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African economies
Sierra Leone · Economy

Sierra Leone economy: GDP, investment, trade and remittances

How large the Sierra Leone economy is and how fast it is growing, who invests in it, what it sells and buys, how much its citizens abroad send home, who it owes and what it holds in reserve. The latest published year is shown with each figure.

GDP
US$7.5 billion
current US$, 2025
Real GDP growth
4.6%
2025
GDP per person
US$846
current US$, 2025
Exports of goods
US$1.5 billion
2024, as reported by trading partners
Remittances received
US$321 million
2024, 4.6% of GDP
Foreign direct investment, net inflows
US$177 million
2025, 2.4% of GDP
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Sierra Leone economy snapshot: GDP, growth and income per person

Sierra Leone's GDP was US$7.5 billion in 2025, after real growth of 4.6%.

GDP

Current US dollars.

02.0bn4.0bn6.0bn8.0bn201520172019202120232025GDP 2015: US$6.8 billionGDP 2016: US$6.1 billionGDP 2017: US$5.7 billionGDP 2018: US$6.4 billionGDP 2019: US$6.5 billionGDP 2020: US$6.7 billionGDP 2021: US$7.2 billionGDP 2022: US$7.1 billionGDP 2023: US$6.4 billionGDP 2024: US$7.0 billionGDP 2025: US$7.5 billion

Real GDP growth

Annual change, per cent. Red bars are contractions.

-5%0%5%10%201520172019202120232025Real GDP growth 2015: -4.4%Real GDP growth 2016: 6.4%Real GDP growth 2017: 3.2%Real GDP growth 2018: 2.9%Real GDP growth 2019: 5.5%Real GDP growth 2020: -1.3%Real GDP growth 2021: 5.9%Real GDP growth 2022: 5.3%Real GDP growth 2023: 5.7%Real GDP growth 2024: 4.3%Real GDP growth 2025: 4.6%

GDP per person

Current US dollars.

02505007501k201520172019202120232025GDP per person 2015: US$965GDP per person 2016: US$844GDP per person 2017: US$779GDP per person 2018: US$846GDP per person 2019: US$844GDP per person 2020: US$845GDP per person 2021: US$885GDP per person 2022: US$860GDP per person 2023: US$758GDP per person 2024: US$807GDP per person 2025: US$846

Source: World Bank, 2025. Method

Who invests in Sierra Leone and in what

Direct investment by investing country

Nigeria was the largest investing country in Sierra Leone, at 34% of inward direct investment positions in 2024.

Inward direct investment positions in Sierra Leone at the end of 2024: the stock of foreign direct investment, not a year's new flow. The 10 largest investing countries.

The IMF data holds no positions reported by Sierra Leone itself. The figures are derived by the IMF from what the investing countries report, so they are shown as reported by investing countries.

NigeriaUS$204 million33.8%
ChinaUS$139 million23.0%
MauritiusUS$90 million14.9%
LuxembourgUS$88 million14.6%
NetherlandsUS$56 million9.3%
BelgiumUS$31 million5.2%
United KingdomUS$8.8 million1.5%
DenmarkUS$4.6 million0.8%
ItalyUS$2.0 million0.3%
South KoreaUS$1.8 million0.3%

Source: IMF, 2024. Method

What Sierra Leone sells and buys

Sierra Leone has not reported recent trade data to UN Comtrade. These figures are what 128 trading partners report about trade with Sierra Leone, shown as reported by trading partners. Partners' imports from Sierra Leone stand in for its exports and partners' exports to Sierra Leone for its imports. They are not Sierra Leone's own figures.

Ores, slag and ash was 72% of exports in 2024.

Sierra Leone sold the most to China, 62% of exports in 2024.

Exports by product, 2024

Tile area follows value. Each tile is a customs chapter of the Harmonized System; hover for the full name.

Ores, slag and ash: US$1.1 billion, 72.0%Ores, slag and ash72%Cocoa and cocoa preparations: US$145 million, 9.4%Cocoa and cocoa prod…9%Natural, cultured pearls: US$109 million, 7.1%Pearls, precious sto…7%Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof: US$22 million, 1.4%Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products: US$18 million, 1.2%Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances: US$16 million, 1.0%Coffee, tea, mate and spices: US$15 million, 1.0%Iron and steel: US$12 million, 0.8%Aluminium and articles thereof: US$12 million, 0.7%Fish and crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates: US$11 million, 0.7%Copper and articles thereof: US$7.4 million, 0.5%Glass and glassware: US$5.9 million, 0.4%All other chapters: US$59 million, 3.8%All othe…4%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2024. Method

Top buyers, 2024

Share of Sierra Leone's exports.

