020 | 86.9% | 2023 | | Tertiary enrolment | 10.8% | 2012 | 2.0% | 2002 | ## Technology | Metric | Liberia | Observed | Sierra Leone | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Internet users | 32.2% | 2024 | 25.1% | 2024 | | Mobile subscriptions | 32 | 2022 | 108 | 2022 | | High-tech exports | 0.6% | 2023 | 0.7% | 2018 | ## Geography | Metric | Liberia | Observed | Sierra Leone | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Land area | 96,320 km² | 2023 | 72,180 km² | 2023 | | Forest area | 78.1% | 2023 | 34.3% | 2023 | | Agricultural land | 20.0% | 2023 | 54.7% | 2023 | | CO₂ per capita (t) | 0.2 | 2024 | 0.2 | 2024 | | Renewable energy | 92.8% | 2022 | 71.6% | 2022 | ## Resources | Metric | Liberia | Observed | Sierra Leone | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Resource rents | 21.9% | 2021 | 9.0% | 2021 | | Oil rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Mineral rents | 5.4% | 2021 | 0.2% | 2021 | | Forest rents | 16.5% | 2021 | 8.8% | 2021 | | Electricity access | 32.5% | 2023 | 35.5% | 2023 | ## Military | Metric | Liberia | Observed | Sierra Leone | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Military burden | 0.7% | 2024 | 0.5% | 2024 | | Defense spending | $34 M | 2024 | $36 M | 2024 | | Armed forces | 2,000 | 2020 | 9,000 | 2020 | Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/LBR.md and https://terralore.co/country/SLE.md. ## Entangled histories (3 events) Events in which either nation's sourced chronicle names the other — including under earlier names of the same state. Each is the record exactly as its own chronicle carries it, with that chronicle's sources. - 23 March 1991: **Civil war begins** — The Revolutionary United Front under Foday Sankoh, backed by Liberia's Charles Taylor, invaded from Liberia, beginning an eleven-year civil war marked by atrocities and funded by 'blood diamonds'. (from the Sierra Leone chronicle; sources: The Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002); Foday Sankoh) - August 2003: **Taylor resigns; Accra peace agreement** — With rebels besieging Monrovia and an international indictment over Sierra Leone hanging over him, Charles Taylor resigned and went into exile; a comprehensive peace agreement in Accra ended the war and a UN mission, UNMIL, deployed. (from the Liberia chronicle; sources: Second Liberian Civil War (1999–2003); Charles Taylor; Second Liberian Civil War) - 26 April 2012: **Taylor convicted of war crimes** — The Special Court for Sierra Leone convicted Charles Taylor of aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sierra Leone and sentenced him to 50 years — the first former head of state convicted by an international tribunal since Nuremberg. (from the Liberia chronicle; sources: Sierra Leone: Landmark Conviction of Liberian Ex-President; Special Court sentences former Liberian leader Charles Taylor to 50 years in prison) ## Sources - World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://data.worldbank.org - Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators - Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) — WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.who.int/data/gho - Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) — UNICEF and WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://childmortality.org - Education statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://uis.unesco.org - ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics - Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex Chronicle references are cited inline above and resolve in full at https://terralore.co/country/LBR/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/SLE/chronicle.md. Citation template: Terralore, "Liberia and Sierra Leone compared", terralore.co/compare/lbr-vs-sle, retrieved .