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Average height in Sierra Leone

Men in Sierra Leone average 164.4 cm (5 ft 5 in), women 156.6 cm (5 ft 2 in). That puts Sierra Leone 169th of 186 countries in our data.

Key numbers

Men
164.4 cm
5 ft 5 in
Women
156.6 cm
5 ft 2 in
SD, men / women
8.0 / 7.5
cm, global SD
vs global mean
-6.6 cm
women -2.4 cm
Rank, men
169 of 186
women 137 of 186
Men minus women
7.8 cm
global 12.0 cm

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Sierra Leone among its neighbours

Ranking neighbours (three above and below) plus every Africa country in our data
#CountryMen (cm)Women (cm)Region
54Seychelles174.2162.1Africa
56Tunisia174.0160.4Africa
62Libya173.5162.1Africa
66Cabo Verde173.2161.6Africa
67Senegal173.1162.5Africa
86Botswana171.6161.4Africa
91Mali171.1160.5Africa
95Mauritius170.5157.2Africa
98Morocco170.4157.8Africa
100Chad170.4160.2Africa
102Algeria170.1159.1Africa
105Kenya169.6158.2Africa
108Burkina Faso169.3160.2Africa
115Ghana168.8157.9Africa
117Zimbabwe168.6158.2Africa
120Eritrea168.4156.4Africa
121Togo168.3158.3Africa
122Eswatini168.1158.6Africa
124Gabon167.9158.8Africa
125Guinea-Bissau167.9158.2Africa
127Cameroon167.8158.8Africa
130Niger167.7158.3Africa
132Guinea167.5157.8Africa
133Republic of the Congo167.4157.6Africa
134Equatorial Guinea167.4157.3Africa
135Sao Tome and Principe167.4158.9Africa
136Angola167.3157.3Africa
137Benin167.1156.2Africa
139Namibia167.0158.8Africa
142DR Congo166.8155.2Africa
143Central African Republic166.7158.0Africa
144Egypt166.7157.3Africa
146South Africa166.7158.0Africa
147Burundi166.6154.0Africa
148Djibouti166.6156.1Africa
149Sudan166.6156.0Africa
150Somalia166.6156.1Africa
151Cรดte d'Ivoire166.5158.1Africa
152Zambia166.5155.8Africa
154Ethiopia166.2155.7Africa
155Comoros166.2155.6Africa
156Nigeria165.9156.3Africa
158Lesotho165.6155.7Africa
159Uganda165.6156.7Africa
160Gambia165.4160.9Africa
166Mozambique164.8154.0Africa
167Tanzania164.8155.9Africa
168Myanmar164.7154.4Asia
169Sierra Leone164.4156.6Africa
170Vietnam164.4153.6Asia
171Solomon Islands164.1154.4Oceania
172Bangladesh163.8150.8Asia
173Liberia163.7155.7Africa
178Mauritania163.3157.7Africa
180Rwanda162.7154.8Africa
182Malawi162.2154.4Africa
183Madagascar161.5151.2Africa

What counts as tall in Sierra Leone

Share of adults shorter than each height, estimated from mean and SD
Heightft inShorter menShorter women
160 cm5 ft 3 in29%67%
165 cm5 ft 5 in53%87%
170 cm5 ft 7 in76%96%
175 cm5 ft 9 in91%99%
180 cm5 ft 11 in97%>99%
185 cm6 ft 1 in99%>99%
190 cm6 ft 3 in>99%>99%
195 cm6 ft 5 in>99%>99%
200 cm6 ft 7 in>99%>99%

Read it as: a man of 185 cm in Sierra Leone is taller than 99% of men. Values under 1% or over 99% are shown as <1 and >99.

In plain language

The standard deviation for men in Sierra Leone is 8.0 cm. In practice that means about two thirds of men stand between 156.4 and 172.4 cm, and roughly 95% between 148.4 and 180.4 cm. A man of 172 cm is taller than about 84% of men here; one of 180 cm is taller than about 98%.

Men in Sierra Leone are on average 7.8 cm taller than women. Compared with the global mean, men here are 6.6 cm shorter and women 2.4 cm shorter. These are means for people born in 1996, measured at 18. Older generations in most countries are shorter, by several centimetres where heights rose fast.

Questions

Is 180 cm tall in Sierra Leone?
A man of 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) is taller than about 97% of men in Sierra Leone. That is clearly tall here. For a woman, 180 cm is taller than >99% of women in Sierra Leone.
What is the average height of women in Sierra Leone?
Women in Sierra Leone average 156.6 cm (5 ft 2 in), with a standard deviation of 7.5 cm. About two thirds of women are between 149.1 and 164.1 cm. That ranks 137th of 186 countries for women.
How does Sierra Leone compare to Myanmar?
Men in Myanmar average 164.7 cm, 0.3 cm more than men in Sierra Leone. Women average 154.4 cm against 156.6 cm. Myanmar ranks 168th, Sierra Leone 169th.
How does Sierra Leone compare to the world average?
The global mean is 171.0 cm for men and 159.0 cm for women. Men in Sierra Leone are 6.6 cm shorter than that, women 2.4 cm shorter.

NCD-RisC does not publish standard deviations. SD for countries added in 2026-10 uses the global SD. Sierra Leone is one of them, so the SD and the percentiles above use the global spread rather than one measured here.

Source: NCD Risk Factor Collaboration, eLife 2016, mean height at 18 of adults born in 1996. Percentiles on this page are our estimate from a normal distribution with the stated mean and SD.

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