What is the difference in population between Laos and Sierra Leone?

795,520 people, with Sierra Leone ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for Laos and Sierra Leone?

241 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2023.

Where does this data come from?

HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Population. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Laos vs Sierra Leone: Population

Laos

7.67 million people

in 2023

Sierra Leone

8.46 million people

in 2023

Laos rank

103rd

Sierra Leone rank

101st

Population over time

Laos
Sierra Leone

How they compare

Sierra Leone currently reports 8.46 million people against 7.67 million people in Laos, a difference of 795,520 people.

That makes Sierra Leone's figure about 1.1 times Laos's.

The two have swapped places 5 times across 241 shared years of data; in 1000 it was Laos ahead.

Laos ranks 103rd and Sierra Leone ranks 101st of 238 countries.

Across the 40 decades both report, Laos averaged higher in 24 and Sierra Leone in 16.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Laos	Sierra Leone	Difference	Ahead
1000s	242,857 people	3,923 people	238,934 people	Laos
1100s	274,285 people	4,359 people	269,926 people	Laos
1200s	305,714 people	4,843 people	300,871 people	Laos
1300s	337,142 people	5,382 people	331,760 people	Laos
1400s	368,571 people	5,980 people	362,591 people	Laos
1500s	400,000 people	6,644 people	393,356 people	Laos
1600s	500,000 people	7,382 people	492,618 people	Laos
1700s	600,000 people	8,203 people	591,797 people	Laos
1710s	610,000 people	9,114 people	600,886 people	Laos
1720s	620,000 people	10,127 people	609,873 people	Laos
1730s	630,000 people	11,252 people	618,748 people	Laos
1740s	640,000 people	12,502 people	627,498 people	Laos
1750s	650,000 people	13,891 people	636,109 people	Laos
1760s	660,000 people	15,435 people	644,565 people	Laos
1770s	670,000 people	17,150 people	652,850 people	Laos
1780s	680,000 people	19,056 people	660,944 people	Laos
1790s	690,000 people	21,173 people	668,827 people	Laos
1800s	470,000 people	794,264 people	324,264 people	Sierra Leone
1810s	470,090 people	794,254 people	324,164 people	Sierra Leone
1820s	491,063 people	791,872 people	300,809 people	Sierra Leone
1830s	539,503 people	786,713 people	247,209 people	Sierra Leone
1840s	593,149 people	781,634 people	188,485 people	Sierra Leone
1850s	648,315 people	798,521 people	150,206 people	Sierra Leone
1860s	703,822 people	846,729 people	142,907 people	Sierra Leone
1870s	813,442 people	907,117 people	93,676 people	Sierra Leone
1880s	1.01 million people	976,995 people	31,165 people	Laos
1890s	1.25 million people	1.05 million people	197,266 people	Laos
1900s	1.34 million people	1.13 million people	210,680 people	Laos
1910s	1.17 million people	1.22 million people	46,290 people	Sierra Leone
1920s	961,814 people	1.35 million people	384,676 people	Sierra Leone
1930s	893,751 people	1.55 million people	660,799 people	Sierra Leone
1940s	1.25 million people	1.82 million people	568,454 people	Sierra Leone
1950s	1.87 million people	2.11 million people	237,193 people	Sierra Leone
1960s	2.36 million people	2.45 million people	98,660 people	Sierra Leone
1970s	2.96 million people	2.95 million people	8,641 people	Laos
1980s	3.71 million people	3.62 million people	87,125 people	Laos
1990s	4.85 million people	4.22 million people	633,153 people	Laos
2000s	5.83 million people	5.34 million people	487,564 people	Laos
2010s	6.77 million people	6.97 million people	197,176 people	Sierra Leone
2020s	7.51 million people	8.19 million people	680,190 people	Sierra Leone

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher population, Laos or Sierra Leone?: Sierra Leone, at 8.46 million people against 7.67 million people in Laos as of 2023.
What is the difference in population between Laos and Sierra Leone?: 795,520 people, with Sierra Leone ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Laos and Sierra Leone?: 241 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2023.
How do Laos and Sierra Leone rank globally for population?: Laos ranks 103rd and Sierra Leone ranks 101st of 238 countries.
Where does this data come from?: HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Population. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator: Population
Unit: people
Source: HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 239 places, 51,002 data points, 1000–2023
Last refreshed: 07 August 2026

Population by country, available from 10,000 BCE to 2023, based on data and estimates from different sources.