Current health expenditure in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone: Current health expenditure was 4.7% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Current health expenditure in Sierra Leone, 2000–2023
Source: Global Health Expenditure Database, updated December 12th, 2025, World Health Organization (WHO). Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Sierra Leone recorded 4.7% for current health expenditure in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 24 years on record.
The figure is down 1.8% on the previous year and down 44.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, current health expenditure in Sierra Leone peaked at 15.1% in 2014 and was at its lowest, 4.7%, in 2023.
That places Sierra Leone 131st out of 193 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 24 years of available data.
Current health expenditure in Sierra Leone, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 5.3% | — |
| 2001 | 5.2% | -1.3% |
| 2002 | 5.6% | +6.4% |
| 2003 | 5.1% | -8.9% |
| 2004 | 5.2% | +3.5% |
| 2005 | 5.2% | -0.2% |
| 2006 | 5.3% | +1.3% |
| 2007 | 5.3% | +0.3% |
| 2008 | 5.6% | +5.4% |
| 2009 | 6.3% | +11.9% |
| 2010 | 5.6% | -10.0% |
| 2011 | 6.6% | +17.1% |
| 2012 | 5.9% | -10.3% |
| 2013 | 8.5% | +42.7% |
| 2014 | 15.1% | +78.7% |
| 2015 | 12.4% | -18.1% |
| 2016 | 10.1% | -18.8% |
| 2017 | 6.0% | -40.3% |
| 2018 | 5.3% | -11.8% |
| 2019 | 5.7% | +7.7% |
| 2020 | 5.7% | -0.7% |
| 2021 | 5.1% | -10.5% |
| 2022 | 4.8% | -5.3% |
| 2023 | 4.7% | -1.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 5.4% | 5.1% | 6.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 8.1% | 5.3% | 15.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 5.1% | 4.7% | 5.7% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Sierra Leone
More health data for Sierra Leone
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -2.34 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate 0.773 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 1,199 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 4,209 deaths (2100)
- Population ages 30-34, female, annual growth rate 3.18 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 30-34, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 30-34, female, per capita 0.0354 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 30-34, male, annual growth rate 2.95 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 30-34, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 30-34, male, per capita 0.0355 units per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is current health expenditure in Sierra Leone?
- Current health expenditure in Sierra Leone was 4.7% in 2023, according to Global Health Expenditure Database, updated December 12th, 2025, World Health Organization (WHO).
- What is the highest current health expenditure recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The highest recorded value was 15.1% in 2014.
- What is the lowest current health expenditure recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.7% in 2023.
- How does Sierra Leone rank for current health expenditure?
- Sierra Leone ranks 131st out of 193 countries with data for 2023.
- Is current health expenditure rising or falling in Sierra Leone?
- Over the last ten years it is down 44.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sierra Leone data come from?
- The figures come from Global Health Expenditure Database, updated December 12th, 2025, World Health Organization (WHO), published as part of Current health expenditure (% of GDP). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Level of current health expenditure expressed as a percentage of GDP. Estimates of current health expenditures include healthcare goods and services consumed during each year. This indicator does not include capital health expenditures such as buildings, machinery, IT and stocks of vaccines for emergency or outbreaks.