Sierra Leone's electricity production from oil, gas and coal sources (% of total) was 24.72% in 2021, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 11.82 percentage points from 12.9% in 2011.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 24.72% | 2021 |
| Five years earlier | 25.75% | 2016 |
| Ten years earlier | 12.9% | 2011 |
| Highest | 93.91% | 2008 |
| Lowest | 12.6% | 2010 |
| Average since 2012 | 25.63% | 2012–2021 |
| First recorded | 65.22% | 2000 |
What the numbers say
In 2021, Sierra Leone's electricity production from oil, gas and coal sources (% of total) fell 0 percentage points on 2020 (from 24.72% to 24.72%).
Across the 20 yearly changes before that (2001 to 2020), the average change was −2.02 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 15.9 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 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 16.67 percentage points in 2002 and the biggest yearly fall was 52.34 percentage points in 2010. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2012 to 2021 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 7% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2021, Sierra Leone had the 52nd highest value of the 61 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 | 24.72% | 2021 |
| World | 48.67% | 2023 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 41.82% | 2023 |
| Low income | 33.88% | 2022 |
Closest to Sierra Leone in the 2021 ranking
What this measures
The share of electricity production from oil, gas and coal sources of total electricity production. Sources of electricity refer to the inputs used to generate electricity. Oil refers to crude oil and petroleum products. Gas refers to natural gas but excludes natural gas liquids. Coal refers to all coal and brown coal, both primary (including hard coal and lignite-brown coal) and derived fuels (including patent fuel, coke oven coke, gas coke, coke oven gas, and blast furnace gas). Peat is also included in this category.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average using total electricity production as weights.
All 22 values
| Year | Electricity production from oil, gas and coal sources (% of total) |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 24.72 |
| 2020 | 24.72 |
| 2019 | 24.72 |
| 2018 | 24.72 |
| 2017 | 24.76 |
| 2016 | 25.75 |
| 2015 | 25.27 |
| 2014 | 17.45 |
| 2013 | 38.01 |
| 2012 | 26.12 |
| 2011 |
Electricity production from oil, gas and coal sources (% of total) in nearby economies
- Angola — 23.35% (2024)
- Benin — 92.6% (2024)
- Botswana — 99.09% (2024)
- Burkina Faso — 78.04% (2024)
- Burundi — 38.7% (2021)
- Cabo Verde — 81.73% (2021)
- Cameroon — 13.23% (2024)
- Central African Republic — 3.53% (2021)
- Chad
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 electricity production from oil, gas and coal sources (% of total)?
- 24.72% in 2021, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 2000?
- It is down 40.5 percentage points from 65.22% in 2000. The highest value was 93.91% in 2008 and the lowest 12.6% in 2010.
- How does Sierra Leone rank?
- 52nd highest of 61 economies with data for 2021.
- Is the latest change in electricity production from oil, gas and coal sources (% of total) unusual for Sierra Leone?
- In 2021, Sierra Leone's electricity production from oil, gas and coal sources (% of total) fell 0 percentage points on 2020 (from 24.72% to 24.72%). Across the 20 yearly changes before that (2001 to 2020), the average change was −2.02 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 15.9 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 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.FOSL.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: IEA Energy Statistics Data Browser, International Energy Agency (IEA), uri: https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/data-tools/energy-statistics-data-browser, publisher: International Energy Agency (IEA), date accessed: 2025-03-25 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.
Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.
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