Type 1 diabetes in Sierra Leone
T1D Index estimates for 2025 · IDF Africa region · Low-Income country
An estimated 763 people are living with type 1 diabetes in Sierra Leone in 2025. Each year about 100 people are newly diagnosed and 56 people with T1D die. A further 887 people would be alive today had they not died early from type 1 diabetes.
People living with T1D
763
New diagnoses this year
100
Deaths this year
56
Missing people
887
Expected age at death, diagnosed at 10
26.7years
How many people have type 1 diabetes in Sierra Leone?
763 people in Sierra Leone are living with type 1 diabetes in 2025, or 8.7 per 100,000 people. That is lower than the Africa average of 29.7 per 100,000 and lower than the global average of 115.5. Sierra Leone has the 152nd-largest number of people living with T1D of the 202 countries in the T1D Index, and the 34th-largest of the 49 countries in the IDF Africa region.
For every 100 people living with T1D in Sierra Leone, another 116 are missing: people who would be alive today had they not died early from T1D.
Is type 1 diabetes increasing in Sierra Leone?
The number of people living with T1D in Sierra Leone went from 15 in 2000 to 763 in 2025, and is projected to rise to 1,708 by 2040 (+124%).
| Year | Living with T1D | New diagnoses | Deaths | Missing people |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 15 | 7 | 10 | 151 |
| 2010 | 67 | 29 | 23 | 306 |
| 2020 | 470 | 80 | 45 | 656 |
| 2025 | 763 | 100 | 56 | 887 |
| 2030 (projected) | 1,091 | 132 | 77 | 1,185 |
| 2040 (projected) | 1,708 | 154 | 112 | 2,018 |
What is the life expectancy with type 1 diabetes in Sierra Leone?
A 10-year-old diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in Sierra Leone today is expected to live to 26.7, compared with 69.1 for a 10-year-old without T1D: 42.3 years of life lost. Counting years lived with complications as well, T1D costs 45.3 years of healthy life at today's level of care. If everyone received timely diagnosis, insulin and test strips, and insulin pumps and CGMs, that loss would fall to 14.9 years.
| Level of care | Healthy years restored | Healthy years of life | Healthy years still lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current level of care | – | 23.8 | 45.3 |
| + Timely diagnosis for everyone | +4.6 | 28.4 | 40.7 |
| + Insulin and test strips for everyone | +18.7 | 47.1 | 21.9 |
| + Insulin pumps and CGMs for everyone | +7.0 | 54.1 | 14.9 |
How does Sierra Leone compare?
| 2025 | Sierra Leone | Africa | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| People living with T1D per 100,000 | 8.7 | 29.7 | 115.5 |
| New diagnoses per 100,000 | 1.1 | 4.0 | 6.2 |
| Missing people per 100 living with T1D | 116.3 | 160.4 | 43.0 |
| Expected age at death, 10-year-old with T1D | 26.7 | 24.4 | 51.3 |
| Expected age at death, 10-year-old in general population | 69.1 | 67.5 | 77.0 |
Type 1 diabetes in other Africa countries
- Guinea1,275 living with T1D
- Chad1,260 living with T1D
- Gabon1,054 living with T1D
- Mayotte1,015 living with T1D
- Lesotho760 living with T1D
- Togo751 living with T1D
- Equatorial Guinea719 living with T1D
- Burkina Faso606 living with T1D
More data
All figures are T1D Index version 3.0 estimates for all ages. Missing people are those who would be alive today had they not died early from type 1 diabetes. Expected age at death is for a 10-year-old. See Data & Methods for how the estimates are made and the peer-reviewed publications behind them.