Lesotho Demographics Profile 2009

Population

2,130,819
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2009 est.)

Age structure

0-14 years: 34.8% (male 373,159/female 368,271)
15-64 years: 60.2% (male 629,346/female 654,054)
65 years and over: 5% (male 42,074/female 63,915) (2009 est.)

Median age

total: 21.4 years
male: 20.9 years
female: 22 years (2009 est.)

Population growth rate

0.116% (2009 est.)

Birth rate

24.14 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Death rate

22.2 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)

Net migration rate

-0.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 25% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 3.5% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.66 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 77.4 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 81.75 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 72.92 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 40.38 years
male: 41.18 years
female: 39.54 years (2009 est.)

Total fertility rate

3.06 children born/woman (2009 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

23.2% (2007 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

270,000 (2007 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths

18,000 (2007 est.)

Nationality

noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural)
adjective: Basotho

Ethnic groups

Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%,

Religions

Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20%

Languages

Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 84.8%
male: 74.5%
female: 94.5% (2003 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 10 years
male: 10 years
female: 10 years (2006)

Education expenditures

13% of GDP (2006)