Western Area: population, prices, poverty, health and schools

Western Area is a area of Sierra Leone, number 4 of 5 by population. The 2021 Mid-Term Population and Housing Census counted 1,271,330 people in the Western Area (614,469 male, 656,861 female), 16.8% of Sierra Leone's 7,548,702; 2nd smallest of the 5 regions. This is the latest census count; Statistics Sierra Leone is preparing the next full census.

In depth

• Economy, jobs and prices in Western Area: Consumer prices in the Western Area were 24.12% higher in August 2026 than a year earlier (July 2026: 21.87%), and rose 2.73% in the month; the inflation rate was the highest of the 5 regions (Sierra Leone: 15.66%).
• Health in Western Area: For every 1,000 babies born in the Western Area in the ten years before the 2019 survey, 67 died before their first birthday and 114 before their fifth; the under-five rate is 2nd lowest of the 5 regions (Sierra Leone, last five years: 75 and 122).
• Education in Western Area: The 2025 Annual School Census counted 904,684 pupils in the Western Area in the 2024/25 school year (26.2% of Sierra Leone's 3,450,104): 62,695 in pre-primary, 392,510 in primary, 219,871 in junior secondary and 229,608 in senior secondary school, across 3,738 schools.
• Poverty and living standards in Western Area: 23.3% of people in the Western Area lived below the national poverty line (Le 3,921,000 a year per adult equivalent at 2018 prices, in old leones before the 2022 redenomination) in 2018, according to the Sierra Leone Integrated Household Survey; the poverty rate was the lowest of the 5 regions (Sierra Leone: 56.8%).

How areas are governed in Sierra Leone

Provinces (4) and the Western Area. Resident ministers appointed by the president. State administration; not local governments.

Every tier of government in Sierra Leone

Other areas of Sierra Leone

• Eastern Province 1,943,610
• Southern Province 1,830,881
• Northern Province 1,316,831
• North West Province 1,186,050

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Sources

• Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (published by Statistics Sierra Leone): 2025 Annual School Census Report, annex tables by region (schools, enrolment, teachers, pupil-teacher ratios), school year 2024/25, read 27 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 8102ec32f4bc…)
• Statistics Sierra Leone: Consumer Price Index press release, August 2026 (Table 1.1: national and regional inflation, December 2021=100), read 27 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 efee15bb4ef8…)
• Statistics Sierra Leone and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (with ICF, The DHS Program): Sierra Leone Demographic and Health Survey 2019, final report: tables by province (water, sanitation, wealth, schooling, fertility, child health, nutrition, HIV, partner violence), read 27 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 c4e747e7cf70…)
• Statistics Sierra Leone: 2021 Mid-Term Population and Housing Census: preliminary report of the final results (Table 3: households; Table D: population by region and local council, 2015-2021), read 27 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 00b9b776d0dd…)
• Statistics Sierra Leone (with the World Bank): Methodology for Consumption-Poverty Estimation, 2018, and Poverty Trends 2011-2018 (Tables 6 and 7: poverty and extreme poverty by region, SLIHS 2018), read 27 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 6e8a6e91612c…)
• Statistics Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone Integrated Household Survey (SLIHS) Report 2018 (Table 6.13: households with an EDSA grid connection by region), read 27 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 cbe7be8657e9…)

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