Lesotho Population

Quick facts about the population of Lesotho

Current population (as of Sunday, April 11, 2021)

2,166,538

Population rank

147 (0.03% of world population)

Total area

30,350 km2 (11,718 mi2)

Population density

71.4 per km2 (184.9 people/mi2)

Sex ratio

0.97 (1,066,965 men to 1,099,590 women)

Median age

21.3 years

Life expectancy

51.6 years (51.5 - men, 51.8 - women)

Literacy

79.4 %

(Population figures are estimates by Countrymeters based on the latest United Nations data)

Lesotho population 2021

During 2021 Lesotho population is projected to increase by 25,935 people and reach 2,185,368 in the beginning of 2022. The natural increase is expected to be positive, as the number of births will exceed the number of deaths by 30,102. If external migration will remain on the previous year level, the population will be declined by 4,168 due to the migration reasons. It means that the number of people who leave Lesotho to settle permanently in another country (emigrants) will prevail over the number of people who move into the country (to which they are not native) in order to settle there as permanent residents (immigrants).

Population change rates in 2021

According to our estimations, daily change rates of Lesotho population in 2021 will be the following:

• 171 live births average per day (7.12 in an hour)
• 88 deaths average per day (3.68 in an hour)
• -11 emigrants average per day (-0.48 in an hour)

The population of Lesotho will be increasing by 71 persons daily in 2021.

Demographics of Lesotho 2020

As of 1 January 2021, the population of Lesotho was estimated to be 2,159,433 people. This is an increase of 1.20 % (25,627 people) compared to population of 2,133,806 the year before. In 2020 the natural increase was positive, as the number of births exceeded the number of deaths by 29,745. Due to external migration, the population declined by 4,118. The sex ratio of the total population was 0.970 (970 males per 1,000 females) which is lower than global sex ratio. The global sex ratio in the world was approximately 1,016 males to 1,000 females as of 2020.

Below are the key figures for Lesotho population in 2020:

• 61,624 live births
• 31,879 deaths
• Natural increase: 29,745 people
• Net migration: -4,118 people
• 1,063,274 males as of 31 December 2020
• 1,096,159 females as of 31 December 2020

Lesotho population density

Lesotho population density is 71.2 people per square kilometer (184.3/mi²) as of April 2021. Density of population is calculated as permanently settled population of Lesotho divided by total area of the country. Total area is the sum of land and water areas within international boundaries and coastlines of Lesotho. The total area of Lesotho is 30,350 km² (11,718 mi²) according to the United Nations Statistics Division .

Religion in Lesotho

Religion	Number of followers	Percentage of total population
Christianity	2,099,375	96.9 %
Religiously Unaffiliated	67,163	3.1 %

Source: Pew Research Center. The Global Religious Landscape .

Number of followers estimated by Countrymeters (Sunday, April 11 2021).

Lesotho age structure

As of the beginning of 2021 according to our estimates Lesotho had the following population age distribution:

33.5

61.1

5.4

	- percentage of population under 15
	- percentage of population between 15 and 64 years old
	- percentage of population 65+

In absolute figures (estimate):

• 724,339 young people under 15 years old ( 363,411 males / 360,928 females)
• 1,319,543 persons between 15 and 64 years old ( 643,684 males / 675,859 females)
• 115,551 persons above 64 years old ( 57,160 males / 58,391 females)

We prepared a simplified model of the population distribution pyramid which is broken down into 3 main age groups. The groups are the same as we used above: population under 15, between 15 and 64 and population which is over 65 year old.

65+

15-64

0-14

male

female

Note: The pyramid provided is not corresponding to data given above because the age groups have different number of years.

As we can see the Lesotho population pyramid has an expanding type. This type of pyramid is common for developing countries with high birth and death rates. Relatively short life expectancy, as well as low level of education and poor health care are also describe such kind of population age distribution model.

Source: The estimation data for section "Lesotho age structure" is based on the latest demographic and social statistics by United Nations Statistics Division .

Age dependency ratio

Dependency ratio of population is a ratio of people who are generally not in the labor force (the dependents) to workforce of a country (the productive part of population). The dependent part includes the population under 15 years old and people aged 65 and over. The productive part of population accordingly consists of population between 15 and 64 years.

This ratio shows the pressure on productive population produced by the dependent part of population.

The total dependency ratio of population in Lesotho is 63.7 %.

What does this value mean? It shows that the dependent part of population is more than a half of the working part. It means that the working population (labor force) in Lesotho must provide goods for itself and cover expenditure on children and aged persons (this population is more than a half of working population). The value of more than 50% shows that the pressure on productive population in Lesotho is relatively high.

Child dependency ratio

Child dependency ratio is a ratio of people below working age (under 15) to workforce of a country.

Child dependency ratio in Lesotho is 54.9 %.

Aged dependency ratio

Aged dependency ratio is a ratio of people above working age (65+) to workforce of a country.

Aged dependency ratio in Lesotho is 8.8 %.

Source: The estimation data for section "Lesotho age dependency ratio" is based on the latest demographic and social statistics by United Nations Statistics Division .

Life expectancy

Life expectancy at birth is one of the most important demographic indicator. It shows the number of years a newborn infant would live assuming that birth and death rates will remain at the same level during the whole lifetime.

Total life expectancy (both sexes) at birth for Lesotho is 51.6 years.
This is below the average life expectancy at birth of the global population which is about 71 years (according to Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations).

Male life expectancy at birth is 51.5 years.
Female life expectancy at birth is 51.8 years.

Literacy of population

According to our estimates 1,139,315 persons or 79.39% of adult population (aged 15 years and above) in Lesotho are able to read and write. Accordingly about 295,779 adults are illiterate.

Literacy rate for adult male population is 70.07% (491,060 persons). 209,784 are illiterate.
Literacy rate for adult female population is 88.29% (648,255 persons). 85,995 are illiterate.

Youth literacy rates are 76.98% and 93.4% for males and females accordingly. The overall youth literacy rate is 85.09%. Youth literacy rate definition covers the population between the ages of 15 to 24 years.

Source: The estimation data for section "Lesotho population literacy" is based on the latest data published by UNESCO Institute for Statistics (retrieved March 13, 2016) .