Lesotho
Population 2026
2,389,341
Overview
- Yearly change
- +1.10%
- Density
- 79 per km²
- Land area
- 30,360 km²
- Capital
- Maseru
- Currency
- Loti (LSL)
- Official languages
- EN-LS, ST, ZU, XH
- Urban population
- 44.7%
- Continent
- AF
Demographics
- Births
- 55,3122026
- Deaths
- 24,2722026
- Birth rate
- 23.8per 1,000
- Death rate
- 10.5per 1,000
- Fertility rate
- 2.66
- Life expectancy
- 57.8At birth, years
- Median age
- 22.1
- Net migration
- -5,192
Age distribution
- 0–1434.1%
- 15–6462.0%
- 65+3.9%
Population by year
Economy
- GDP
- $2.6B
- GDP per capita
- $1.1K
- GDP growth
- +2.0%
- Inflation
- 4.3%
- Unemployment
- 16.3%
- Exports
- $1.3B
- Imports
- $2.7B
- Tourism receipts
- 10.1%% of exports
Economic output by sector (% of GDP)
- Agriculture6.5%
- Industry25.2%
- Manufacturing12.1%
- Services55.6%
Employment by sector (%)
- Agriculture30.9%
- Industry33.0%
- Services36.1%
Largest cities
| # | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | MaseruMaseru District | 359,7532023 |
| 2 | MaputsoeLeribe | 61,9162023 |
| 3 | Mohale's HoekMohale's Hoek District | 46,5932026 |
| 4 | MafetengMafeteng District | 45,2872026 |
| 5 | HlotseLeribe | 43,9672026 |
| 6 | Butha-ButheButha-Buthe | 40,5992026 |
| 7 | MaboteBerea | 38,0472025 |
| 8 | QuthingQuthing | 33,9102026 |
| 9 | TeyateyanengBerea | 27,2722026 |
| 10 | Qacha’s NekQacha's Nek District | 25,5732024 |
Populated place as listed by GeoNames. Not a metropolitan-area figure.
Historical statistics
| Year | Population | Births | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2,389,341 | 55.3K | 24.3K |
| 2020 | 2,235,727 | 57.3K | 26.6K |
| 2010 | 1,996,256 | 58.2K | 36.3K |
| 2000 | 2,003,919 | 56.6K | 31.8K |
| 1990 | 1,809,698 | 63.6K | 18.5K |
| 1980 | 1,406,530 | 56.8K | 17.2K |
| 1970 | 1,019,273 | 41.6K | 15.6K |
| 1960 | 736,507 | 32.8K | 12.8K |
| 1950 | 579,554 | 25.3K | 14.1K |