2,177,740 (July 2021 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
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.
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.
0-14 years: 31.3% (male 309,991/female 306,321)
15-24 years: 19.26% (male 181,874/female 197,452)
25-54 years: 38.86% (male 373,323/female 391,901)
55-64 years: 4.98% (male 52,441/female 45,726)
65 years and over: 5.6% (male 57,030/female 53,275) (2020 est.)
total dependency ratio: 59.2
youth dependency ratio: 51.3
elderly dependency ratio: 7.9
potential support ratio: 12.7 (2020 est.)
total: 24.7 years
male: 24.7 years
female: 24.7 years (2020 est.)
0.73% (2021 est.)
23.3 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)
11.41 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)
-4.59 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.)
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 as shown in this population distribution map
urban population: 29.5% of total population (2021)
rate of urbanization: 2.77% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
202,000 MASERU (capital) (2018)
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.95 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 1.15 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.07 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2020 est.)
20.9 years (2014 est.)
note: median age at first birth among women 25-49
544 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)
total: 50.23 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 55.92 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 44.37 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)
total population: 58.9 years
male: 56.82 years
female: 61.04 years (2021 est.)
2.95 children born/woman (2021 est.)
64.9% (2018)
improved: urban: 93% of population
rural: 72.4% of population
total: 78.2% of population
unimproved: urban: 7% of population
rural: 27.6% of population
total: 21.8% of population (2017 est.)
9.3% (2018)
0.07 physicians/1,000 population
improved: urban: 88.6% of population
rural: 52.3% of population
total: 62.4% of population
unimproved: urban: 11.4% of population
rural: 47.7% of population
total: 37.6% of population (2017 est.)
21.1% (2020 est.)
280,000 (2020 est.)
4,700 (2020 est.)
degree of risk: intermediate (2020)
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
16.6% (2016)
10.5% (2018)
7% of GDP (2018)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 79.4%
male: 70.1%
female: 88.3% (2015)
total: 12 years
male: 12 years
female: 13 years (2017)
total: 34.4%
male: NA
female: NA (2013 est.)
NOTE: The information regarding Lesotho on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Lesotho 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Lesotho 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.
This page was last modified 16 Dec 23, Copyright © 2023 ITA all rights reserved.