ChinaUS$953 million61.7%
NetherlandsUS$143 million9.3%
IndiaUS$90 million5.8%
BelgiumUS$53 million3.4%
JapanUS$44 million2.8%
GermanyUS$43 million2.8%
United StatesUS$30 million1.9%
United KingdomUS$24 million1.5%
FranceUS$22 million1.4%
IrelandUS$22 million1.4%

Top suppliers, 2024

Share of Sierra Leone's imports.

ChinaUS$811 million37.5%
IndiaUS$341 million15.8%
United StatesUS$120 million5.5%
TurkeyUS$92 million4.3%
SpainUS$81 million3.8%
BrazilUS$63 million2.9%
NetherlandsUS$51 million2.4%
United KingdomUS$51 million2.4%
MoroccoUS$45 million2.1%
BelgiumUS$38 million1.8%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2024. Method

What Sierra Leone buys, 2024

The 8 largest product chapters in imports.

Machinery and mechanical appliancesUS$242 million11.2%
CerealsUS$235 million10.9%
Electrical machinery and equipmentUS$206 million9.5%
VehiclesUS$139 million6.4%
Mineral fuels and oilsUS$117 million5.4%
PlasticsUS$115 million5.3%
Pharmaceutical productsUS$107 million5.0%
Iron or steel articlesUS$91 million4.2%

Source: UN Comtrade, 2024. Method

Trade balance of goods

Exports minus imports. Red bars are years when imports were larger. A year is left out when either side is not published.

-800m-600m-400m-200m020152017201920212023Trade balance 2015: -US$537 million (exports US$651 million, imports US$1.2 billion)Trade balance 2016: -US$284 million (exports US$682 million, imports US$966 million)Trade balance 2017: -US$191 million (exports US$909 million, imports US$1.1 billion)Trade balance 2018: -US$357 million (exports US$723 million, imports US$1.1 billion)Trade balance 2019: -US$459 million (exports US$735 million, imports US$1.2 billion)Trade balance 2020: -US$595 million (exports US$592 million, imports US$1.2 billion)Trade balance 2021: -US$637 million (exports US$1.0 billion, imports US$1.6 billion)Trade balance 2022: -US$428 million (exports US$1.4 billion, imports US$1.8 billion)Trade balance 2023: -US$432 million (exports US$1.6 billion, imports US$2.0 billion)Trade balance 2024: -US$617 million (exports US$1.5 billion, imports US$2.2 billion)

Source: UN Comtrade, 2024. Method

Remittances against foreign direct investment in Sierra Leone

Remittances to Sierra Leone were 2.6 times foreign direct investment in 2024.

Remittances receivedForeign direct investment, net inflows
0200m400m600m201520172019202120232025Remittances 2015: US$48 millionRemittances 2016: US$58 millionRemittances 2017: US$64 millionRemittances 2018: US$73 millionRemittances 2019: US$177 millionRemittances 2020: US$177 millionRemittances 2021: US$184 millionRemittances 2022: US$291 millionRemittances 2023: US$293 millionRemittances 2024: US$321 millionForeign direct investment 2015: US$252 millionForeign direct investment 2016: US$139 millionForeign direct investment 2017: US$414 millionForeign direct investment 2018: US$186 millionForeign direct investment 2019: US$122 millionForeign direct investment 2020: US$51 millionForeign direct investment 2021: US$214 millionForeign direct investment 2022: US$145 millionForeign direct investment 2023: US$146 millionForeign direct investment 2024: US$122 millionForeign direct investment 2025: US$177 million

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Remittances and investment as a share of GDP

The same two flows measured against the size of the economy.

Remittances, share of GDPForeign direct investment, share of GDP
0%2%4%6%8%201520172019202120232025Remittances 2015: 0.7%Remittances 2016: 1.0%Remittances 2017: 1.1%Remittances 2018: 1.1%Remittances 2019: 2.7%Remittances 2020: 2.6%Remittances 2021: 2.6%Remittances 2022: 4.1%Remittances 2023: 4.6%Remittances 2024: 4.6%Foreign direct investment 2015: 3.7%Foreign direct investment 2016: 2.3%Foreign direct investment 2017: 7.2%Foreign direct investment 2018: 2.9%Foreign direct investment 2019: 1.9%Foreign direct investment 2020: 0.8%Foreign direct investment 2021: 3.0%Foreign direct investment 2022: 2.0%Foreign direct investment 2023: 2.3%Foreign direct investment 2024: 1.7%Foreign direct investment 2025: 2.4%

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Who Sierra Leone owes

External debt stock by type of creditor. Creditor types cover public and publicly guaranteed debt; the grey part is the rest of the total external debt stock. A creditor type with no published figure is not shown.

