Share of the population with at least some formal education in Lesotho
Lesotho: Share of the population with at least some formal education was 92.7% in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Share of the population with at least some formal education in Lesotho, 1870–2020
Source: Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of the population with at least some formal education in Lesotho is 92.7%, measured in 2020. That is the highest value across all 31 years on record.
The figure is up 2.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the population with at least some formal education in Lesotho peaked at 92.7% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.7%, in 1870.
Lesotho ranks 74th of 111 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870s | 0.8% | 0.7% | 1.0% | 2 |
| 1880s | 1.9% | 1.6% | 2.3% | 2 |
| 1890s | 4.2% | 3.4% | 4.9% | 2 |
| 1900s | 7.7% | 6.7% | 8.7% | 2 |
| 1910s | 13.2% | 12.0% | 14.5% | 2 |
| 1920s | 21.3% | 17.0% | 25.6% | 2 |
| 1930s | 33.3% | 31.3% | 35.3% | 2 |
| 1940s | 44.8% | 41.3% | 48.3% | 2 |
| 1950s | 58.8% | 56.3% | 61.4% | 2 |
| 1960s | 69.0% | 66.3% | 71.7% | 2 |
| 1970s | 73.8% | 73.2% | 74.4% | 2 |
| 1980s | 77.7% | 76.7% | 78.6% | 2 |
| 1990s | 81.8% | 80.6% | 82.9% | 2 |
| 2000s | 87.8% | 85.1% | 90.4% | 2 |
| 2010s | 91.2% | 90.5% | 91.9% | 2 |
| 2020s | 92.7% | 92.7% | 92.7% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
More education data for Lesotho
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 62.0% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 34.1% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 13 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 80.2% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 10,388 (2024)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 2.66 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 78.6% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the population with at least some formal education in Lesotho?
- Share of the population with at least some formal education in Lesotho was 92.7% in 2020, according to Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of the population with at least some formal education recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 92.7% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of the population with at least some formal education recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.7% in 1870.
- How does Lesotho rank for share of the population with at least some formal education?
- Lesotho ranks 74th out of 111 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of the population with at least some formal education rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Lesotho data come from?
- The figures come from Barro and Lee (2015); Lee and Lee (2016) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of the population with at least some formal education. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 31 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Based on the population aged 15 years and older.