Lesotho vs South Africa: Economic Indicators Comparison
South Africa with a GDP of $368.3B ranked the 35th largest economy in the world, while Lesotho ranked 169th with $2.7B. By GDP 5-years average growth and GDP per capita, South Africa and Lesotho ranked 151st vs 143rd and 95th vs 165th, respectively.
Gross Domestic Product & Income
| Stat |  Lesotho |  South Africa |
|---|---|---|
| GDP | $2.7B | $368.3B |
| GDP growth, 1 year | 1.5% | 0.8% |
| GDP growth, 5-years average | 1.7% | 1.1% |
| Population | 2.2M | 57.7M |
| GDP per capita | $1.3k | $6.4k |
| GDP per capita growth | 0.33% | -0.57% |
| Purchasing Power Parity conversion factor | 5.35 | 6.16 |
| Price level ratio of PPP conversion factor GDP to market exchange rate | 0.4 | 0.47 |
| GDP per capita, PPP adjusted | $3.4k | $14k |
| GNI, Atlas method | $2.9B | $332.3B |
| GNI per capita | $1.4k | $5.8k |
| GNI, PPP adjusted | $7.8B | $765.8B |
| GNI per capita, PPP adjusted | $3.7k | $13k |
Financial system and Human development
| Stat | Lesotho | South Africa |
|---|---|---|
| Income Tax Rate | 35% | 45% |
| Corporate Tax Rate | 25% | 28% |
| Inflation, consumer prices | 5.2% | 4.6% |
| Inflation, GDP deflator | 4.4% | 3.9% |
| Unemployment | 23.6% | 27% |
| Economic Freedom Index | 54.5 | 58.8 |
| Personal Freedom Index | 6.12 | 6.92 |
| Human Freedom Index | 6.16 | 6.78 |
| Property Rights Index | 45.2 | 58.4 |
| Judical Effectiveness Index | 47 | 38 |
| Business Freedom Index | 52.8 | 62 |
| Fiscal Health Index | 60.3 | 64 |
| Labor Freedom Index | 58.8 | 58.8 |
| Investment Freedom Index | 55 | 45 |
| Financial Freedom Index | 40 | 50 |
| Trade Freedom Index | 82.2 | 75.8 |
| Monetary Freedom Index | 75.7 | 75.9 |
| Government Spending Index | 34.4 | 67.4 |
| Tax Burden Index | 73 | 63.7 |
| Government Integrity Index | 29.6 | 46.6 |
| Corruption Perceptions Index | 41 | 43 |
| Life expectancy at birth, years | 52.9 | 63.5 |
| Suicide mortality rate, per 100,000 people | 21.2 | 11.6 |
| Mortality caused by road traffic injury, per 100,000 people | 28.9 | 25.9 |
| Intentional homicides, per 100,000 people | 41.3 | 35.9 |
| International tourism, number of arrivals | 1.2M | 10.5M |
Government debt & reserves
| Stat | Lesotho | South Africa |
|---|---|---|
| Central government debt, % of GDP | 39% | 56.7% |
| External debt stocks, % of GNI | 29.2% | 50.6% |
| External debt stocks | $914.8M | $179.3B |
| Short-term debt, % of total reserves | 0.1% | 70.9% |
| Total debt service, % of exports and primary income | 3.6% | 19.9% |
| Adjusted net savings including particulate emission damage, % of GNI | 8.2% | 0.6% |
| Gross savings, % of GDP | 18.1% | 14.9% |
| Gross capital formation, % of GDP | 22% | 17.9% |
| Total reserves including gold | $728.5M | $51.6B |
| Foreign direct investment net inflows | $39.6M | $5.5B |
Exports, imports and economic structure
| Stat | Lesotho | South Africa |
|---|---|---|
| Exports of goods and services, % of GDP | 43.8% | 29.9% |
| Imports of goods and services, % of GDP | 84.2% | 29.6% |
| Current account balance (balance of payments) | -$4M | -$13.4B |
| Revenue excluding grants, % of GDP | 33.8% | 30.9% |
| Grants excluding technical cooperation, BoP | $133M | $817.9M |
| Personal remittances received | $629.4M | $929M |
| Industry including construction value added, % of GDP | 35.5% | 25.9% |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing value added, % of GDP | 6% | 2.2% |
| Charges for the use of intellectual property, payments BoP | $3.3M | $1.8B |
| Charges for the use of intellectual property, receipts BoP | $219k | $120.7M |
| Expense, % of GDP | 35.2% | 34.4% |
| Government Expenditure, % of GDP | 46.8% | 33% |
