The current population of Lesotho is 2,384,217 people, as of 2025 based on the adjusted UN estimation. The latest officially reported number was 2,337,423 in 2024.
Population facts:
- For the last 20 years, Lesotho has had an average growth rate of 1.1% per year.
- Lesotho is ranked 144/197 by population and was ranked 144th in 2005.
- Lesotho accounts for 0.03% of the world's population.
- Lesotho is projected to reach 3.31M people in 2083.
- Since 2005, population has increased from 1.95M people to 2.38M (22.1% growth in 20 years).
Lesotho population clock
Lesotho
|
World
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Current population |
2384217
|
8266870341
|
| Population rank | 144/197 | N/A |
| Percent of world population | 0.03% | N/A |
| One net population change |
20.3 minutes
|
0.41 seconds
|
| One birth every |
9.43 minutes
|
0.24 seconds
|
| One death every |
21.4 minutes
|
0.52 seconds
|
| Daily growth/decline | +71 | +211,178 |
| Annual growth/decline | +25,951 | +77,079,845 |
| Annual growth/decline rate | +1.12% | +0.96% |
| Population growth rate rank | 96/197 | N/A |
| One migration net change every |
1.72 hours
|
N/A |
| Annual migration change | -5,107 | N/A |
Lesotho population history and growth rate by year chart
| Year | Population | Growth rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 736,500 | - |
| 1961 | 758,824 | 3.03% |
| 1962 | 781,814 | 3.03% |
| 1963 | 805,373 | 3.01% |
| 1964 | 829,437 | 2.99% |
| 1965 | 854,090 | 2.97% |
| 1966 | 881,870 | 3.25% |
| 1967 | 913,982 | 3.64% |
| 1968 | 948,105 | 3.73% |
| 1969 | 983,202 | 3.7% |
| 1970 | 1,019,273 | 3.67% |
| 1971 | 1,056,246 | 3.63% |
| 1972 | 1,094,063 | 3.58% |
| 1973 | 1,132,697 | 3.53% |
| 1974 | 1,172,420 | 3.51% |
| 1975 | 1,213,643 | 3.52% |
| 1976 | 1,253,214 | 3.26% |
| 1977 | 1,289,967 | 2.93% |
| 1978 | 1,327,240 | 2.89% |
| 1979 | 1,366,169 | 2.93% |
| 1980 | 1,406,521 | 2.95% |
| 1981 | 1,448,069 | 2.95% |
| 1982 | 1,490,732 | 2.95% |
| 1983 | 1,534,413 | 2.93% |
| 1984 | 1,578,986 | 2.9% |
| 1985 | 1,624,379 | 2.87% |
| 1986 | 1,666,138 | 2.57% |
| 1987 | 1,703,390 | 2.24% |
| 1988 | 1,739,841 | 2.14% |
| 1989 | 1,775,436 | 2.05% |
| 1990 | 1,809,696 | 1.93% |
| 1991 | 1,842,379 | 1.81% |
| 1992 | 1,873,274 | 1.68% |
| 1993 | 1,901,793 | 1.52% |
| 1994 | 1,927,707 | 1.36% |
| 1995 | 1,951,437 | 1.23% |
| 1996 | 1,972,418 | 1.08% |
| 1997 | 1,988,130 | 0.8% |
| 1998 | 1,998,049 | 0.5% |
| 1999 | 2,003,234 | 0.26% |
| 2000 | 2,003,913 | 0.03% |
| 2001 | 2,000,853 | -0.15% |
| 2002 | 1,994,679 | -0.31% |
| 2003 | 1,985,059 | -0.48% |
| 2004 | 1,971,129 | -0.7% |
| 2005 | 1,953,076 | -0.92% |
| 2006 | 1,945,063 | -0.41% |
| 2007 | 1,953,268 | 0.42% |
| 2008 | 1,966,541 | 0.68% |
| 2009 | 1,980,883 | 0.73% |
| 2010 | 1,996,251 | 0.78% |
| 2011 | 2,014,009 | 0.89% |
| 2012 | 2,034,354 | 1.01% |
| 2013 | 2,056,504 | 1.09% |
| 2014 | 2,080,089 | 1.15% |
| 2015 | 2,104,611 | 1.18% |
| 2016 | 2,130,422 | 1.23% |
| 2017 | 2,157,110 | 1.25% |
| 2018 | 2,183,603 | 1.23% |
| 2019 | 2,209,405 | 1.18% |
| 2020 | 2,235,727 | 1.19% |
| 2021 | 2,261,542 | 1.15% |
| 2022 | 2,286,110 | 1.09% |
| 2023 | 2,311,472 | 1.11% |
| 2024 | 2,337,423 | 1.12% |
| 2025 | 2,363,324 | 1.11% |
| 2026 | 2,389,334 | 1.1% |
| 2027 | 2,415,365 | 1.09% |
| 2028 | 2,441,435 | 1.08% |
| 2029 | 2,467,677 | 1.07% |
| 2030 | 2,493,816 | 1.06% |
| 2031 | 2,520,014 | 1.05% |
| 2032 | 2,546,489 | 1.05% |
| 2033 | 2,573,106 | 1.05% |
| 2034 | 2,599,777 | 1.04% |
| 2035 | 2,626,560 | 1.03% |
| 2036 | 2,653,503 | 1.03% |
| 2037 | 2,680,081 | 1% |
| 2038 | 2,706,197 | 0.97% |
| 2039 | 2,732,138 | 0.96% |
| 2040 | 2,757,868 | 0.94% |
| 2041 | 2,783,361 | 0.92% |
| 2042 | 2,808,538 | 0.9% |
| 2043 | 2,833,257 | 0.88% |
| 2044 | 2,857,499 | 0.86% |
| 2045 | 2,881,333 | 0.83% |
| 2046 | 2,904,780 | 0.81% |
| 2047 | 2,927,859 | 0.79% |
| 2048 | 2,950,411 | 0.77% |
| 2049 | 2,972,156 | 0.74% |
| 2050 | 2,993,080 | 0.7% |
Lesotho has a population of 2.38M as of 2025, compared to 2.1M in 2015, 1.95M in 2005, and 1.95M in 1995.
Over the past 10 years, the population has had a trend to increase by an average of 1.33% per year. Lesotho is ranked 99th out of 197 countries by a 10-year average growth rate.
The UN's World Population Prospects forecasts that with changing growth rate trends in 20 years (in 2045) Lesotho will have 2,881,333 people (20.9% growth) with a rank change from 144th to 141st.
By the year 2100, Lesotho's population is projected to grow by 36.7% to 3.26M people.
Largest cities by population
|
Lesotho
|
|
|---|---|
| City | Population |
| Maseru | 344K |
| Teyateyaneng | 75.1K |
| Mafeteng | 57.1K |
Compare countries by 7 more topics
Lesotho population statistics
|
Lesotho
|
World
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy | 58.2 years | 73.5 years |
| Average age | 25.8 years | 33.8 years |
| Median age | 22.7 years | 31.6 years |
| Male:Female ratio | 48.7:51.3 | 50.3:49.7 |
| Fertility rate | 2.69 births per woman | 2.2 births per woman |
| Population density | 199.4 ppl/mi² | 141.6 ppl/mi² |
Population map with other countries
Population
Growth rate visualization in other countries
Growth rate
Relevant pages:
Lesotho topic pages:
Population comparisons
