This dataset provides leaf area index (LAI) estimates for Sub-Saharan Africa for woody, herbaceous, and aggregate vegetation types. The estimates were derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Level 4 and the native MODIS LAI product (MCD15A2H Version 6.1), which provides LAI measurements every 8 days at 500-m pixel size. Data from the MCD15A2H product were processed further to generate three layers including: a smoothed and gap filled LAI layer referred to as aggregate leaf area index and two additional layers processed to separate woody LAI (tree and shrubs) and herbaceous LAI (grass and forbs). The data include 31 MODIS 10-degree tiles and cover 2002 to 2022. The data are provided in NetCDF format.