November 1, 2017
  Freetown Population Increase,  1901 - 2015

We extend our previous analysis of Freetown's population increase by including figures from 1901 onwards. The colonial government conducted regular censuses of the Colony's population from the city's inception. After the establishment of the protectorate in 1896, when the territory now known as Sierra Leone officially came under a single administration, estimates were made of the protectorate population, but full censuses were carried out only in the Colony (Freetown peninsula). It was only after Independence that the first full census of the entire country was conducted, in 1963.

The added data reveals a very sharp increase in the rate of growth of Freetown's population after about 1960, ie at the dawn of Independence. For the 52-year period between the 1963 and 2015 censuses, Freetown's annual growth rate was 4% and the population increased more than seven fold. For the 62-year period between the 1901 and 1963 censuses, Freetown's annual growth rate was 1.7% and the population increased less than three fold. For the 30-year period between the 1901 and 1931 censuses, Freetown's annual growth rate was 0.8% and the population increased by less than a third of its original value. Many modern-day economists view urban migration in third-world countries favourably, but the data indicates that the British colonial government certainly did not encourage it.





Freetown population increase 1901 - 2015

1901
 1911
 1921
 1931
 1963
 1974
 1985
 2004
 2015










Western Area
Total
 67782
 68115
 79561
 86505
 195023
 316312
 554243
 947122
 1500234

Note: Figures for 1901 to 1931 exclude Sherbro and Tassoh Island, which were then administratively under the Western Area. The figures for these years were taken from Sierra Leone Blue Books, various years, by kind courtesy of the Sierra Leone National Archives. There was also a census conducted in 1948, for which figures were unavailable. Figures for 1963 to 2015 are available from Statistics Sierra Leone.



The new data raises interesting questions: what caused this sharp increase in Freetown's growth rate around Independence? Was it simply the euphoria of Independence, somehow maintained 50 plus years later? Was it caused by active encouragement of migration by subsequent administrations? For what purpose? Conversely, if one takes the view that dual economic systems within a single national jurisdiction will naturally encourage migration, how were the British able to restrict urban migration so successfully during their administration? Was it through housing and land policy?  Street trading policy? Vagrancy laws? Or some combination of all of these.

              
Related...