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) | $6,787,040,655 (2018) |
| GDP Growth Rate (annual %) | 1.134% (2018) |
| GDP Per Capita, PPP (current international) | $3,219 (2018) |
GDP Country Rank 162/196 (2018)
Economic Indicators [1]
| Inflation, consumer prices (annual %) | 4.01% (2018) |
| External debt stocks, total (DOD, current US$) | $914,773,689 (2018) |
| Total tax rate (% of commercial profits) | 13.6% (2019) |
| Real Interest Rate (5 year average %) | 6.668% (2018) |
| Manufacturing, value added (% of GDP) | 14.011% (2018) |
| Current Account Balance (BoP, current US$) | ($4,044,458) (2018) |
Labor and Employment [1]
| Labor Force, Total | 963,657 (2019) |
| Employment in Agriculture (% of total employment) | 66.57% (2019) |
| Employment in Industry (% of total employment) | 10.105% (2019) |
| Employment in Services (% of total employment) | 23.325% (2019) |
| Unemployment Rate | 23.475% (2019) |
Trade [1]
| Imports of goods and services (current US$) | $2,305,437,547 (2018) |
| Exports of goods and services (current US$) | $1,200,416,563 (2018) |
| Total Merchandise Trade (% of GDP) | 128.67% (2018) |
| FDI, net inflows (BoP, current US$) | $39,585,273 (2018) |
| Commercial Service Exports (current US$) | $29,618,250 (2018) |
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.