Sex
Female
30.3%
Male
69.7%
← Statistics
GDP (current US$)2,573,572,920.05 USD2025 GDP per capita (current US$)1,088.96 USD2025 Unemployment (% of labour force)16.32 %2025 Personal remittances received (US$)533,132,534.90 USD2025 Personal remittances received (% of GDP)20.72 %2025
Population, total2,363,325.00 people2025 Population density76.14 people/km22023
Net migration-5,192.00 people2025 International migrant stock, total15,039.00 people2024 International migrant stock (% of population)0.60 %2024
Asylum decisions - recognised29.00 people2025 Asylum decisions - otherwise closed5.00 people2025 Asylum decisions - total34.00 people2025
Returned refugees80.00 people1982 Naturalisations6.00 people2015
Life expectancy at birth, total (years)57.80 years2024 Current health expenditure (% of GDP)12.61 %2023 Primary completion rate, total (% of relevant age group)66.96 %2023 Gini index44.90 2017 Poverty headcount ratio at $2.15 a day (% of population)41.90 %2017
Sources & notes
Country profile
Lesotho
LS · LSO · Sub-Saharan AfricaA consolidated migration profile for Lesotho: who arrives, who leaves, how many people are hosted or displaced, and the national context behind those numbers. Every figure below is a reported value from an official source — nothing is estimated or filled in.
CapitalMaseru
RegionSub-Saharan Africa
SubregionSub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income)
Population2,363,325
Refugees hosted
478
People protected here
Refugees from here
—
Fled abroad
Migrants living here
15,039
Foreign-born stock
Net migration
-5,192
Net outflow
Asylum-seekers
202
Awaiting a decision
Reporting year
2025
Most recent data
Latest figures · 2025
Key migration numbers
The headline counts for the most recent reporting year. Refugees hosted are people this country protects; asylum-seekers are still awaiting a decision; applications are new asylum claims lodged during the year.
2025Reporting year
478Refugees hosted
202Asylum-seekers
43Applications (year)
Migration balance
Annual estimatesIncoming vs outgoing
Net migration is arrivals minus departures over the year. Positive means more people moved in than out. Migrant stock is the total foreign-born people living here now.
Net migration (year)-5,192Net outflow
Migrants living here15,039Migrant stock
Missing / dead migrants
No data available
IOM Missing Migrants ProjectHistorical series
Statistics
Recorded migrant, refugee and asylum populations over time. Each line is one category; gaps mean a year the source did not report a figure (the line bridges the gap rather than dropping to zero).
Population profileSex, age, religion & more
Sex, age, religion & more
How the population breaks down across reported dimensions, grouped by the year each figure was reported (most recent first). Bars show each group’s share of the total; where only headcounts were published, the raw number is shown instead.
Religion
National sharesReligious make-up over time
Share of the population by faith across the recorded years. Each line is a stored national value; nothing is estimated.
Christian
Muslim
Jewish
Unaffiliated
Other
Places of worship
Recorded countsPlaces of worship over time
No places-of-worship counts are recorded for this country yet. See the Places of worship page for the full picture.
See the full places-of-worship timeline for this country → · browse individual places →
Displaced population by age cohort for the most recent reported year. Age is summed across sexes in the source data, so this is a single series per cohort — not a male/female split.
Displaced population by sex over the reported years, stacked so the top line reads as the total.
Age
0-4
2.3%
12-17
11.1%
18-59
70.3%
5-11
15.6%
60+
0.7%
Sex
Female
34.4%
Male
65.6%
Age
0-4
7.3%
12-17
12.5%
18-59
65.9%
5-11
14.3%
Sex
Female
39.2%
Male
60.8%
Age
0-4
5.1%
12-17
11.5%
18-59
64.8%
5-11
17.9%
60+
0.7%
Sex
Female
40.9%
Male
59.1%
Age
0-4
9.7%
12-17
11.2%
18-59
60.4%
5-11
17.8%
60+
0.9%
Sex
Female
39.3%
Male
60.7%
Age
0-4
7.9%
12-17
6.3%
18-59
73.9%
5-11
11.9%
Sex
Female
42.4%
Male
57.6%
Age
0-4
10.0%
12-17
8.7%
18-59
64.0%
5-11
17.3%
Sex
Female
48.0%
Male
52.0%
Age
0-4
11.3%
12-17
10.4%
18-59
64.3%
5-11
14.0%
Sex
Female
40.2%
Male
59.8%
Age
12-17
10.9%
18-59
66.3%
5-11
22.8%
Sex
Female
34.9%
Male
65.1%
Age
12-17
19.3%
18-59
74.7%
5-11
6.0%
Sex
Female
35.3%
Male
64.7%
Age
18-59
80.4%
5-11
19.6%
Sex
Female
48.4%
Male
51.6%
Age
0-4
19.4%
18-59
80.6%
Sex
Female
41.9%
Male
58.1%
Age
0-4
16.3%
12-17
27.9%
18-59
55.8%
Sex
Female
37.9%
Male
62.1%
Age
12-17
27.6%
18-59
72.4%
Sex
Female
48.5%
Male
51.5%
Age
12-17
21.2%
18-59
63.6%
5-11
15.2%
Sex
Female
39.5%
Male
60.5%
Age
0-4
13.2%
12-17
31.6%
18-59
55.3%
Country contextNational indicators
National indicators
Economy
Population
Migration
Asylum decisions
Durable solutions
Other
ContextMigration & quality of life
Migration & quality of life
These charts place migration next to quality-of-life indicators over time. Correlation is not causation — a relationship here does not prove migration caused the change, or that a change caused the migration.
