Country profile

Sierra Leone

Sub-Saharan Africa Low income8.64M inhabitants

Last updated December 22, 2025

Composite GEFRI Score

Severely underprepared

Sierra Leone is severely underprepared (36th percentile worldwide). Key structural conditions limit capacity to plan, implement, and sustain forward-looking reforms. Higher scores indicate a system that is better prepared to anticipate and shape the future of learning.

38.84Composite score

Global percentile: 36th
Global rank: #115
Regional rank: #7
Viewing data for

Infrastructure

23.35

7th percentileGlobal avg. 56.42

Human Capital

25.17

10th percentileGlobal avg. 46.98

Innovation

23.16

10th percentileGlobal avg. 42.60

Governance

33.88

29th percentileGlobal avg. 47.71

Access & Parity

88.65

86th percentileGlobal avg. 50.60

Country profile

Sierra Leone trails global peers in Governance (34, 29th percentile), Human Capital (25, 10th percentile), Infrastructure (23, 7th percentile), and Innovation (23, 10th percentile). A coordinated reform effort is needed to strengthen education futures readiness.

Wide gaps between dimensions reveal structural weaknesses that slow coordinated progress. Limited electricity or internet coverage still constrains classrooms, preventing large-scale digital instruction. Literacy or tertiary enrollment gaps thin the talent pipeline and limit the country’s capacity to develop future-ready skills.

Sparse R&D investment and a small research workforce slow experimentation and delay new ideas from reaching learners. Policy execution and regulatory capacity remain weak, leaving reforms fragmented and hard to sustain. Gender parity leans toward boys in secondary pathways, signalling persistent barriers for girls.

Regionally, Sierra Leone leads most clearly in School Access and Gender Parity, sitting well above the peer average.

Note: Several indicators use imputed values. Policymakers and planners should validate results further before committing to major initiatives.

Key insights

Falls below many peers at the 36th percentile.
Places 115th worldwide.
Holds a regional position of 7th within Sub-Saharan Africa .
Scores range from Access & Parity (88.7) to Innovation (23.2), reflecting variation across dimensions.
Leads regional peers most clearly in Access & Parity.

Regional peers: Sub-Saharan Africa

Composite GEFRI score

Global rank	Regional rank	Country	Score
67	1	South Africa	57.14
68	2	Mauritius	56.87
—	—	SeychellesMicrostate	55.72
74	3	Botswana	55.44
108	4	Namibia	43.86
111	5	Ghana	40.92
113	6	Cabo Verde	39.81
115	7	Sierra Leone	38.84
—	—	Sao Tome and PrincipeFCSMicrostate	38.53
119	8	Eswatini	37.54
127	9	Senegal	35.31
128	10	Gabon	34.39
130	11	Rwanda	33.46
132	12	Kenya	33.01
136	13	Cote d'Ivoire	31.71
138	14	Gambia, The	30.79
140	15	Lesotho	29.76
141	16	Equatorial Guinea	29.48
142	17	Benin	29.14
143	18	Zambia	28.93
144	19	ZimbabweFCS	28.92
146	20	Tanzania	28.51
147	21	Togo	28.14
148	22	CameroonFCS	27.69
150	23	Mauritania	25.98
151	24	ComorosFCS	25.84
152	25	Angola	25.63
154	26	Congo, Rep.FCS	24.72
155	27	MozambiqueFCS	24.40
156	28	NigeriaFCS	24.09
157	29	EthiopiaFCS	24.04
158	30	Madagascar	23.66
159	31	Malawi	23.03
160	32	MaliFCS	23.02
161	33	Burkina FasoFCS	22.80
162	34	Uganda	22.60
164	35	Guinea	22.13
166	36	Liberia	21.10
167	37	NigerFCS	20.37
168	38	SudanFCS	20.10
169	39	BurundiFCS	18.87
170	40	Guinea-BissauFCS	18.69
171	41	EritreaFCS	18.19
172	42	Congo, Dem. Rep.FCS	17.22
174	43	ChadFCS	15.73
175	44	South SudanFCS	15.65
176	45	Somalia, Fed. Rep.FCS	14.75
177	46	Central African RepublicFCS	13.33