Sierra Leone: International tourism, expenditures (current US$)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2019, Sierra Leone's international tourism, expenditures (current US$) rose 36.1% on 2018 (from US$61 million to US$83 million).

Across the 23 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2018), the average change was +12.2% and a typical year strayed about 62.3% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 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 234.8% in 1999 and the biggest yearly fall was 55.4% in 2006. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2010 to 2019 the straight-line trend is upward, about US$5.03 million a year. A straight line explains 54% 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 2019, Sierra Leone had the 11th highest value of the 13 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 2019 ranking

• Niger — 8th of 13: US$144.5 million
• Benin — 9th of 13: US$130 million
• Guinea-Bissau — 10th of 13: US$88.9 million
• Togo — 12th of 13: US$61 million
• Tuvalu — 13th of 13: US$9.8 million

What this measures

International tourism expenditures are expenditures of international outbound visitors in other countries, including payments to foreign carriers for international transport. These expenditures may include those by residents traveling abroad as same-day visitors, except in cases where these are important enough to justify separate classification. For some countries they do not include expenditures for passenger transport items. Data are in current U.S. dollars.

Limitations: Tourism can be either domestic or international. The data refers to international tourism, where the traveler's country of residence differs from the visiting country. International tourism consists of inbound (arrival) and outbound (departures) tourism. The data are from the World Tourism Organization (WTO), a United Nations agency. The data on inbound and outbound tourists refer to the number of arrivals and departures, not to the number of people traveling. Expenditure associated with the activity of international visitors has been traditionally identified with the travel item of the Balance of Payments (BOP).

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a gap-filled total.

All 25 values

International tourism, expenditures (current US$) in nearby economies

• Angola — US$691 million (2020)
• Benin — US$130 million (2019)
• Botswana — US$91.8 million (2020)
• Burkina Faso — US$185.2 million (2019)
• Cabo Verde — US$59 million (2020)
• Cameroon — US$697 million (2020)
• Comoros — US$43 million (2020)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — US$115 million (2018)
• Congo, Rep. — US$457 million (2016)
• Côte d'Ivoire

More private sector & trade data for Sierra Leone

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 45.91% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$1.89 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$1.53 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports to high-income economies (% of total merchandise exports) — 13.74% (2023)
• Merchandise exports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise exports) — 0.00395% (2023)
• Merchandise exports by the reporting economy (current US$) — US$513.99 million (2023)
• Merchandise imports from economies in the Arab World (% of total merchandise imports) — 10.91% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports)

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 international tourism, expenditures (current US$)?

US$83 million in 2019, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1995?

It is up 64.36% from US$50.5 million in 1995 (2.09% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was US$83 million in 2019 and the lowest US$13.2 million in 1998.

How does Sierra Leone rank?

11th highest of 13 economies with data for 2019.

Is the latest change in international tourism, expenditures (current US$) unusual for Sierra Leone?

In 2019, Sierra Leone's international tourism, expenditures (current US$) rose 36.1% on 2018 (from US$61 million to US$83 million). Across the 23 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2018), the average change was +12.2% and a typical year strayed about 62.3% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 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 ST.INT.XPND.CD, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism 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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