The provisional Annual Report on vital events for the 2024 year, released by the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA) in Sierra Leone revealed that more men died in 2024 than women.
The Report states that the year 2024 recorded a total of 10,962 deaths in the country, with a share of 6,128 (56%) men and 4,834 (44 %) women.
Of the total deaths, 3,223 (29%) were within the ages of 60+ years, followed by under-fives (O-4 years) with 2.355 (21 %).
Of the under-five deaths, Neonates (0-27 days) have a share of about 23%, whilst Infants (0-11 months) accounted for 36%.
The Report further revealed that there were 246,437 children born in the country in 2024, up by 11,064 or 4.7% from 2023. Males and females accounted for 120,754 (49%) and 125,683 (51 %) respectively, with a sex ratio of 96.
In 2024, the highest number of births -76,530 were to mothers in the 20-24 years age group (the most sexually active age group), representing 31.2% of all Live Births.
The percentage of Births to Adolescents (10-19) continued to increase with 17.2% (42,111) of all Births in 2024 born to mothers in this age group.
This is the highest percentage of Births to mothers under 20, since 2020, when it was 16% of all Births.
In 2024, October saw the highest (22,636) number of babies born in one month. This was followed closely by September with 21,008 Births. The fewest (19,380) number of babies born in one month in the year was February. The number of Still Births that occurred in 2024 was 3,355, down by 487 or 13% from 2023.
The respective corresponding rates for 2024 and 2023 were 28 and 28.3 per 1,000 Live and Stillborn children.
Similarly, the Report revealed that a total of 1069 marriages were registered with the Authority, with an increase of 25% or 219 from 2023.
Of these unions, marriage by type included: 574 (54%)Christian Marriage; 248 (23%) Islamic Marriage, 182 (17%) Civil Marriage and 65 (6%) Customary Marriage respectively.
The median age at marriage is 36 years for males and 29 years for females. This indicates that interventions including Hands off our Girls Campaign have been helpful and compliance with relevant legislationpreventing child marriage (under 18 years) is ensured.
Similarly, there were 76 Divorces registered with the Authority for the period under review. Of these, Christian Marriages accounted for 36% (47). Civil Marriage 28% (21). Islamic Marriage 18% (14) and Customary Marriage 7% (5).
