The latest officially reported population of Lesotho was 2,337,423 in 2024 vs 5,169,395 people in Mauritania in 2024. In 2025, based on the adjusted UN estimation, the current Lesotho's population is 2,384,217 people compared to 5,432,542 in Mauritania.
Population statistics:
- Mauritania's population is 2.28 times bigger than Lesotho's.
- Lesotho is ranked the 144th most populous country in the world, while Mauritania is the 123rd.
- The countries together account for 0.09% of the world: 0.03% for Lesotho vs 0.07% for Mauritania.
- For the last 10 years, Lesotho has had an average growth rate of +1.17% per year vs +3% in Mauritania.
- Since 2005, the population of Lesotho has increased from 1.95M people to 2.38M (22.1% growth), while Mauritania has grown from 2.94M to 5.43M (84.8% growth).
- Lesotho is projected to reach its peak in 2083 at 3.31M people compared to the peak of 17.1M people in 2100 for Mauritania.
Lesotho vs Mauritania: live population counter
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Current population |
2384217
|
5432542
|
| Population rank | 144/197 | 123/197 |
| Percent of world population | 0.03% | 0.07% |
| One net population change |
20.3 minutes
|
3.58 minutes
|
| One birth every |
9.43 minutes
|
3.04 minutes
|
| One death every |
21.4 minutes
|
19 minutes
|
| One migration net change every |
1.72 hours
|
4.01 hours
|
| Annual migration change | -5,107 | -2,185 |
| Daily growth/decline | +71 | +403 |
| Annual growth/decline | +25,951 | +146,954 |
| Annual growth/decline rate | +1.12% | +2.93% |
| Population growth rate rank | 96/197 | 18/197 |
Lesotho and Mauritania: population history and growth rate by year chart
| Year | Population | Growth rate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1960 | 736,500 | 824,298 | - | - |
| 1961 | 758,824 | 846,167 | 3.03% | 2.65% |
| 1962 | 781,814 | 869,184 | 3.03% | 2.72% |
| 1963 | 805,373 | 893,423 | 3.01% | 2.79% |
| 1964 | 829,437 | 918,955 | 2.99% | 2.86% |
| 1965 | 854,090 | 945,838 | 2.97% | 2.93% |
| 1966 | 881,870 | 974,157 | 3.25% | 2.99% |
| 1967 | 913,982 | 1,003,843 | 3.64% | 3.05% |
| 1968 | 948,105 | 1,034,739 | 3.73% | 3.08% |
| 1969 | 983,202 | 1,066,754 | 3.7% | 3.09% |
| 1970 | 1,019,273 | 1,099,806 | 3.67% | 3.1% |
| 1971 | 1,056,246 | 1,133,702 | 3.63% | 3.08% |
| 1972 | 1,094,063 | 1,168,355 | 3.58% | 3.06% |
| 1973 | 1,132,697 | 1,203,838 | 3.53% | 3.04% |
| 1974 | 1,172,420 | 1,240,188 | 3.51% | 3.02% |
| 1975 | 1,213,643 | 1,277,330 | 3.52% | 2.99% |
| 1976 | 1,253,214 | 1,315,336 | 3.26% | 2.98% |
| 1977 | 1,289,967 | 1,353,768 | 2.93% | 2.92% |
| 1978 | 1,327,240 | 1,392,713 | 2.89% | 2.88% |
| 1979 | 1,366,169 | 1,432,758 | 2.93% | 2.88% |
| 1980 | 1,406,521 | 1,474,043 | 2.95% | 2.88% |
| 1981 | 1,448,069 | 1,516,877 | 2.95% | 2.91% |
| 1982 | 1,490,732 | 1,561,176 | 2.95% | 2.92% |
| 1983 | 1,534,413 | 1,606,746 | 2.93% | 2.92% |
| 1984 | 1,578,986 | 1,653,693 | 2.9% | 2.92% |
| 1985 | 1,624,379 | 1,702,107 | 2.87% | 2.93% |
| 1986 | 1,666,138 | 1,751,835 | 2.57% | 2.92% |
| 1987 | 1,703,390 | 1,803,014 | 2.24% | 2.92% |
| 1988 | 1,739,841 | 1,855,859 | 2.14% | 2.93% |
| 1989 | 1,775,436 | 1,903,048 | 2.05% | 2.54% |
| 1990 | 1,809,696 | 1,951,878 | 1.93% | 2.57% |
| 1991 | 1,842,379 | 2,009,738 | 1.81% | 2.96% |
| 1992 | 1,873,274 | 2,088,135 | 1.68% | 3.9% |
| 1993 | 1,901,793 | 2,174,328 | 1.52% | 4.13% |
| 1994 | 1,927,707 | 2,249,454 | 1.36% | 3.46% |
| 1995 | 1,951,437 | 2,312,017 | 1.23% | 2.78% |
| 1996 | 1,972,418 | 2,358,188 | 1.08% | 2% |
| 1997 | 1,988,130 | 2,411,306 | 0.8% | 2.25% |
| 1998 | 1,998,049 | 2,474,651 | 0.5% | 2.63% |
| 1999 | 2,003,234 | 2,541,698 | 0.26% | 2.71% |
| 2000 | 2,003,913 | 2,613,441 | 0.03% | 2.82% |
| 2001 | 2,000,853 | 2,678,760 | -0.15% | 2.5% |
| 2002 | 1,994,679 | 2,738,655 | -0.31% | 2.24% |
| 2003 | 1,985,059 | 2,802,046 | -0.48% | 2.31% |
