2,210,646 (2023 est.)
noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural)
adjective: Basotho
Sotho 99.7%, other 0.3% (includes Kwena, Nguni (Hlubi and Phuthi), Zulu)
Sesotho (official) (southern Sotho), English (official), Phuthi, Xhosa, Zulu
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. Almost half of its population lives below the poverty line as of 2017, and the country’s HIV/AIDS prevalence rate is the second highest in the world as of 2021. 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 20% 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: 32.4% (male 360,327/female 355,863)
15-64 years: 62.21% (male 688,373/female 686,911)
65 years and over: 5.39% (2023 est.) (male 44,313/female 74,859)
2023 population pyramid: 
total dependency ratio: 62.1
youth dependency ratio: 55.3
elderly dependency ratio: 6.8
potential support ratio: 14.7 (2021 est.)
total: 23.7 years (2023 est.)
male: 23.2 years
female: 24.2 years
0.76% (2023 est.)
23 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
10.9 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)
-4.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 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 
urban population: 30.4% of total population (2023)
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
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.59 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2023 est.)
20.9 years (2014 est.)
note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49
566 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
total: 47 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
male: 52.5 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 41.4 deaths/1,000 live births
total population: 59.9 years (2023 est.)
male: 57.9 years
female: 62 years
2.88 children born/woman (2023 est.)
1.42 (2023 est.)
64.9% (2018)
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.)
11.8% of GDP (2020)
0.47 physicians/1,000 population (2018)
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.)
degree of risk: intermediate (2023)
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
16.6% (2016)
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.)
total: 24.3% (2020 est.)
male: 43.1% (2020 est.)
female: 5.4% (2020 est.)
10.5% (2018)
53.7% (2023 est.)
women married by age 15: 1%
women married by age 18: 16.4%
men married by age 18: 1.9% (2018 est.)
8.7% of GDP (2021 est.)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 81%
male: 72.9%
female: 88.8% (2021)
total: 12 years
male: 12 years
female: 13 years (2017)
NOTE: The information regarding Lesotho on this page is re-published from the 2024 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Lesotho 2024 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Lesotho 2024 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.
This page was last modified 04 May 24, Copyright © 2024 ITA all rights reserved.