Economy
World BankGross domestic product
GDP (current US$)
$2.57B
Reported 2025
GDP per capita (current US$)
$1,089
Reported 2025
Migrant stock as a share of the population (left axis, in percent) shown against life expectancy (right axis, in years) over the years.
Each point is one year: migrant share of population (x, in percent) versus life expectancy (y, in years).
Public safetyRecorded crime
Not migrant offending
Recorded crime
National crime figures for context only — they describe the whole resident population and are not a measure of migrant offending.
Recorded crime by type
rate / 100k where available| Crime | Rate / 100k |
|---|---|
| Homicide | 38.24 |
| Crime | Rate / 100k |
|---|---|
| Homicide | 45.82 |
| Crime | Rate / 100k |
|---|---|
| 78.00 |
| Crime | Rate / 100k |
|---|---|
| Homicide | 43.21 |
| Crime | Rate / 100k |
|---|---|
| Homicide | 34.97 |
| Crime | Rate / 100k |
|---|---|
| Homicide | 34.16 |
| Crime | Rate / 100k |
|---|---|
| Homicide | 29.80 |
| Crime | Rate / 100k |
|---|---|
| Homicide | 28.68 |
Public expenditureExpenses
Expenses
Migration-related public spending only — Official Development Assistance received and provided (which, for donor countries, includes in-donor refugee costs), in US dollars, stacked so the top line reads as the combined total for each year.
| Year | Amount (USD) | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $172,315,887 | ODA received |
| 2022 | $153,728,333 | ODA received |
| 2021 | $180,333,954 | ODA received |
| 2020 | $172,013,901 | ODA received |
| 2019 | $141,216,827 | ODA received |
| 2018 | $153,757,339 | ODA received |
| 2017 | $145,663,605 | ODA received |
| 2016 | $112,066,635 | ODA received |
| 2015 | $86,489,838 | ODA received |
| 2014 | $107,174,263 | ODA received |
| 2013 | $320,674,408 | ODA received |
| 2012 | $276,257,324 | ODA received |
| 2011 | $256,770,111 | ODA received |
| 2010 | $218,279,999 | ODA received |
| 2009 | $122,273,743 | ODA received |
| 2008 | $144,707,809 | ODA received |
| 2007 | $130,898,438 | ODA received |
| 2006 | $71,186,668 | ODA received |
| 2005 | $68,440,002 | ODA received |
| 2004 | $95,307,983 | ODA received |
| 2003 | $79,129,646 | ODA received |
| 2002 | $77,002,716 | ODA received |
| 2001 | $55,549,732 | ODA received |
| 2000 | $37,166,401 | ODA received |
| 1999 | $31,671,227 | ODA received |
| 1998 | $61,846,226 | ODA received |
| 1997 | $91,494,827 | ODA received |
| 1996 | $103,209,999 | ODA received |
| 1995 | $112,650,002 | ODA received |
| 1994 | $115,620,003 | ODA received |
| 1993 | $143,059,998 | ODA received |
| 1992 | $143,160,004 | ODA received |
| 1991 | $123,309,998 | ODA received |
| 1990 | $139,130,005 | ODA received |
| 1989 | $134,509,995 | ODA received |
| 1988 | $108,900,002 | ODA received |
| 1987 | $104,849,998 | ODA received |
| 1986 | $85,379,997 | ODA received |
| 1985 | $92,180,000 | ODA received |
| 1984 | $98,459,999 | ODA received |
| 1983 | $106,180,000 | ODA received |
| 1982 | $92,349,998 | ODA received |
| 1981 | $103,250,000 | ODA received |
| 1980 | $93,160,004 | ODA received |
| 1979 | $64,709,999 | ODA received |
| 1978 | $49,410,000 | ODA received |
| 1977 | $36,669,998 | ODA received |
| 1976 | $28,520,000 | ODA received |
| 1975 | $28,480,000 | ODA received |
| 1974 | $20,620,001 | ODA received |
| 1973 | $13,930,000 | ODA received |
| 1972 | $13,840,000 | ODA received |
| 1971 | $16,570,000 | ODA received |
| 1970 | $9,730,000 | ODA received |
| 1969 | $13,070,000 | ODA received |
| 1968 | $13,180,000 | ODA received |
| 1967 | $13,780,000 | ODA received |
| 1966 | $12,540,000 | ODA received |
| 1965 | $9,490,000 | ODA received |
| 1964 | $5,660,000 | ODA received |
| 1963 | $5,640,000 | ODA received |
| 1962 | $5,930,000 | ODA received |
| 1961 | $4,140,000 | ODA received |
| 1960 | $1,560,000 | ODA received |
Figures are consolidated from the UNHCR Refugee Data Finder and the World Bank / UNODC. Only reported values are shown — blanks mean a source did not publish a figure, never a fabricated estimate. Statistics describe recorded populations and movements and should not be read as causal relationships.