Lesotho: Economy
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Income Level (by per capita GNI) Source: The World Bank Possible values: High Income, Upper Middle Income, Lower Middle Income and Low Income |
Lower Middle Income |
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Level of Development
Source: United Nations Possible values: Developed, In Transition and Developing |
Developing |
| Economic Trivia | The government is Lesotho's largest employer, and public expenditures account for 55% of GDP. |
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Trade
Source: United Nations Comtrade Note: Top 3 trade partners are calculated by imports + exports. |
Top 3 Trade Partners (2012): South Africa, United States, and China |
| Top Industries Source: CIA World Factbook | Food; Beverages; Textiles; Apparel Assembly |
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) [1]
| GDP, PPP (current international) | $6,001,953,371 (2019) |
| GDP Growth Rate (annual %) | -0.806% (2019) |
| GDP Per Capita, PPP (current international) | $2,824 (2019) |
GDP Country Rank 163/196 (2019)
Economic Indicators [1]
| Inflation, consumer prices (annual %) | 5.187% (2019) |
| External debt stocks, total (DOD, current US$) | $938,770,438 (2019) |
| Total tax rate (% of commercial profits) | 13.6% (2019) |
| Real Interest Rate (5 year average %) | 9.623% (2019) |
| Manufacturing, value added (% of GDP) | 16.092% (2019) |
| Current Account Balance (BoP, current US$) | ($146,173,638) (2019) |
Labor and Employment [1]
| Labor Force, Total | 986,024 (2020) |
| Employment in Agriculture (% of total employment) | 8.421% (2020) |
| Employment in Industry (% of total employment) | 41.945% (2020) |
| Employment in Services (% of total employment) | 49.635% (2020) |
| Unemployment Rate | 22.831% (2020) |
Trade [1]
| Imports of goods and services (current US$) | $2,238,423,027 (2019) |
| Exports of goods and services (current US$) | $1,073,373,559 (2019) |
| Total Merchandise Trade (% of GDP) | 0% (2019) |
| FDI, net inflows (BoP, current US$) | $117,645,547 (2019) |
| Commercial Service Exports (current US$) | $28,126,357 (2019) |
Economic Snapshot [1]
Note: Percentile ranks are calculated using the latest available data for all countries within the last 5 years.
How to interpret the graph: The purpose of this graph is to take a snapshot of a country’s economy in comparison to other economies. For example, Lesotho’s Exports rank is higher than (please wait...) of the countries in the dataset. For Exports, FDI and GDP measures, a higher rank (closer to 100%) indicates a stronger economy. Conversely, for Unemployment and Inflation, a lower rank (closer to 0%) indicates a stronger economy.