Population: Nationality: Ethnic groups: Languages: Religions: Demographic profile: Lesotho’s migration history is linked to its unique geography; it is surrounded by South Africa with which it shares linguistic and cultural traits. Lesotho at one time had more of its workforce employed outside its borders than any other country. Today remittances equal about 17% of its GDP. With few job options at home, a high rate of poverty, and higher wages available across the border, labor migration to South Africa replaced agriculture as the prevailing Basotho source of income decades ago. The majority of Basotho migrants were single men contracted to work as gold miners in South Africa. However, migration trends changed in the 1990s, and fewer men found mining jobs in South Africa because of declining gold prices, stricter immigration policies, and a preference for South African workers. Although men still dominate cross-border labor migration, more women are working in South Africa, mostly as domestics, because they are widows or their husbands are unemployed. Internal rural-urban flows have also become more frequent, with more women migrating within the country to take up jobs in the garment industry or moving to care for loved ones with HIV/AIDS. Lesotho’s small population of immigrants is increasingly composed of Taiwanese and Chinese migrants who are involved in the textile industry and small retail businesses.
Age structure: Dependency ratios: Median age: Population growth rate: Birth rate: Death rate: Net migration rate: Population distribution: Urbanization: Major urban areas - population: Sex ratio: Mother's mean age at first birth: Maternal mortality rate: Infant mortality rate: Life expectancy at birth: Total fertility rate: Contraceptive prevalence rate: Health expenditures: Drinking water source: Sanitation facility access: HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: HIV/AIDS - deaths: Obesity - adult prevalence rate: Children under the age of 5 years underweight: Education expenditures: Literacy: School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education): Unemployment, youth ages 15-24
NOTE: 1) The information regarding Lesotho on this page is re-published from the 2019 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Lesotho People 2019 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Lesotho People 2019 should be addressed to the CIA.
1,962,461
(July 2018 est.)
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected
country comparison to the world:
149
[see also: Population country ranks ]
noun:
Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural)
adjective:
Basotho
Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%
Sesotho (official) (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa
Protestant 47.8% (Pentecostal 23.1%, Lesotho Evangelical 17.3%, Anglican 7.4%), Roman Catholic 39.3%, other Christian 9.1%, non-Christian 1.4%, none 2.3%
(2014 est.)
Lesotho faces great socioeconomic challenges. More than half of its population lives below the property line, and the country’s HIV/AIDS prevalence rate is the second highest in the world. In addition, Lesotho is a small, mountainous, landlocked country with little arable land, leaving its population vulnerable to food shortages and reliant on remittances. Lesotho’s persistently high infant, child, and maternal mortality rates have been increasing during the last decade, according to the last two Demographic and Health Surveys. Despite these significant shortcomings, Lesotho has made good progress in education; it is on-track to achieve universal primary education and has one of the highest adult literacy rates in Africa.
0-14 years: 31.84%
(male 314,155 /female 310,772)
[see also: Age structure - 0-14 years country ranks ]
15-24 years: 19.34%
(male 181,332 /female 198,236)
[see also: Age structure - 15-24 years country ranks ]
25-54 years: 38.27%
(male 366,652 /female 384,333)
[see also: Age structure - 25-54 years country ranks ]
55-64 years: 5.02%
(male 52,490 /female 46,016)
[see also: Age structure - 55-64 years country ranks ]
65 years and over: 5.53%
(male 55,804 /female 52,671)
(2018 est.)
[see also: Age structure - 65 years and over country ranks ]
population pyramid:
This is the population pyramid for Lesotho. A population pyramid illustrates the age and sex structure of a country's population and may provide insights about political and social stability, as well as economic development. The population is distributed along the horizontal axis, with males shown on the left and females on the right. The male and female populations are broken down into 5-year age groups represented as horizontal bars along the vertical axis, with the youngest age groups at the bottom and the oldest at the top. The shape of the population pyramid gradually evolves over time based on fertility, mortality, and international migration trends.
For additional information, please see the entry for Population pyramid on the Definitions and Notes page under the References tab.
total dependency ratio: 66.9
(2015 est.)
[see also: Dependency ratios - total dependency ratio country ranks ]
youth dependency ratio: 59.5
(2015 est.)
[see also: Dependency ratios - youth dependency ratio country ranks ]
elderly dependency ratio: 7.4
(2015 est.)
[see also: Dependency ratios - elderly dependency ratio country ranks ]
potential support ratio: 13.5
(2015 est.)
[see also: Dependency ratios - potential support ratio country ranks ]
total: 24.4 years
[see also: Median age - total country ranks ]
male: 24.4 years
[see also: Median age - male country ranks ]
female: 24.3 years
(2018 est.)
