Sub-Saharan Africa · Lower middle income

Lesotho: the economy in numbers

Per person: $1,089, or $3,184 at purchasing power parity. Population: 2.36 million (2025).

$2.57B+2.0%real GDP growth, 2025

GDP in 2025, current US dollars: #181 of 204 economies. IMF forecast for 2026: +1.1%.

GDP per capita

$1,089

2025 · #190 of 204

GDP per capita, PPP

$3,184

2025 · #182 of 197

Inflation

4.3%

2025 · IMF forecast 2026: 4.6%

Government debt

49.4%

2025 · % of GDP, general government

Population

2.36M

2025 · #144 of 217

Unemployment

16.3%

2025 · ILO estimate

Life expectancy

57.8 years

2024

GDP

Adjusted for US inflation, in 2025 dollars: $377 million in 1960, $2.57 billion in 2025.

Current US dollars; “In 2025 dollars” removes US inflationSource: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)

GDP per capita

In 2025 dollars: $512 per person in 1960, $1,089 in 2025.

GDP per capitaGDP per capita, PPP (international $)

PPP: purchasing power parity, international dollarsSource: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)

Real GDP growth

Average over 2016–2025: 0.2% a year. Years of falling GDP since 1961: 10 of 65.

Shaded: IMF forecasts from 2026Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)
Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook (October 2026)

Inflation

Consumer prices rose 3.19 times from 2000 to 2025. Highest annual inflation: 33.8% in 2002.

Shaded: IMF forecasts from 2026Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)
Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook (October 2026)

Government debt, % of GDP

Highest since 1988: 108.7% of GDP in 2001. IMF forecast for 2031: 52.2%.

General government (IMF)Central government only (World Bank)

Shaded: IMF forecasts from 2026Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook (October 2026)
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)

Population

1960: 736,500 · 2025: 2.36 million.

Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)

Unemployment rate

1991: 15.5% · 2025: 16.3%.

% of the labor force, ILO modeled estimatesSource: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)

Life expectancy at birth

1960: 50.2 years · 2024: 57.8 years.

Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)

Exports of goods and services

1960: 11.7% · 2025: 49.5%.

% of GDPSource: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)

