Sierra Leone: Foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, Sierra Leone's foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP) rose 0.62 percentage points on 2024 (from 1.75% to 2.37%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.07 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.89 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 34.59 percentage points in 1987 and the biggest yearly fall was 25.01 percentage points in 1986. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2016 to 2025 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 16% 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 2025, Sierra Leone had the 83rd highest value of the 182 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.

Closest to Sierra Leone in the 2025 ranking

• Armenia — 79th of 182: 2.42%
• St. Kitts and Nevis — 80th of 182: 2.4%
• Paraguay — 81st of 182: 2.4%
• Equatorial Guinea — 83rd of 182: 2.29%
• Uruguay — 84th of 182: 2.28%
• Slovenia — 85th of 182: 2.26%

What this measures

Foreign direct investment is the net inflows of investment to acquire a lasting management interest (10 percent or more of voting stock) in an enterprise operating in an economy other than that of the investor. It is the sum of equity capital, reinvestment of earnings, other long-term capital, and short-term capital as shown in the balance of payments. This series shows net inflows (new investment inflows less disinvestment) in the reporting economy from foreign investors, and is divided by GDP.

Limitations: FDI data do not give a complete picture of international investment in an economy. Balance of payments data on FDI do not include capital raised locally, an important source of investment financing in some developing countries. In addition, FDI data omit nonequity cross-border transactions such as intra-unit flows of goods and services. The volume of global private financial flows reported by the World Bank generally differs from that reported by other sources because of differences in sources, classification of economies, and method used to adjust and disaggregate reported information.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 56 values

Foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Angola — 1.81% (2025)
• Benin — 1.96% (2025)
• Botswana — -3.26% (2025)
• Burkina Faso — 1.13% (2025)
• Burundi — 1.04% (2025)
• Cabo Verde — 5.03% (2025)
• Cameroon — 1.02% (2025)
• Central African Republic — 1.43% (2025)
• Chad — 0.02% (2025)
• Comoros

More economic policy & debt data for Sierra Leone

• GDP (current US$) — US$7.46 billion (2025)
• GDP (current LCU) — 169.12 billion (2025)
• GDP (constant 2015 US$) — US$10.28 billion (2025)
• GDP (constant LCU) — 67.92 billion (2025)
• GDP per capita (current US$) — US$846.3 (2025)
• GDP per capita (current LCU) — 19,175 (2025)
• GDP per capita (constant 2015 US$) — US$1,166 (2025)
• GDP per capita (constant LCU) — 7,701 (2025)
• Total reserves, including gold (current US$) — US$433.27 million (2024)
• Total reserves, excluding gold (current US$) — US$433.27 million (2024)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Sierra Leone's foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP)?

2.37% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1970?

It is up 0.48 percentage points from 1.89% in 1970. The highest value was 19.55% in 2011 and the lowest -28.62% in 1986.

How does Sierra Leone rank?

83rd highest of 182 economies with data for 2025.

Is the latest change in foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP) unusual for Sierra Leone?

In 2025, Sierra Leone's foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP) rose 0.62 percentage points on 2024 (from 1.75% to 2.37%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.07 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.89 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 BX.KLT.DINV.WD.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: International Financial Statistics and Balance of Payments databases, International Monetary Fund (IMF); International Debt Statistics, World Bank (WB); World Bank GDP estimates, World Bank (WB); OECD GDP estimates, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 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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