Share of primary school teachers who are women in Lesotho
Lesotho: Share of primary school teachers who are women was 74.5% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Latest (2024)
74.5%
Change on year
up 0.3%
World rank
125th
of 212 countries
All-time high
80.2%
in 1999
All-time low
59.9%
in 1970
Years of data
53
1970–2024
Share of primary school teachers who are women in Lesotho, 1970–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, share of primary school teachers who are women in Lesotho stood at 74.5%.
That represents a change of up 0.3% on the previous year and down 1.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of primary school teachers who are women in Lesotho peaked at 80.2% in 1999 and was at its lowest, 59.9%, in 1970.
Lesotho ranks 125th of 212 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 53 years of available data.
Share of primary school teachers who are women in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 59.9% | — |
| 1972 | 63.7% | +6.4% |
| 1973 | 64.5% | +1.3% |
| 1974 | 65.9% | +2.2% |
| 1975 | 69.5% | +5.5% |
| 1976 | 70.4% | +1.3% |
| 1977 | 72.0% | +2.2% |
| 1978 | 73.1% | +1.6% |
| 1979 | 74.4% | +1.7% |
| 1980 | 74.9% | +0.7% |
| 1981 | 75.0% | +0.1% |
| 1982 | 75.6% | +0.8% |
| 1983 | 76.4% | +1.1% |
| 1984 | 76.4% | -0.1% |
| 1985 | 76.7% | +0.4% |
| 1986 | 76.7% | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 77.5% | +1.0% |
| 1988 | 78.6% | +1.5% |
| 1989 | 79.7% | +1.4% |
| 1990 | 79.9% | +0.3% |
| 1991 | 80.2% | +0.3% |
| 1992 | 79.3% | -1.1% |
| 1993 | 79.8% | +0.6% |
| 1994 | 79.3% | -0.6% |
| 1995 | 79.1% | -0.2% |
| 1996 | 79.1% | -0.0% |
| 1997 | 78.9% | -0.3% |
| 1999 | 80.2% | +1.6% |
| 2000 | 80.2% | -0.0% |
| 2001 | 80.1% | -0.1% |
| 2002 | 79.8% | -0.4% |
| 2003 | 79.1% | -0.8% |
| 2004 | 78.1% | -1.3% |
| 2005 | 78.2% | +0.1% |
| 2006 | 78.2% | +0.1% |
| 2007 | 77.1% | -1.5% |
| 2008 | 77.1% | -0.0% |
| 2009 | 76.8% | -0.3% |
| 2010 | 76.9% | +0.1% |
| 2011 | 76.6% | -0.4% |
| 2012 | 76.6% | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 75.6% | -1.3% |
| 2014 | 75.7% | +0.1% |
| 2015 | 75.6% | -0.1% |
| 2016 | 75.0% | -0.7% |
| 2017 | 74.8% | -0.3% |
| 2018 | 74.9% | +0.1% |
| 2019 | 75.2% | +0.5% |
| 2020 | 74.9% | -0.5% |
| 2021 | 74.3% | -0.7% |
| 2022 | 74.3% | -0.0% |
| 2023 | 74.2% | -0.2% |
| 2024 | 74.5% | +0.3% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's 74.5% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 60.1%, 1.2× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's 74.5% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 48.7%, 1.5× the median. (46 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 68.2% | 59.9% | 74.4% | 9 |
| 1980s | 76.7% | 74.9% | 79.7% | 10 |
| 1990s | 79.5% | 78.9% | 80.2% | 9 |
| 2000s | 78.5% | 76.8% | 80.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 75.7% | 74.8% | 76.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 74.4% | 74.2% | 74.9% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
More education data for Lesotho
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 5,672 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 30,627 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 22,924 (2022)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 23,698 (2022)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 136,497 (2017)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 309,480 (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -0.8093 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.1324 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of primary school teachers who are women in Lesotho?
- Share of primary school teachers who are women in Lesotho was 74.5% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of primary school teachers who are women recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 80.2% in 1999.
- What is the lowest share of primary school teachers who are women recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 59.9% in 1970.
- How does Lesotho rank for share of primary school teachers who are women?
- Lesotho ranks 125th out of 212 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of primary school teachers who are women rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Lesotho data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of primary school teachers who are women. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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About this data
Percentage of female teachers among all teachers at the primary education level during a given school year.