Sierra Leone's imports of goods and services (annual % growth) was 11.7% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 36.11 percentage points from -24.41% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 11.7% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | -23.83% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | -24.41% | 2015 |
| Highest | 112.03% | 2011 |
| Lowest | -54.34% | 1997 |
| Average since 2016 | 10.28% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 16.76% | 1968 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Sierra Leone's imports of goods and services (annual % growth) fell 19.03 percentage points on 2024 (from 30.73% to 11.7%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +1.16 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 45.47 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations below 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 90.13 percentage points in 2011 and the biggest yearly fall was 123.7 percentage points in 1997. 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 5% 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 19th highest value of the 128 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 | 11.7% | 2025 |
| World | 5.65% | 2025 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 4.54% | 2025 |
| Low income | 5.67% | 2025 |
Closest to Sierra Leone in the 2025 ranking
- Singapore — 15th of 128: 11.86%
- Ethiopia — 16th of 128: 11.8%
- Chad — 17th of 128: 11.77%
- Uganda — 19th of 128: 11.68%
- Hong Kong SAR, China — 20th of 128: 11.58%
- El Salvador — 21st of 128: 11.24%
What this measures
Imports of goods includes change in the economic ownership of goods from non-residents to residents of the compiling economy, irrespective of physical movement of goods across national borders. Imports of services includes services provided by non-residents to residents. This indicator denotes the percentage change over each previous year of the constant price (base year 2015) series in United States dollars.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 58 values
| Year | Imports of goods and services (annual % growth) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 11.7 |
| 2024 | 30.73 |
| 2023 | 9.29 |
| 2022 | 15.82 |
| 2021 | 23.98 |
| 2020 | -23.83 |
| 2019 | 7.56 |
| 2018 | -4.16 |
| 2017 | 7.45 |
| 2016 | 24.26 |
| 2015 |
Imports of goods and services (annual % growth) in nearby economies
- Angola — 2.7% (2024)
- Benin — 0.87% (2025)
- Botswana — -18.99% (2025)
- Burkina Faso — 7.42% (2025)
- Cabo Verde — 3.2% (2025)
- Cameroon — 11.09% (2025)
- Central African Republic — 14.4% (2025)
- Chad — 11.77% (2025)
- Comoros — 3.41% (2025)
- Congo, Dem. Rep.
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
Questions people ask
- What is Sierra Leone's imports of goods and services (annual % growth)?
- 11.7% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1968?
- It is down 5.06 percentage points from 16.76% in 1968. The highest value was 112.03% in 2011 and the lowest -54.34% in 1997.
- How does Sierra Leone rank?
- 19th highest of 128 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in imports of goods and services (annual % growth) unusual for Sierra Leone?
- In 2025, Sierra Leone's imports of goods and services (annual % growth) fell 19.03 percentage points on 2024 (from 30.73% to 11.7%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +1.16 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 45.47 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations below 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 NE.IMP.GNFS.KD.ZG, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Country official statistics, National Statistical Offices (NSOs); National Accounts data files, Central Banks; Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) 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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