Multilateral creditors held 40% of Sierra Leone's external debt stock in 2024.

Public external debt owed to China was US$58 million in 2024, 2% of the external debt stock.

MultilateralBilateralCommercial banksRest of the totalPublic debt owed to China
01.0bn2.0bn3.0bn20152017201920212023Multilateral 2015: US$591 millionBilateral 2015: US$169 millionCommercial banks 2015: US$193 millionRest of the total 2015: US$605 millionMultilateral 2016: US$599 millionBilateral 2016: US$187 millionCommercial banks 2016: US$193 millionRest of the total 2016: US$645 millionMultilateral 2017: US$716 millionBilateral 2017: US$180 millionCommercial banks 2017: US$193 millionRest of the total 2017: US$705 millionMultilateral 2018: US$763 millionBilateral 2018: US$187 millionCommercial banks 2018: US$193 millionRest of the total 2018: US$690 millionMultilateral 2019: US$833 millionBilateral 2019: US$221 millionCommercial banks 2019: US$187 millionRest of the total 2019: US$689 millionMultilateral 2020: US$942 millionBilateral 2020: US$238 millionCommercial banks 2020: US$179 millionRest of the total 2020: US$836 millionMultilateral 2021: US$967 millionBilateral 2021: US$252 millionCommercial banks 2021: US$168 millionRest of the total 2021: US$1.1 billionMultilateral 2022: US$945 millionBilateral 2022: US$238 millionCommercial banks 2022: US$165 millionRest of the total 2022: US$1.1 billionMultilateral 2023: US$959 millionBilateral 2023: US$241 millionCommercial banks 2023: US$165 millionRest of the total 2023: US$1.0 billionMultilateral 2024: US$921 millionBilateral 2024: US$228 millionCommercial banks 2024: US$165 millionRest of the total 2024: US$1.0 billionPublic debt owed to China 2015: US$57 millionPublic debt owed to China 2016: US$53 millionPublic debt owed to China 2017: US$53 millionPublic debt owed to China 2018: US$48 millionPublic debt owed to China 2019: US$44 millionPublic debt owed to China 2020: US$63 millionPublic debt owed to China 2021: US$76 millionPublic debt owed to China 2022: US$69 millionPublic debt owed to China 2023: US$64 millionPublic debt owed to China 2024: US$58 million

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Reserves and months of import cover

Total reserves including gold, and how many months of imports they cover.

Reserves, US$Months of imports
0250m500m750m1.0bn0246820152017201920212023Reserves 2015: US$579 millionReserves 2016: US$497 millionReserves 2017: US$549 millionReserves 2018: US$501 millionReserves 2019: US$530 millionReserves 2020: US$708 millionReserves 2021: US$946 millionReserves 2022: US$624 millionReserves 2023: US$496 millionReserves 2024: US$433 millionMonths of imports 2015: 3.0 monthsMonths of imports 2016: 3.9 monthsMonths of imports 2017: 3.9 monthsMonths of imports 2018: 3.9 monthsMonths of imports 2019: 3.7 monthsMonths of imports 2020: 6.1 monthsMonths of imports 2021: 5.7 monthsMonths of imports 2022: 3.5 monthsMonths of imports 2023: 2.6 monthsMonths of imports 2024: 1.8 months

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Aid received by Sierra Leone

Net official development assistance and official aid received.

0250m500m750m1.0bn20152017201920212023Aid received 2015: US$947 millionAid received 2016: US$693 millionAid received 2017: US$541 millionAid received 2018: US$508 millionAid received 2019: US$567 millionAid received 2020: US$842 millionAid received 2021: US$711 millionAid received 2022: US$519 millionAid received 2023: US$498 million

Source: World Bank, 2026. Method

Where Sierra Leone ranks in Africa

Its place among the 54 African countries on each of our Africa rankings. Each tile opens the full ranking with its source.

All Africa rankings

More on Sierra Leone

World Bank data pages for Sierra Leone: GDP, GDP growth, GDP per person, remittances, foreign direct investment, reserves, months of imports, external debt, debt by creditor, aid. UN Comtrade: trade data. IMF: direct investment positions.

Cite this

PollsAfrica (2026). Sierra Leone economy: GDP, investment, trade and remittances. Retrieved 10 Oct 2026 from https://pollsafrica.com/economy/sierra-leone