| 2004 | 1,971,129 | 2,868,664 | -0.7% | 2.38% |
| 2005 | 1,953,076 | 2,939,059 | -0.92% | 2.45% |
| 2006 | 1,945,063 | 3,013,660 | -0.41% | 2.54% |
| 2007 | 1,953,268 | 3,093,059 | 0.42% | 2.63% |
| 2008 | 1,966,541 | 3,183,269 | 0.68% | 2.92% |
| 2009 | 1,980,883 | 3,284,448 | 0.73% | 3.18% |
| 2010 | 1,996,251 | 3,390,965 | 0.78% | 3.24% |
| 2011 | 2,014,009 | 3,502,811 | 0.89% | 3.3% |
| 2012 | 2,034,354 | 3,619,034 | 1.01% | 3.32% |
| 2013 | 2,056,504 | 3,734,318 | 1.09% | 3.19% |
| 2014 | 2,080,089 | 3,848,514 | 1.15% | 3.06% |
| 2015 | 2,104,611 | 3,965,959 | 1.18% | 3.05% |
| 2016 | 2,130,422 | 4,086,657 | 1.23% | 3.04% |
| 2017 | 2,157,110 | 4,210,600 | 1.25% | 3.03% |
| 2018 | 2,183,603 | 4,337,685 | 1.23% | 3.02% |
| 2019 | 2,209,405 | 4,467,708 | 1.18% | 3% |
| 2020 | 2,235,727 | 4,600,131 | 1.19% | 2.96% |
| 2021 | 2,261,542 | 4,734,874 | 1.15% | 2.93% |
| 2022 | 2,286,110 | 4,875,637 | 1.09% | 2.97% |
| 2023 | 2,311,472 | 5,022,441 | 1.11% | 3.01% |
| 2024 | 2,337,423 | 5,169,395 | 1.12% | 2.93% |
| 2025 | 2,363,324 | 5,315,063 | 1.11% | 2.82% |
| 2026 | 2,389,334 | 5,461,313 | 1.1% | 2.75% |
| 2027 | 2,415,365 | 5,608,785 | 1.09% | 2.7% |
| 2028 | 2,441,435 | 5,757,952 | 1.08% | 2.66% |
| 2029 | 2,467,677 | 5,909,186 | 1.07% | 2.63% |
| 2030 | 2,493,816 | 6,062,523 | 1.06% | 2.59% |
| 2031 | 2,520,014 | 6,217,791 | 1.05% | 2.56% |
| 2032 | 2,546,489 | 6,374,839 | 1.05% | 2.53% |
| 2033 | 2,573,106 | 6,533,828 | 1.05% | 2.49% |
| 2034 | 2,599,777 | 6,694,445 | 1.04% | 2.46% |
| 2035 | 2,626,560 | 6,856,314 | 1.03% | 2.42% |
| 2036 | 2,653,503 | 7,019,227 | 1.03% | 2.38% |
| 2037 | 2,680,081 | 7,183,105 | 1% | 2.33% |
| 2038 | 2,706,197 | 7,348,357 | 0.97% | 2.3% |
| 2039 | 2,732,138 | 7,514,734 | 0.96% | 2.26% |
| 2040 | 2,757,868 | 7,681,907 | 0.94% | 2.22% |
| 2041 | 2,783,361 | 7,850,210 | 0.92% | 2.19% |
| 2042 | 2,808,538 | 8,020,480 | 0.9% | 2.17% |
| 2043 | 2,833,257 | 8,192,542 | 0.88% | 2.15% |
| 2044 | 2,857,499 | 8,365,171 | 0.86% | 2.11% |
| 2045 | 2,881,333 | 8,538,521 | 0.83% | 2.07% |
| 2046 | 2,904,780 | 8,713,247 | 0.81% | 2.05% |
| 2047 | 2,927,859 | 8,888,466 | 0.79% | 2.01% |
| 2048 | 2,950,411 | 9,064,207 | 0.77% | 1.98% |
| 2049 | 2,972,156 | 9,240,169 | 0.74% | 1.94% |
| 2050 | 2,993,080 | 9,415,589 | 0.7% | 1.9% |
From 2005 to 2015, the population of Lesotho increased by 151,535 people (a 7.76% growth), while Mauritania gained 1,026,900 people (a 34.9% growth).
For the next 10 years, from 2015 to 2025, Lesotho gained 279,606 (a 13.3% growth), while Mauritania's population increased by 1,466,583 (a 37% growth).
Lesotho was ranked 144th most populous country in 2005 and is still 144th in 2025. Mauritania was ranked 133rd in 2005 and ranked 123rd now.
The UN's World Population Prospects forecasts that with changing growth rate trends in 25 years (in 2050) Lesotho's population will grow by 25.5% to 2,993,080 people with a rank change from 144th to 141st. The population of Mauritania will increase by 73.3% to 9,415,589 people and rank change from 123rd to 103rd.
Biggest cities by population
|
|
|
|---|---|
| City | Population |
| Maseru | 344K |
| Teyateyaneng | 75.1K |
| Mafeteng | 57.1K |
| Butha-Buthe | 10K |
|
|
|
|---|---|
| City | Population |
| Nouakchott | 1.08M |
| Rosso | 33.5K |
Compare countries by 7 more topics
Population differences between Lesotho and Mauritania
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy | 58.2 years | 68.9 years |
| Average age | 25.8 years | 23 years |
| Median age | 22.7 years | 18.4 years |
| Male:Female ratio | 48.7:51.3 | 49.1:50.9 |
| Fertility rate | 2.69 births per woman | 4.7 births per woman |
| Population density | 199.4 ppl/mi² | 13 ppl/mi² |
Population map with other countries
Population
Growth rate visualization in other countries
Growth rate
Relevant pages:
By topic
vs
comparisons:
Population comparisons