Travel Risk Atlas

Sierra Leone

Western Africa · Capital Freetown

Level 2 United States Exercise Increased Caution FCDO United Kingdom No advisory against travel Yellow Netherlands Yellow — pay attention Level 2 Canada Exercise a high degree of caution AA Germany No warning in force

Each opens that government's own advisory for Sierra Leone — the authoritative version, updated far faster than this page.

47.4 Moderate risk
Atlas Risk Score · 162nd safest of 220
a view of a city with a large body of water in the background
Photo: Bunting Kargbo / Unsplash

Where the risk actually is

Risk is rarely spread evenly across a country. The base colour is the code the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs gives Sierra Leone as a whole; shaded regions are those the UK Foreign Office names in an advisory against travel.

Eastern — Travel with cautionNorthern — Travel with cautionSouthern — Travel with cautionSouthern — Travel with cautionWestern — Travel with caution
What governments advise Travel with caution

What the warnings actually cover

  • Whole country — Travel with caution. No government currently advises against travel to any part of this country. The colour reflects general caution levels only, not a warned area.

Shading marks whole regions named in an advisory, but a warning is often narrower — a border strip, one road, or a single city. Read the wording, and check the official advisory linked below.

What drives the score

Each pillar is scored 0–100 against every other country. Longer bar = more risk.

Road & transport
10% of score
86/100
207th of 220
Health & medical
15% of score
84/100
212th of 220
Political stability
10% of score
55/100
183rd of 220
Crime
15% of score
43/100
134th of 220
Conflict & terrorism
15% of score
38/100
141st of 220
Natural hazards
10% of score · mainly flooding
37/100
100th of 220
Official advisories
25% of score
20/100
135th of 220
Women's safety
not in the score
65/100

Biggest factor here: road & transport. Road deaths per 100,000 people - the risk travellers most underestimate.

Practical facts

The things worth knowing before you land.

Emergency number
999
Police, fire and ambulance
Currency
SLE Le
Languages
English
Visa (EU passport)
Visa on arrival
US: Visa on arrival · UK: Visa on arrival
Population
8.8m
World Bank 2025
Capital
Freetown
Driving
On the right
33.0 road deaths per 100k
Power
Type D, G
220-240V
Safely managed water
11%
Most households lack it · of residents, not a tap-water verdict
Dialling code
+232
GDP per capita
$846
A rough guide to price levels
Visitors a year
71k
International arrivals, 2019
Malaria risk
9.4/10
INFORM exposure score — see a travel clinic

When to go

Average daytime high and nightly low for Freetown, over 2010-2019. Bars are rainfall; the colour band is how hot the days get.

Mildest and driest around November to April.

Daytime high hot
Top figure is the average daytime high, below it the average nightly low, and millimetres of rain under each bar. Figures are the average daytime high; bar heights are the month's rainfall. Shaded months are the mild, drier ones. Source: NASA POWER daily observations, 2010-2019, public domain.

Compare with neighbours

Sources for this page

Vaccinations, malaria and outbreaks. This atlas does not give medical advice — it is personal, it changes, and it is the one thing worth getting from a doctor. Both national services publish current advice for Sierra Leone:

CDC Travelers' HealthTravelHealthPro (NHS/UKHSA)

Check the official advisory before you book. This page reflects data as of August 2026. Advisories change without warning, and only your own government's advice affects your travel insurance.