Sierra Leone's international tourism, number of departures was 122,000 in 2019, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 69.44% from 72,000 in 2009 (5.42% a year on average, compounded).
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 122,000 | 2019 |
| Five years earlier | 93,000 | 2014 |
| Ten years earlier | 72,000 | 2009 |
| Highest | 122,000 | 2019 |
| Lowest | 6,000 | 1997 |
| Average since 2010 | 98,000 | 2010–2019 |
| First recorded | 6,000 | 1997 |
What the numbers say
In 2019, Sierra Leone's international tourism, number of departures rose 8.9% on 2018 (from 112,000 to 122,000).
Across the 21 yearly changes before that (1998 to 2018), the average change was +22% and a typical year strayed about 44% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 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 125% in 2005 and the biggest yearly fall was 51.9% in 2003. 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 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 20% 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 2019, Sierra Leone had the 21st highest value of the 21 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 | 122,000 | 2019 |
| World | 2.03 billion | 2019 |
Closest to Sierra Leone in the 2019 ranking
What this measures
International outbound tourists are the number of departures that people make from their country of usual residence to any other country for any purpose other than a remunerated activity in the country visited. The data on outbound tourists refer to the number of departures, not to the number of people traveling. Thus a person who makes several trips from a country during a given period is counted each time as a new departure.
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.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a gap-filled total.
All 23 values
| Year | International tourism, number of departures |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 122,000 |
| 2018 | 112,000 |
| 2017 | 110,000 |
| 2016 | 92,000 |
| 2015 | 61,000 |
| 2014 | 93,000 |
| 2013 | 111,000 |
| 2012 | 104,000 |
| 2011 | 99,000 |
| 2010 | 76,000 |
| 2009 |
International tourism, number of departures in nearby economies
- Eswatini — 488,000 (2020)
- Mauritius — 65,000 (2020)
- Seychelles — 19,000 (2020)
- Uganda — 568,000 (2016)
- Zimbabwe — 3.28 million (2019)
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
Questions people ask
- What is Sierra Leone's international tourism, number of departures?
- 122,000 in 2019, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1997?
- It is up 1,933% from 6,000 in 1997 (14.67% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 122,000 in 2019 and the lowest 6,000 in 1997.
- How does Sierra Leone rank?
- 21st highest of 21 economies with data for 2019.
- Is the latest change in international tourism, number of departures unusual for Sierra Leone?
- In 2019, Sierra Leone's international tourism, number of departures rose 8.9% on 2018 (from 112,000 to 122,000). Across the 21 yearly changes before that (1998 to 2018), the average change was +22% and a typical year strayed about 44% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 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 ST.INT.DPRT, 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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