Country · LSO
Lesotho · Society
Financial inflows
The money that comes into the country
Investment, money sent home by the diaspora and aid: three inflows often mixed up, shown side by side.
Foreign direct investment, net inflows
1.3 %
of GDP · 2025 · 33 m$
African median: 2.0 % · below
Remittances from the diaspora
20.8 %
of GDP · 2025 · 535 m$
African median: 3.2 % · above
Official development assistance, net
6.6 %
of gross national income · 2023 · 172 m$
African median: 4.1 % · above
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (updated 2026-10-08), CC BY 4.0 · investment: IMF balance of payments data · remittances: World Bank and KNOMAD · aid: OECD Development Assistance Committee
Structure of the economy and jobs
What the economy produces, and how people work
- Unemployment · 2025
- 16.3 %
- of the labour force · ILO
- Unemployment, ages 15–24 · 2025
- 24.7 %
- of young people in the labour force · ILO
- Vulnerable employment · 2025
- 32.6 %
- own-account and family workers, of all jobs · ILO
- Women in the labour force · 2025
- 48.1 %
- of women aged 15 and over · ILO
Jobs by sector, % of employment
2025
Source: ILO, modelled estimates, via World Bank World Development Indicators, CC BY 4.0
Unemployment and jobs: ILO modelled estimates, via the World Bank. They differ from national surveys, which count informal work in different ways.
Living conditions
What growth changes in daily life
Each indicator is compared with the African median, with the year of the latest survey: some are run only every three to five years.
| Indicator | Lesotho | African median | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poverty (under $3.00 a day, 2021 PPP) | 41.9 % | 38.6 % | 2017 | Poverty and Inequality Platform |
| Inequality (Gini index, 0 to 100) | 44.9 | 38.2 | 2017 | Poverty and Inequality Platform |
| Access to electricity | 60.6 % | 60.9 % | 2024 | WDI |
| Internet users | 51.8 % | 40.1 % | 2024 | WDI, from the ITU |
| Adults with an account (bank or mobile money) | 61.6 % | 51.8 % | 2024 | Global Findex |
Source: World Bank (updated 2026-10-08), CC BY 4.0 · medians of the latest values of each country: Syli Atlas calculation