The latest officially reported population of Lesotho was 2,337,423 in 2024 vs 8,642,022 people in Sierra Leone in 2024. In 2025, based on the adjusted UN estimation, the current Lesotho's population is 2,384,217 people compared to 8,961,932 in Sierra Leone.
Population statistics:
- Sierra Leone's population is 3.76 times bigger than Lesotho's.
- Lesotho is ranked the 144th most populous country in the world, while Sierra Leone is the 102nd.
- The countries together account for 0.14% of the world: 0.03% for Lesotho vs 0.11% for Sierra Leone.
- For the last 10 years, Lesotho has had an average growth rate of +1.17% per year vs +2.32% in Sierra Leone.
- Since 2005, the population of Lesotho has increased from 1.95M people to 2.38M (22.1% growth), while Sierra Leone has grown from 5.5M to 8.96M (62.9% growth).
- Lesotho is projected to reach its peak in 2083 at 3.31M people compared to the peak of 16M people in 2092 for Sierra Leone.
Lesotho vs Sierra Leone: live population counter
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Current population |
2384217
|
8961932
|
| Population rank | 144/197 | 102/197 |
| Percent of world population | 0.03% | 0.11% |
| One net population change |
20.3 minutes
|
2.9 minutes
|
| One birth every |
9.43 minutes
|
2.03 minutes
|
| One death every |
21.4 minutes
|
7.5 minutes
|
| One migration net change every |
1.72 hours
|
47.8 minutes
|
| Annual migration change | -5,107 | -11,000 |
| Daily growth/decline | +71 | +497 |
| Annual growth/decline | +25,951 | +181,510 |
| Annual growth/decline rate | +1.12% | +2.15% |
| Population growth rate rank | 96/197 | 49/197 |
Lesotho and Sierra Leone: population history and growth rate by year chart
| Year | Population | Growth rate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1960 | 736,500 | 2,268,356 | - | - |
| 1961 | 758,824 | 2,304,227 | 3.03% | 1.58% |
| 1962 | 781,814 | 2,342,242 | 3.03% | 1.65% |
| 1963 | 805,373 | 2,382,258 | 3.01% | 1.71% |
| 1964 | 829,437 | 2,424,390 | 2.99% | 1.77% |
| 1965 | 854,090 | 2,468,666 | 2.97% | 1.83% |
| 1966 | 881,870 | 2,514,638 | 3.25% | 1.86% |
| 1967 | 913,982 | 2,562,384 | 3.64% | 1.9% |
| 1968 | 948,105 | 2,611,532 | 3.73% | 1.92% |
| 1969 | 983,202 | 2,661,365 | 3.7% | 1.91% |
| 1970 | 1,019,273 | 2,712,286 | 3.67% | 1.91% |
| 1971 | 1,056,246 | 2,763,222 | 3.63% | 1.88% |
| 1972 | 1,094,063 | 2,814,388 | 3.58% | 1.85% |
| 1973 | 1,132,697 | 2,866,955 | 3.53% | 1.87% |
| 1974 | 1,172,420 | 2,920,459 | 3.51% | 1.87% |
| 1975 | 1,213,643 | 2,974,657 | 3.52% | 1.86% |
| 1976 | 1,253,214 | 3,028,820 | 3.26% | 1.82% |
| 1977 | 1,289,967 | 3,085,354 | 2.93% | 1.87% |
| 1978 | 1,327,240 | 3,145,517 | 2.89% | 1.95% |
| 1979 | 1,366,169 | 3,207,499 | 2.93% | 1.97% |
| 1980 | 1,406,521 | 3,272,089 | 2.95% | 2.01% |
| 1981 | 1,448,069 | 3,338,940 | 2.95% | 2.04% |
| 1982 | 1,490,732 | 3,408,183 | 2.95% | 2.07% |
| 1983 | 1,534,413 | 3,481,646 | 2.93% | 2.16% |
| 1984 | 1,578,986 | 3,558,758 | 2.9% | 2.21% |
| 1985 | 1,624,379 | 3,638,438 | 2.87% | 2.24% |
| 1986 | 1,666,138 | 3,728,380 | 2.57% | 2.47% |
| 1987 | 1,703,390 | 3,829,718 | 2.24% | 2.72% |
| 1988 | 1,739,841 | 3,934,517 | 2.14% | 2.74% |
| 1989 | 1,775,436 | 4,034,037 | 2.05% | 2.53% |
| 1990 | 1,809,696 | 4,196,828 | 1.93% | 4.04% |
| 1991 | 1,842,379 | 4,246,267 | 1.81% | 1.18% |
| 1992 | 1,873,274 | 4,166,366 | 1.68% | -1.88% |
| 1993 | 1,901,793 | 4,157,130 | 1.52% | -0.22% |
| 1994 | 1,927,707 | 4,173,105 | 1.36% | 0.38% |
| 1995 | 1,951,437 | 4,179,179 | 1.23% | 0.15% |
| 1996 | 1,972,418 | 4,199,210 | 1.08% | 0.48% |
| 1997 | 1,988,130 | 4,253,716 | 0.8% | 1.3% |
| 1998 | 1,998,049 | 4,295,785 | 0.5% | 0.99% |
| 1999 | 2,003,234 | 4,318,043 | 0.26% | 0.52% |
| 2000 | 2,003,913 | 4,423,611 | 0.03% | 2.44% |
| 2001 | 2,000,853 | 4,692,716 | -0.15% | 6.08% |
