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Lesotho

Headline economic indicators for Lesotho, with the most recent official readings.

Prices

Prices — Lesotho
Indicator Value Change
Inflation rate · 4.3% -1.84 (-30.1%)
Consumer price index · 221.0 +9.05 (+4.3%)
GDP deflator inflation · 3.0% -3.00 (-50.0%)

GDP

GDP — Lesotho
Indicator Value Change
GDP growth rate · 2.0% -3.24 (-62.1%)
GDP per capita · 1,088.96 +65.92 (+6.4%)
GDP per capita, long-run history · 2,313 +1.07 (+0.0%)
GDP · 2,573,572,920.05 +182,290,372 (+7.6%)
GDP, PPP · 7,525,103,904 +347,355,151 (+4.8%)
GDP per capita, PPP · 3,184 +113.32 (+3.7%)
GDP per capita growth · 0.9% -3.19 (-78.7%)
GNI per capita · 1,280 +40.00 (+3.2%)
Agriculture to GDP · 6.5% -0.14 (-2.1%)
Industry to GDP · 25.2% -2.94 (-10.5%)
Manufacturing to GDP · 12.1% -1.98 (-14.1%)
Services to GDP · 55.6% +4.25 (+8.3%)
Household consumption to GDP · 96.8% +4.00 (+4.3%)
Gross capital formation to GDP · 31.2% +1.56 (+5.3%)
Gross savings to GDP · 13.6% -7.75 (-36.3%)

Labour

Labour — Lesotho
Indicator Value Change
Unemployment rate · 16.3% -0.02 (-0.2%)
Labour force participation rate · 57.1% -0.30 (-0.5%)
Female labour force participation rate · 48.1% -0.37 (-0.8%)
Youth unemployment rate · 24.7% -0.07 (-0.3%)
Employment to population ratio · 47.8% -0.24 (-0.5%)
Employment in agriculture · 30.9% -0.25 (-0.8%)
Employment in industry · 33.0% -0.07 (-0.2%)
Employment in services · 36.1% +0.32 (+0.9%)

Money

Money — Lesotho
Indicator Value Change
Real interest rate · 4.9% -5.81 (-54.1%)
Broad money to GDP · 42.3% +6.95 (+19.7%)
Private sector credit to GDP · 24.3% -0.43 (-1.7%)
Lending rate · 11.2% +0.13 (+1.1%)
Bank deposit rate · 2.5% +0.02 (+1.0%)
Bank nonperforming loans · 4.3% +0.43 (+11.2%)
Official exchange rate · 17.89 -0.44 (-2.4%)

Trade

Trade — Lesotho
Indicator Value Change
Current account to GDP · 0.1% -4.05 (-98.7%)
Exports to GDP · 49.5% +0.13 (+0.3%)
Imports to GDP · 104.5% +1.38 (+1.3%)
Trade to GDP · 154.0% +1.51 (+1.0%)
Exports of goods and services · 1,274,711,831.44 +93,283,273 (+7.9%)
Imports of goods and services · 2,688,114,188.42 +223,449,290 (+9.1%)
Trade balance, goods and services (annual) · -1,203,753,241.82 -110,996,963 (-10.2%)
Current account balance (annual) · 1,410,749.38 -96,761,780 (-98.6%)
Foreign direct investment to GDP · 1.3% +0.68 (+109.9%)
Remittances received to GDP · 20.8% +0.89 (+4.5%)
Total reserves, including gold · 1,007,862,057.2 +153,773,133 (+18.0%)
Reserves in months of imports · 5.5 +0.86 (+18.4%)
External debt to GNI · 65.4% -3.57 (-5.2%)

Government

Government — Lesotho
Indicator Value Change
Government debt to GDP · 3.0% -29.17 (-90.7%)
Government revenue to GDP · 42.0% -5.37 (-11.3%)
Government expense to GDP · 40.2% +2.13 (+5.6%)
Tax revenue to GDP · 35.4% -4.58 (-11.5%)
Government budget balance to GDP · 7.2% -0.97 (-11.8%)
Government consumption to GDP · 36.4% +0.68 (+1.9%)
Education spending to GDP · 6.6% -0.67 (-9.2%)
Health spending to GDP · 12.6% -0.28 (-2.2%)

Demography

Demography — Lesotho
Indicator Value Change
Population · 2,363,325 +25,902 (+1.1%)
Population, long-run history · 2,059 +21.76 (+1.1%)
Population growth · 1.1% -0.01 (-1.3%)
Life expectancy · 57.8 +0.42 (+0.7%)
Fertility rate · 2.66 -0.03 (-1.1%)
Birth rate · 23.8 -0.35 (-1.4%)
Death rate · 10.5 -0.17 (-1.6%)
Urban population share · 44.7% +0.99 (+2.3%)
Population aged 65 and over · 3.9% +0.02 (+0.6%)
Under-five mortality rate · 60.0 -1.30 (-2.1%)
Population density · 77.0 +0.85 (+1.1%)
Net migration · -5,192 -85.00 (-1.7%)
Gini index · 44.9 -6.30 (-12.3%)

Source: Bolt, J. and van Zanden, J.L. (2024), Maddison style estimates of the evolution of the world economy: A new 2023 update, Journal of Economic Surveys, 1-41, DOI 10.1111/joes.12618. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. The original sources are listed on each page.

All data sources

Original sources of these estimates

GDP pc: 2008 - 2022: Total Economy Database the Conference Board for all countries included in TED. Otherwise UN national accounts statistics

No separate list is published for Lesotho; the database as a whole is cited above.

Economies nearby

Comparable readings from neighbouring economies.