Sierra Leone's access to electricity, rural (% of rural population) was 24.9% in 2024, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 23.1 percentage points from 1.8% in 2014.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 24.9% | 2024 |
| Five years earlier | 1.5% | 2019 |
| Ten years earlier | 1.8% | 2014 |
| Highest | 24.9% | 2024 |
| Lowest | 0.6% | 2007 |
| Average since 2015 | 7.53% | 2015–2024 |
| First recorded | 9.7% | 2004 |
What the numbers say
In 2024, Sierra Leone's access to electricity, rural (% of rural population) rose 5.9 percentage points on 2023 (from 19% to 24.9%).
Across the 9 yearly changes before that (2015 to 2023), the average change was +1.91 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 5.16 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 14 percentage points in 2023 and the biggest yearly fall was 4.9 percentage points in 2019. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2015 to 2024 the straight-line trend is upward, about 1.97 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 57% of the movement over 10 observed years.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2024, Sierra Leone had the 192nd highest value of the 208 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Sierra Leone | 24.9% | 2024 |
| World | 84.89% | 2024 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 35.7% | 2024 |
| Low income | 37.09% | 2024 |
Closest to Sierra Leone in the 2024 ranking
- Guinea — 190th of 208: 29.4%
- Madagascar — 191st of 208: 26.5%
- Guinea-Bissau — 192nd of 208: 24.9%
- Somalia, Fed. Rep. — 194th of 208: 24.4%
- Nigeria — 195th of 208: 23.5%
- Congo, Rep. — 196th of 208: 19.4%
What this measures
Access to electricity, rural is the percentage of rural population with access to electricity.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 15 values
| Year | Access to electricity, rural (% of rural population) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 24.9 |
| 2023 | 19 |
| 2022 | 5 |
| 2021 | 4.9 |
| 2020 | 4.7 |
| 2019 | 1.5 |
| 2018 | 6.4 |
| 2017 | 5.4 |
| 2016 | 1.6 |
| 2015 | 1.9 |
| 2014 |
Access to electricity, rural (% of rural population) in nearby economies
- Angola — 1.3% (2024)
- Benin — 45% (2024)
- Botswana — 45.9% (2024)
- Burkina Faso — 12.7% (2024)
- Burundi — 3.6% (2024)
- Cabo Verde — 97.7% (2024)
- Cameroon — 42.7% (2024)
- Central African Republic — 2% (2024)
- Chad — 100% (2024)
- Comoros
More environment data for Sierra Leone
- Population in largest city — 1.39 million (2025)
- Population in the largest city (% of urban population) — 34.25% (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million — 1.39 million (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million (% of total population) — 15.73% (2025)
- Rural population — 4.77 million (2025)
- Rural population (% of total population) — 54.07% (2025)
- Urban population — 4.05 million (2025)
- Urban population (% of total population) — 45.93% (2025)
- Aquaculture production (metric tons) — 185 (2024)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Sierra Leone's access to electricity, rural (% of rural population)?
- 24.9% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 2004?
- It is up 15.2 percentage points from 9.7% in 2004. The highest value was 24.9% in 2024 and the lowest 0.6% in 2007.
- How does Sierra Leone rank?
- 192nd highest of 208 economies with data for 2024.
- Is the latest change in access to electricity, rural (% of rural population) unusual for Sierra Leone?
- In 2024, Sierra Leone's access to electricity, rural (% of rural population) rose 5.9 percentage points on 2023 (from 19% to 24.9%). Across the 9 yearly changes before that (2015 to 2023), the average change was +1.91 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 5.16 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator EG.ELC.ACCS.RU.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: SDG 7.1.1 Electrification Dataset, World Bank (WB), uri: https://trackingsdg7.esmap.org/downloads, note: Data is downloaded from ESMAP website. Data is released when a new Tracking SDG7 report is released., publisher: World Bank (WB), date accessed: 2024-05-16, date published: 2023 Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.
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