[see also: Median age - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world:
164
0.24%
(2018 est.)
country comparison to the world:
178
[see also: Population growth rate country ranks ]
24.2 births/1,000 population
(2018 est.)
country comparison to the world:
52
[see also: Birth rate country ranks ]
15.1 deaths/1,000 population
(2018 est.)
country comparison to the world:
2
[see also: Death rate country ranks ]
-6.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population
(2017 est.)
country comparison to the world:
203
[see also: Net migration rate country ranks ]
relatively higher population density in the western half of the nation, with the capital of Maseru, and the smaller cities of Mafeteng, Teyateyaneng, and Leribe attracting the most people
urban population: 28.2% of total population
(2018)
[see also: Urbanization - urban population country ranks ]
rate of urbanization: 2.83% annual rate of change
(2015-20 est.)
[see also: Urbanization - rate of urbanization country ranks ]
202,000 MASERU (capital)
(2018)
at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
(2017 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - at birth country ranks ]
0-14 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
(2017 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - 0-14 years country ranks ]
15-24 years: 0.91 male(s)/female
(2017 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - 15-24 years country ranks ]
25-54 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
(2017 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - 25-54 years country ranks ]
55-64 years: 1.14 male(s)/female
(2017 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - 55-64 years country ranks ]
65 years and over: 1.03 male(s)/female
(2017 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - 65 years and over country ranks ]
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female
(2017 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - total population country ranks ]
21 years
(2014 est.)
note: median age at first birth among women 25-29
[see also: Mother's mean age at first birth country ranks ]
487 deaths/100,000 live births
(2015 est.)
country comparison to the world:
22
[see also: Maternal mortality rate country ranks ]
total: 44.6 deaths/1,000 live births
(2018 est.)
[see also: Infant mortality rate - total country ranks ]
male: 48.1 deaths/1,000 live births
(2018 est.)
[see also: Infant mortality rate - male country ranks ]
female: 40.9 deaths/1,000 live births
(2018 est.)
[see also: Infant mortality rate - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world:
36
total population: 53 years
(2018 est.)
[see also: Life expectancy at birth - total population country ranks ]
male: 53 years
(2018 est.)
[see also: Life expectancy at birth - male country ranks ]
female: 53.1 years
(2018 est.)
[see also: Life expectancy at birth - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world:
221
[See also: Healthy Life Expectancy ]
[See also: Health Performance ]
2.59 children born/woman
(2018 est.)
country comparison to the world:
72
[see also: Total fertility rate country ranks ]
60.2%
(2014)
[see also: Contraceptive prevalence rate country ranks ]
10.6% of GDP
(2014)
country comparison to the world:
19
[see also: Health expenditures country ranks ]
improved:
urban: 94.6% of population
[see also: Drinking water source - improved - urban country ranks ]
rural: 77% of population
[see also: Drinking water source - improved - rural country ranks ]
total: 81.8% of population
[see also: Drinking water source - improved - total country ranks ]
unimproved:
urban: 5.4% of population
[see also: Drinking water source - unimproved - urban country ranks ]
rural: 23% of population
[see also: Drinking water source - unimproved - rural country ranks ]
total: 18.2% of population
(2015 est.)
[see also: Drinking water source - unimproved - total country ranks ]
improved:
urban: 37.3% of population
(2015 est.)
[see also: Sanitation facility access - improved - urban country ranks ]
rural: 27.6% of population
(2015 est.)
[see also: Sanitation facility access - improved - rural country ranks ]
total: 30.3% of population
(2015 est.)
[see also: Sanitation facility access - improved - total country ranks ]
unimproved:
urban: 62.7% of population
(2015 est.)
[see also: Sanitation facility access - unimproved - urban country ranks ]
rural: 72.4% of population
(2015 est.)
[see also: Sanitation facility access - unimproved - rural country ranks ]
total: 69.7% of population
(2015 est.)
[see also: Sanitation facility access - unimproved - total country ranks ]
23.8%
(2017 est.)
country comparison to the world:
2
[see also: HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate country ranks ]
320,000
(2017 est.)
country comparison to the world:
20
[see also: HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS country ranks ]
4,900
(2017 est.)
country comparison to the world:
29
[see also: HIV/AIDS - deaths country ranks ]
16.6%
(2016)
country comparison to the world:
122
[see also: Obesity - adult prevalence rate country ranks ]
10.3%
(2014)
country comparison to the world:
62
[see also: Children under the age of 5 years underweight country ranks ]
11.4% of GDP
(2008)
country comparison to the world:
3
[see also: Education expenditures country ranks ]
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
(2015 est.)
total population: 79.4%
(2015 est.)
[see also: Literacy - total population country ranks ]
male: 70.1%
(2015 est.)
[see also: Literacy - male country ranks ]
female: 88.3%
(2015 est.)
[see also: Literacy - female country ranks ]
total: 11 years
(2014)
[see also: School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) - total country ranks ]
male: 10 years
(2014)
[see also: School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) - male country ranks ]
female: 11 years
(2014)
[see also: School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) - female country ranks ]
total: 34.4%
(2013 est.)
[see also: Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 - total country ranks ]
male:
NA
(2013 est.)
[see also: Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 - male country ranks ]
female:
NA
(2013 est.)
[see also: Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world:
24
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may habe the following issues:
a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
b) The CIA sometimes assignes counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order
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This page was last modified 08-Feb-19