Data by year

Show the year-by-year table

Year	GDP	GDP per capita	Per capita, PPP	Real growth	Inflation	Gov. debt, % GDP	Population	Unemployment	Life expectancy	Exports, % GDP
2031				1.5%^f	4.0%^f	52.2%^f
2030				1.5%^f	4.0%^f	50.7%^f
2029				1.5%^f	4.0%^f	49.2%^f
2028				1.4%^f	4.0%^f	48.5%^f
2027				0.8%^f	3.9%^f	48.0%^f
2026				1.1%^f	4.6%^f	47.5%^f
2025	$2.57B	$1,089	$3,184	2.0%	4.3%	49.4%	2.36M	16.3%		49.5%
2024	$2.39B	$1,023	$3,071	5.2%	6.1%	52.5%	2.34M	16.3%	57.8	49.4%
2023	$2.13B	$921	$2,880	1.7%	6.3%	61.0%	2.31M	16.3%	57.4	42.7%
2022	$2.35B	$1,030	$2,761	2.4%	8.3%	64.6%	2.29M	16.6%	56.8	46.5%
2021	$2.41B	$1,067	$2,545	2.3%	6.0%	58.0%	2.26M	18.2%	54.2	46.1%
2020	$2.05B	$919	$2,559	−8.2%	5.0%	54.7%	2.24M	18.4%	55.1	44.4%
2019	$2.39B	$1,082	$2,568	−1.4%	5.2%	58.2%	2.21M	16.9%	55.2	46.2%
2018	$2.56B	$1,171	$2,632	−1.5%	4.8%	48.2%	2.18M	16.6%	54.6	49.8%
2017	$2.31B	$1,069	$2,619	−3.1%	4.4%	41.0%	2.16M	16.4%	53.9	47.5%
2016	$2.11B	$992	$2,942	3.6%	6.6%	41.5%	2.13M	16.1%	52.9	45.8%
2015	$2.36B	$1,121	$3,035	3.1%	3.2%	45.8%	2.1M	16.2%	51.8	42.9%
2014	$2.44B	$1,174	$2,771	1.7%	5.4%	41.5%	2.08M	16.1%	50.8	38.1%
2013	$2.37B	$1,151	$2,538	1.8%	4.9%	41.2%	2.06M	15.9%	49.5	38.2%
2012	$2.48B	$1,218	$2,291	6.3%	6.1%	39.8%	2.03M	15.8%	48.2	41.8%
2011	$2.58B	$1,281	$2,279	4.6%	5.0%	36.2%	2.01M	16.1%	46.9	47.7%
2010	$2.23B	$1,119	$2,153	5.3%	−2.4%	33.8%	2.0M	16.1%	46.0	42.1%
2009	$1.74B	$879	$2,036	−1.3%	−16.9%	35.9%	1.98M	16.1%	45.1	44.8%
2008	$1.77B	$898	$2,064	5.5%	10.7%	47.0%	1.97M	15.9%	44.3	52.9%
2007	$1.68B	$861	$1,932	4.2%	8.0%	49.6%	1.95M	15.9%	43.7	53.2%
2006	$1.8B	$925	$1,813	4.2%	6.1%	43.7%	1.95M	16.1%	43.2
2005	$1.68B	$861	$1,681	3.5%	3.4%	41.0%	1.95M	16.0%	43.6
2004	$1.51B	$767	$1,561	1.7%	5.0%	49.4%	1.97M	16.2%	44.0
2003	$1.16B	$583	$1,484	4.6%	6.6%	52.6%	1.99M	16.1%	44.9
2002	$776M	$389	$1,385	0.7%	33.8%	79.6%	1.99M	16.1%	46.0
2001	$826M	$413	$1,350	3.6%	−9.6%	108.7%	2.0M	16.1%	47.2
2000	$887M	$443	$1,273	3.9%	6.1%	88.5%	2.0M	16.2%	48.8
1999	$913M	$456	$1,199	0.5%		83.0%	2.0M	16.2%	50.4
1998	$928M	$465	$1,179	1.5%		79.4%	2.0M	15.9%	52.0
1997	$998M	$502	$1,154	3.7%		65.7%	1.99M	15.8%	53.7
1996	$946M	$480	$1,103	5.6%	9.3%	71.6%	1.97M	15.7%	55.1
1995	$1.0B	$513	$1,037	3.3%	9.3%	62.8%	1.95M	15.8%	56.4
1994	$878M	$456	$995	6.0%	8.2%	67.0%	1.93M	15.6%	57.3
1993	$836M	$439	$932	3.5%	13.1%	71.2%	1.9M	15.6%	58.1
1992	$831M	$444	$893	7.0%	17.2%	64.4%	1.87M	15.4%	58.6
1991	$704M	$382	$830	7.0%	17.7%	11.9%	1.84M	15.5%	59.1
1990	$596M	$330	$764	6.0%	11.6%	18.0%	1.81M		59.3
1989	$495M	$279		5.8%	14.7%	25.5%	1.78M		59.5
1988	$470M	$270		8.6%	11.5%	23.3%	1.74M		59.6
1987	$403M	$236		0.7%	11.8%		1.7M		59.6
1986	$319M	$191		4.7%	18.0%		1.67M		59.3
1985	$269M	$165		2.6%	13.3%		1.62M		59.2
1984	$333M	$211		5.5%	11.0%		1.58M		59.0
1983	$387M	$252		2.0%	17.5%		1.53M		58.5
1982	$349M	$234		4.5%	12.1%		1.49M		58.0
1981	$434M	$300		0.7%	12.4%		1.45M		57.3	19.3%
1980	$432M	$307		−2.7%	16.3%		1.41M		56.5	21.0%
1979	$290M	$212		2.9%	16.0%		1.37M		55.8	22.1%
1978	$267M	$201		18.3%	13.5%		1.33M		55.2	17.3%
1977	$193M	$150		21.8%	16.7%		1.29M		54.5	11.9%
1976	$148M	$118		11.0%	11.4%		1.25M		53.9	17.9%
1975	$150M	$123		−13.5%	14.2%		1.21M		53.5	14.5%
1974	$151M	$129		11.0%	13.4%		1.17M		52.9	13.7%
1973	$121M	$107		26.4%			1.13M		52.6	14.3%
1972	$80.9M	$74		−0.2%			1.09M		52.3	16.1%
1971	$76.5M	$72		5.1%			1.06M		51.8	12.8%
1970	$68.7M	$67		2.2%			1.02M		51.5	12.2%
1969	$66M	$67		1.5%			983K		51.1	13.6%
1968	$61.4M	$65		−0.4%			948K		50.8	12.1%
1967	$59.3M	$65		10.9%			914K		50.5	12.0%
1966	$56.7M	$64		−0.4%			882K		50.4	10.9%
1965	$54.9M	$64		2.2%			854K		50.3	15.6%
1964	$51.9M	$63		8.3%			829K		50.3	15.4%
1963	$47M	$58		10.6%			805K		50.3	14.9%
1962	$41.9M	$54		15.3%			782K		50.3	14.4%
1961	$35.7M	$47		1.9%			759K		50.3	12.5%
1960	$34.6M	$47					736K		50.2	11.7%

