Democracy in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone: Democracy was 3 in 2025. ▼ Falling

Latest (2025)
3
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
48th
of 128 countries
All-time high
4
in 2005
All-time low
3
in 2023
Years of data
11
2005–2025

Democracy in Sierra Leone, 2005–2025

012342005201520252005: 42007: 42009: 42011: 42013: 42015: 42017: 42019: 42021: 42023: 32025: 3

Source: Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

In 2025, democracy in Sierra Leone stood at 3. That is the lowest value across all 11 years on record.

The figure is down 25.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, democracy in Sierra Leone peaked at 4 in 2005 and was at its lowest, 3, in 2023.

Sierra Leone ranks 48th of 128 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 11 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 4 4 4 3
2010s 4 4 4 5
2020s 3.33 3 4 3

Countries ranked near Sierra Leone

  1. 48 Bosnia and Herzegovina 3 compare
  2. 48 Honduras 3 compare
  3. 48 Indonesia 3 compare
  4. 48 Kenya 3 compare
  5. 48 Lebanon 3 compare
  6. 48 Mexico 3 compare
  7. 48 Peru 3 compare
  8. 48 Philippines 3 compare

See the full ranking of 128 places →

More reference data data for Sierra Leone

All data for Sierra Leone →

Frequently asked questions

What is democracy in Sierra Leone?
Democracy in Sierra Leone was 3 in 2025, according to Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest democracy recorded in Sierra Leone?
The highest recorded value was 4 in 2005.
What is the lowest democracy recorded in Sierra Leone?
The lowest recorded value was 3 in 2023.
How does Sierra Leone rank for democracy?
Sierra Leone ranks 48th out of 128 countries with data for 2025.
Is democracy rising or falling in Sierra Leone?
Over the last ten years it is down 25.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Sierra Leone data come from?
The figures come from Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 11 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Democracy
Source
Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
128 places, 1,394 data points, 2005–2025
Last refreshed

Identifies the political regime of a country. It distinguishes between hard-line autocracies (score 1), moderate autocracies (score 2), highly defective democracies (score 3), defective democracies (score 4), and consolidating democracies (score 5).