ECONDEX

Economic and development data for every country, explained with the numbers checked.

Lesotho

Sub-Saharan Africa. Lower middle income. Capital: Maseru. Population 2,363,325 (2025).

Key trends

GDP per person (PPP) (constant international $)
1,737 2,384 3,030 1995 2025 2,721
GDP growth (%)
−7.9 −0.9 6.0 1995 2025 2.0
Inflation, consumer prices (% annual)
−15.8 8.5 32.8 1995 2025 4.3
Life expectancy at birth (years)
43.5 50.5 57.5 1995 2024 57.8

Indicators

Each country reports for different years, so check the year beside every figure. Rank 1 is the highest value among countries with recent data.

Economy

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
GDP per person (PPP)constant international $ 2,721 2025 +204 −266 184 of 199
GDP growth% 2.0% 2025 +10.1 pp −1.1 pp 145 of 209
GDP per person growth% 0.9% 2025 +10.1 pp −1.1 pp 153 of 209
GNI per person (Atlas method)current US$ 1,280 2025 +110 0 178 of 201
Trade% of GDP 154.0% 2025 +12.9 pp +24.3 pp 19 of 183
Foreign direct investment, net inflows% of GDP 1.3% 2025 +0.7 pp −3.5 pp 130 of 195
Central government debt% of GDP 3.0% 2020 * −30.1 pp −26.6 pp –

Prices and jobs

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
Inflation, consumer prices% annual 4.3% 2025 −0.7 pp +1.1 pp 51 of 180
Unemployment (modelled ILO estimate)% of labour force 16.3% 2025 −2.1 pp +0.1 pp 14 of 186

People and health

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
Populationpeople 2,363,325 2025 +127,598 +258,714 144 of 217
Population growth% annual 1.1% 2025 −0.1 pp −0.1 pp 96 of 217
Urban population% of total 44.7% 2025 +5.0 pp +10.6 pp 162 of 217
Life expectancy at birthyears 57.8 2024 +2.5 +7.0 213 of 217
Infant mortalityper 1,000 live births 56.3 2024 −7.2 −14.0 11 of 196
Health spending% of GDP 12.6% 2023 +1.5 pp +1.6 pp 8 of 193

Education

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
Adult literacy rate% of people aged 15+ 90.5% 2024 −1.9 pp −6.8 pp 43 of 86
Government spending on education% of GDP 6.6% 2024 −0.7 pp −1.0 pp 15 of 171

Access and infrastructure

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
Internet users% of population 51.8% 2024 +9.5 pp +29.8 pp 147 of 185
Access to electricity% of population 60.6% 2024 +16.0 pp +32.8 pp 187 of 215

Inequality and poverty

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
Gini index (inequality)index, 0 to 100 44.9 2017 * – – –
Poverty headcount ratio% of population, at the World Bank international poverty line 41.9% 2017 * – – –

Environment and energy

IndicatorLatestYear 5-yr change10-yr change RankTrend
Renewable energy% of final energy consumption 34.9% 2022 −6.6 pp −5.9 pp 70 of 212

* Latest figure is too old to be included in rankings or peer medians.

Advanced metrics

Indicator Own history Versus peers (latest) Growth and catch-up
10-yr meanZ-score Income group medianRegion medianVolatility (σ) 10-yr CAGR% of high-income median10 yrs earlier
GDP per person (PPP) 2,752 −0.2 6,095 3,781 196 −0.9% 6% 7%
GDP growth 0.4% +0.4 4.3% 4.6% 4.0 – – –
GDP per person growth −0.8% +0.4 2.7% 2.5% 4.0 – – –
GNI per person (Atlas method) 1,235 +1.0 2,750 1,355 46 0.0% 4% 5%
Trade 141.3% +2.1 69.0% 59.9% 6.0 – – –
Foreign direct investment, net inflows 1.3% 0.0 1.9% 2.0% 2.4 – – –
Central government debt 33.3% −7.5 – – 4.1 – – –
Inflation, consumer prices 5.6% −1.0 3.6% 3.5% 1.4 – – –
Unemployment (modelled ILO estimate) 16.8% −0.6 5.1% 5.4% 0.8 – – –
Population 2,221,742 +1.8 12,348,573 14,957,094 78,315 +1.2% 81% 80%
Population growth 1.2% −1.2 1.7% 2.3% 0.1 – – –
Urban population 39.1% +1.8 50.9% 44.9% 3.2 – – –
Life expectancy at birth 54.3 +1.7 67.9 64.3 2.1 – – –
Infant mortality 64.6 −2.0 28.7 37.2 4.2 – – –
Health spending 11.7% +0.2 4.5% 4.4% 3.7 – – –
Government spending on education 7.6% −2.7 4.0% 3.3% 0.4 – – –
Internet users 38.7% +1.4 57.9% 36.8% 9.3 – – –
Access to electricity 42.5% +1.9 88.7% 57.8% 9.7 – – –
Renewable energy 42.4% −2.1 42.5% 70.6% 3.6 – – –

Compare Lesotho with other countries