e: IMF estimate; f: IMF forecast.

Nearby economies in Sub-Saharan Africa

Nearest by distance between capitals, with GDP per capita.

South Africa

$6,598 per person (2025)

Eswatini

$4,108 per person (2025)

Botswana

$7,778 per person (2025)

Mozambique

$627 per person (2025)

Namibia

$4,876 per person (2025)

Zimbabwe

$3,021 per person (2025)

Zambia

$1,318 per person (2025)

Malawi

$672 per person (2025)

Angola · Benin · Botswana · Burkina Faso · Burundi · Cabo Verde · Cameroon · Central African Republic · Chad · Comoros · Côte d’Ivoire · DR Congo · Equatorial Guinea · Eritrea · Eswatini · Ethiopia · Gabon · Gambia · Ghana · Guinea · Guinea-Bissau · Kenya · Lesotho · Liberia · Madagascar · Malawi · Mali · Mauritania · Mauritius · Mozambique · Namibia · Niger · Nigeria · Republic of the Congo · Rwanda · Senegal · Seychelles · Sierra Leone · Somalia · South Africa · South Sudan · Sudan · São Tomé and Príncipe · Tanzania · Togo · Uganda · Zambia · Zimbabwe

Rankings

GDP by country · GDP per capita · Real GDP growth · Inflation by country · Government debt to GDP · Stock market to GDP · Population by country · Unemployment by country

Data and methods

GDP: gross domestic product in current US dollars, converted from the local currency at market exchange rates (World Bank); not adjusted for inflation.
Purchasing power parity (PPP): GDP per person in international dollars, which buy the same basket of goods and services in every country. It compares living standards across countries in the same year; it is not adjusted for inflation over time.
In 2025 dollars: the charts can remove US inflation (US consumer price index, annual average) so that dollar amounts from different years compare in today's money. Exchange rate swings still show.
Growth and inflation: World Bank data (calendar years). Years the World Bank does not cover yet, and the estimates and forecasts, come from the IMF World Economic Outlook (October 2026): its forecasts start in 2026, and the years after a country's last actual year are IMF estimates.
Government debt: gross debt of the general government (central, state and local government and social security funds) as a percentage of GDP, IMF. The World Bank's central government debt is narrower and covers fewer countries.
Stock market capitalization: the end-of-year value of domestic companies listed on the country's exchanges (World Federation of Exchanges via the World Bank; before 2016, Standard & Poor's), as a percentage of GDP: the “Buffett indicator”. Investment funds are excluded, and so are companies listed only abroad; companies from elsewhere that list on an exchange count for its country (Hong Kong lists many mainland Chinese companies).
Unemployment: ILO modeled estimates (share of the labor force); comparable across countries, but they may differ from national figures.
Fiscal year: the IMF reports this economy by fiscal year (latest actual: FY2024/25), so IMF numbers can differ from calendar-year World Bank figures.

Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)
Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook (October 2026)