Economy of Sierra Leone

Economy of Sierra Leone
	A diamond mine in Kono District
Currency	Sierra Leonean leone
Fiscal year	Calendar Year
Trade organisations	AU, AfCFTA, African Development Bank, ECOWAS, MRU, World Bank, IMF, WTO, Group of 77
Country group	Least developed; Low-income economy;
Statistics
GDP	$8.39 billion (nominal, 2025 est.); $32.51billion (PPP, 2025est.);
GDP growth	3.8% (2017) 3.5% (2018); 4.8% (2019e) 4.9% (2020f);
GDP per capita	$916 (nominal, 2025 est.); $3,550 (PPP, 2025 est.);
GDP by sector	agriculture: 51.5%; industry:14.9%; services: 33.6%; (2012 est.);
Inflation (CPI)	16.862% (2018 est.)
Population below poverty line	52.9% (2011); 40.1% on less than $1.90/day (2018);
Gini coefficient	35.7 medium (2018)
Human Development Index	0.458 low (2024) (181st); 0.282 low IHDI (2018);
Labour force	3.102 million (2018 est.)
Unemployment	N/A
Main industries	diamonds mining, small-scale manufacturing (cigarettes, beverages, textiles, footwear), petroleum refining, commercial ship repair
External
Exports	$1.704 billion (153rd) (2018 est.)
Export goods	diamonds, rutile, cocoa, coffee, fish
Main export partners	China 50.9%; Belgium 18.1%; Japan 7.9%; Turkey 5.9%; Netherlands 4.5%; Indonesia 4.5%; (2012 est.);
Imports	$2.309 billion (172nd) (2012 est.)
Import goods	machinery, fuel, lubricants, chemicals, food
Main import partners	China 18.4%; India 12.1%; South Africa 8.1%; United States 7.6%; United Kingdom 6.6%; Côte d'Ivoire 5.6%; Belgium 4.5%; (2012 est.);
FDI stock	$2.644 billion (94th) (31 December 2018 est.)
Gross external debt	$3.425 billion (158th) (31 December 2018 est.)
Public finances
Government debt	42.8% of GDP (2024)
Revenues	$510.2 million (2012 est.)
Expenses	$728.5 million (2012 est.)
	All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

The economy of Sierra Leone is $8.39 billion by gross domestic product as of 2025. Since the end of the Sierra Leone Civil War in 2002, the economy is gradually recovering with a gross domestic product growth rate between 4 and 7%. In 2024, the IMF ranked it the 149th largest economy in the world by PPP.

Sierra Leone's economic development has always been hampered by an overdependence on mineral exploitation. Successive governments and the population as a whole have always believed that "diamonds and gold" are sufficient generators of foreign currency earnings and lure for investment.

As a result, large scale agriculture of commodity products, industrial development and sustainable investments have been neglected by governments. The economy could thus be described as one which is "exploitative" - a rentier state - and based upon the extraction of unsustainable resources or non-reusable assets.

Two-thirds of the population of Sierra Leone are directly involved in subsistence agriculture. Agriculture accounted for 58 percent national GDP in 2007.