Lesotho People - 2022
SOURCE: 2022 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK
Population
2,193,970 (2022 est.)
Nationality
noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural)
adjective: Basotho
Ethnic groups
Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%
Languages
Sesotho (official) (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa
Religions
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.)
Demographic profile
Lesotho faces great socioeconomic challenges. More than half of its population lives below the poverty 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.
Age structure
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.)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio: 62.1
youth dependency ratio: 55.3
elderly dependency ratio: 6.8
potential support ratio: 14.7 (2021 est.)
Median age
total: 24.7 years
male: 24.7 years
female: 24.7 years (2020 est.)
Population growth rate
0.76% (2022 est.)
Birth rate
23.15 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Death rate
11.05 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Net migration rate
-4.55 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Population distribution
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
Urbanization
urban population: 30.4% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 2.77% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Major urban areas - population
202,000 MASERU (capital) (2018)
Sex ratio
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.74 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.48 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
Mother's mean age at first birth
20.9 years (2014 est.)
note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49
Maternal mortality ratio
544 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)
Infant mortality rate
total: 48.44 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 54 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 42.72 deaths/1,000 live births (2022 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 59.57 years
male: 57.57 years
female: 61.64 years (2022 est.)
Total fertility rate
2.92 children born/woman (2022 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate
64.9% (2018)
Drinking water source
improved: urban: 95.7% of population
rural: 77.2% of population
total: 82.6% of population
unimproved: urban: 4.3% of population
rural: 22.8% of population
total: 17.4% of population (2020 est.)
Current health expenditure
11.3% of GDP (2019)
Physicians density
0.47 physicians/1,000 population (2018)
Sanitation facility access
improved: urban: 93.6% of population
rural: 62.4% of population
total: 71.4% of population
unimproved: urban: 6.4% of population
rural: 37.6% of population
total: 28.6% of population (2020 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate
20.9% (2021 est.)
Major infectious diseases
degree of risk: intermediate (2020)
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
16.6% (2016)
Alcohol consumption per capita
total: 3.56 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
beer: 1.98 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine: 0.44 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits: 0.31 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols: 0.82 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Tobacco use
total: 24.3% (2020 est.)
male: 43.1% (2020 est.)
female: 5.4% (2020 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
10.5% (2018)
Child marriage
women married by age 15: 1%
women married by age 18: 16.4%
men married by age 18: 1.9% (2018 est.)
Education expenditures
8.7% of GDP (2021 est.)
Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 79.4%
male: 70.1%
female: 88.3% (2015)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
total: 12 years
male: 12 years
female: 13 years (2017)
Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)
total: 25.6%
male: 18.6% NA
female: 38.1% (2019 est.) NA
NOTE: The information regarding Lesotho on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Lesotho 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Lesotho 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.
This page was last modified 01 Dec 23, Copyright © 23 ITA all rights reserved.