Time required to start a business in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone: Time required to start a business was 8 days in 2019. ▼ Falling

Latest (2019)
8 days
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
131st
of 188 countries
All-time high
26 days
in 2003
All-time low
8 days
in 2016
Years of data
17
2003–2019

Time required to start a business in Sierra Leone, 2003–2019

101520252003201120192003: 26 days2004: 26 days2005: 26 days2006: 26 days2007: 26 days2008: 17 days2009: 12 days2010: 12 days2011: 12 days2012: 12 days2013: 12 days2014: 12 days2015: 10 days2016: 8 days2017: 8 days2018: 8 days2019: 8 days

Source: Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in days.

Analysis

In 2019, time required to start a business in Sierra Leone stood at 8 days. That is the lowest value across all 17 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 33.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, time required to start a business in Sierra Leone peaked at 26 days in 2003 and was at its lowest, 8 days, in 2016.

That places Sierra Leone 131st out of 188 countries with data for 2019, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 17 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 22.71 days 12 days 26 days 7
2010s 10.2 days 8 days 12 days 10

Countries ranked near Sierra Leone

  1. 129 Mexico 8.4 days compare
  2. 130 Bahrain 8.3 days compare
  3. 131 Gambia 8 days compare
  4. 131 Germany 8 days compare
  5. 131 Madagascar 8 days compare
  6. 131 Slovenia 8 days compare
  7. 131 South Korea 8 days compare
  8. 131 Sri Lanka 8 days compare

See the full ranking of 188 places →

More reference data data for Sierra Leone

All data for Sierra Leone →

Frequently asked questions

What is time required to start a business in Sierra Leone?
Time required to start a business in Sierra Leone was 8 days in 2019, according to Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest time required to start a business recorded in Sierra Leone?
The highest recorded value was 26 days in 2003.
What is the lowest time required to start a business recorded in Sierra Leone?
The lowest recorded value was 8 days in 2016.
How does Sierra Leone rank for time required to start a business?
Sierra Leone ranks 131st out of 188 countries with data for 2019.
Is time required to start a business rising or falling in Sierra Leone?
Over the last ten years it is down 33.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Sierra Leone data come from?
The figures come from Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Time required to start a business. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

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About this data

Indicator
Time required to start a business
Unit
days
Source
Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
188 places, 2,945 data points, 2003–2019
Last refreshed

Number of calendar days needed to complete the procedures to legally operate a business.