Sierra Leone vs Sweden: Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas

Sierra Leone
3.35 million people
in 2020
Sweden
3.23 million people
in 2020
Sierra Leone rank
83rd
Sweden rank
85th

Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas over time

  • Sierra Leone
  • Sweden
1.0M1.5M2.0M2.5M3.0M3.5M195019852020

How they compare

Sierra Leone currently reports 3.35 million people against 3.23 million people in Sweden, a difference of 121,590 people.

The two have swapped places 1 time across 15 shared years of data; in 1950 it was Sweden ahead.

Sierra Leone ranks 83rd and Sweden ranks 85th of 236 countries.

Across the 8 decades both report, Sierra Leone averaged higher in 1 and Sweden in 7.

Head to head by decade

Decade Sierra Leone Sweden Difference Ahead
1950s 1.06 million people 2.83 million people 1.77 million people Sweden
1960s 1.20 million people 2.93 million people 1.73 million people Sweden
1970s 1.38 million people 3.03 million people 1.65 million people Sweden
1980s 1.81 million people 3.13 million people 1.32 million people Sweden
1990s 2.25 million people 3.18 million people 928,395 people Sweden
2000s 2.50 million people 3.11 million people 607,390 people Sweden
2010s 3.07 million people 3.15 million people 80,245 people Sweden
2020s 3.35 million people 3.23 million people 121,590 people Sierra Leone

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas, Sierra Leone or Sweden?
Sierra Leone, at 3.35 million people against 3.23 million people in Sweden as of 2020.
What is the difference in number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas between Sierra Leone and Sweden?
121,590 people, with Sierra Leone ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Sierra Leone and Sweden?
15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
How do Sierra Leone and Sweden rank globally for number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas?
Sierra Leone ranks 83rd and Sweden ranks 85th of 236 countries.
Where does this data come from?
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

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Sierra Leone vs Sweden: Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas. Statizoid, drawing on European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 05 September 2026, from https://population.statizoid.com/compare/population-of-cities-towns-and-villages/sierra-leone/sweden/

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Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://population.statizoid.com/compare/population-of-cities-towns-and-villages/sierra-leone/sweden/">Sierra Leone vs Sweden: Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas
Unit
people
Source
European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
236 places, 3,540 data points, 1950–2020
Last refreshed

Estimated number of people living in rural areas. Rural areas are identified using satellite imagery and population data, applying the same definitions across countries.