| 2002 | 1,994,679 | 4,971,435 | -0.31% | 5.94% |
| 2003 | 1,985,059 | 5,177,687 | -0.48% | 4.15% |
| 2004 | 1,971,129 | 5,355,717 | -0.7% | 3.44% |
| 2005 | 1,953,076 | 5,501,712 | -0.92% | 2.73% |
| 2006 | 1,945,063 | 5,624,466 | -0.41% | 2.23% |
| 2007 | 1,953,268 | 5,749,352 | 0.42% | 2.22% |
| 2008 | 1,966,541 | 5,894,722 | 0.68% | 2.53% |
| 2009 | 1,980,883 | 6,055,646 | 0.73% | 2.73% |
| 2010 | 1,996,251 | 6,222,714 | 0.78% | 2.76% |
| 2011 | 2,014,009 | 6,387,251 | 0.89% | 2.64% |
| 2012 | 2,034,354 | 6,551,080 | 1.01% | 2.56% |
| 2013 | 2,056,504 | 6,714,051 | 1.09% | 2.49% |
| 2014 | 2,080,089 | 6,876,385 | 1.15% | 2.42% |
| 2015 | 2,104,611 | 7,037,655 | 1.18% | 2.35% |
| 2016 | 2,130,422 | 7,205,328 | 1.23% | 2.38% |
| 2017 | 2,157,110 | 7,379,299 | 1.25% | 2.41% |
| 2018 | 2,183,603 | 7,554,563 | 1.23% | 2.38% |
| 2019 | 2,209,405 | 7,731,991 | 1.18% | 2.35% |
| 2020 | 2,235,727 | 7,912,558 | 1.19% | 2.34% |
| 2021 | 2,261,542 | 8,094,602 | 1.15% | 2.3% |
| 2022 | 2,286,110 | 8,276,807 | 1.09% | 2.25% |
| 2023 | 2,311,472 | 8,460,512 | 1.11% | 2.22% |
| 2024 | 2,337,423 | 8,642,022 | 1.12% | 2.15% |
| 2025 | 2,363,324 | 8,819,789 | 1.11% | 2.06% |
| 2026 | 2,389,334 | 8,996,743 | 1.1% | 2.01% |
| 2027 | 2,415,365 | 9,174,695 | 1.09% | 1.98% |
| 2028 | 2,441,435 | 9,349,021 | 1.08% | 1.9% |
| 2029 | 2,467,677 | 9,520,811 | 1.07% | 1.84% |
| 2030 | 2,493,816 | 9,694,851 | 1.06% | 1.83% |
| 2031 | 2,520,014 | 9,870,295 | 1.05% | 1.81% |
| 2032 | 2,546,489 | 10,047,193 | 1.05% | 1.79% |
| 2033 | 2,573,106 | 10,221,006 | 1.05% | 1.73% |
| 2034 | 2,599,777 | 10,391,485 | 1.04% | 1.67% |
| 2035 | 2,626,560 | 10,563,163 | 1.03% | 1.65% |
| 2036 | 2,653,503 | 10,734,341 | 1.03% | 1.62% |
| 2037 | 2,680,081 | 10,902,263 | 1% | 1.56% |
| 2038 | 2,706,197 | 11,066,143 | 0.97% | 1.5% |
| 2039 | 2,732,138 | 11,230,060 | 0.96% | 1.48% |
| 2040 | 2,757,868 | 11,398,391 | 0.94% | 1.5% |
| 2041 | 2,783,361 | 11,566,213 | 0.92% | 1.47% |
| 2042 | 2,808,538 | 11,728,787 | 0.9% | 1.41% |
| 2043 | 2,833,257 | 11,887,934 | 0.88% | 1.36% |
| 2044 | 2,857,499 | 12,049,424 | 0.86% | 1.36% |
| 2045 | 2,881,333 | 12,208,872 | 0.83% | 1.32% |
| 2046 | 2,904,780 | 12,363,446 | 0.81% | 1.27% |
| 2047 | 2,927,859 | 12,512,739 | 0.79% | 1.21% |
| 2048 | 2,950,411 | 12,659,609 | 0.77% | 1.17% |
| 2049 | 2,972,156 | 12,805,136 | 0.74% | 1.15% |
| 2050 | 2,993,080 | 12,948,320 | 0.7% | 1.12% |
From 2005 to 2015, the population of Lesotho increased by 151,535 people (a 7.76% growth), while Sierra Leone gained 1,535,943 people (a 27.9% growth).
For the next 10 years, from 2015 to 2025, Lesotho gained 279,606 (a 13.3% growth), while Sierra Leone's population increased by 1,924,277 (a 27.3% growth).
Lesotho was ranked 144th most populous country in 2005 and is still 144th in 2025. Sierra Leone was ranked 106th in 2005 and ranked 102nd 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 Sierra Leone will increase by 44.5% to 12,948,320 people and rank change from 102nd to 91st.
Biggest cities by population
|
|
|
|---|---|
| City | Population |
| Maseru | 344K |
| Teyateyaneng | 75.1K |
| Mafeteng | 57.1K |
| Butha-Buthe | 10K |
|
|
|
|---|---|
| City | Population |
| Freetown | 951K |
| Bo | 234K |
| Kenema | 188K |
Compare countries by 7 more topics
Population differences between Lesotho and Sierra Leone
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy | 58.2 years | 62.2 years |
| Average age | 25.8 years | 24.4 years |
| Median age | 22.7 years | 20.5 years |
| Male:Female ratio | 48.7:51.3 | 49.9:50.1 |
| Fertility rate | 2.69 births per woman | 3.79 births per woman |
| Population density | 199.4 ppl/mi² | 310 ppl/mi² |
Population map with other countries
Population
Growth rate visualization in other countries
Growth rate
Relevant pages:
By topic
vs
comparisons:
Population comparisons