School age population, one year before the official primary entry in Lesotho
Lesotho: School age population, one year before the official primary entry was 26,988 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
26,988
Change on year
down 2.1%
World rank
134th
of 222 countries
All-time high
29,071
in 1993
All-time low
14,759
in 1970
Years of data
56
1970–2025
School age population, one year before the official primary entry in Lesotho, 1970–2025
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
Analysis
In 2025, school age population, one year before the official primary entry in Lesotho stood at 26,988.
That represents a change of down 2.1% on the previous year and up 3.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school age population, one year before the official primary entry in Lesotho peaked at 29,071 in 1993 and was at its lowest, 14,759, in 1970.
Lesotho ranks 134th of 222 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 56 years of available data.
School age population, one year before the official primary entry in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 14,759 | — |
| 1971 | 15,155 | +2.7% |
| 1972 | 15,529 | +2.5% |
| 1973 | 15,939 | +2.6% |
| 1974 | 16,331 | +2.5% |
| 1975 | 16,757 | +2.6% |
| 1976 | 17,255 | +3.0% |
| 1977 | 17,796 | +3.1% |
| 1978 | 18,448 | +3.7% |
| 1979 | 19,145 | +3.8% |
| 1980 | 20,113 | +5.1% |
| 1981 | 21,155 | +5.2% |
| 1982 | 22,185 | +4.9% |
| 1983 | 23,016 | +3.7% |
| 1984 | 23,787 | +3.3% |
| 1985 | 24,509 | +3.0% |
| 1986 | 25,146 | +2.6% |
| 1987 | 25,234 | +0.3% |
| 1988 | 25,909 | +2.7% |
| 1989 | 26,655 | +2.9% |
| 1990 | 27,119 | +1.7% |
| 1991 | 27,591 | +1.7% |
| 1992 | 28,032 | +1.6% |
| 1993 | 29,071 | +3.7% |
| 1994 | 28,964 | -0.4% |
| 1995 | 28,678 | -1.0% |
| 1996 | 28,261 | -1.5% |
| 1997 | 27,891 | -1.3% |
| 1998 | 27,203 | -2.5% |
| 1999 | 26,311 | -3.3% |
| 2000 | 25,717 | -2.3% |
| 2001 | 25,478 | -0.9% |
| 2002 | 25,443 | -0.1% |
| 2003 | 25,294 | -0.6% |
| 2004 | 24,350 | -3.7% |
| 2005 | 23,541 | -3.3% |
| 2006 | 23,193 | -1.5% |
| 2007 | 23,880 | +3.0% |
| 2008 | 24,920 | +4.4% |
| 2009 | 25,004 | +0.3% |
| 2010 | 24,521 | -1.9% |
| 2011 | 24,368 | -0.6% |
| 2012 | 24,603 | +1.0% |
| 2013 | 25,602 | +4.1% |
| 2014 | 26,031 | +1.7% |
| 2015 | 26,089 | +0.2% |
| 2016 | 26,241 | +0.6% |
| 2017 | 27,551 | +5.0% |
| 2018 | 27,741 | +0.7% |
| 2019 | 28,067 | +1.2% |
| 2020 | 27,979 | -0.3% |
| 2021 | 28,090 | +0.4% |
| 2022 | 28,283 | +0.7% |
| 2023 | 28,027 | -0.9% |
| 2024 | 27,563 | -1.7% |
| 2025 | 26,988 | -2.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 16,711 | 14,759 | 19,145 | 10 |
| 1980s | 23,771 | 20,113 | 26,655 | 10 |
| 1990s | 27,912 | 26,311 | 29,071 | 10 |
| 2000s | 24,682 | 23,193 | 25,717 | 10 |
| 2010s | 26,081 | 24,368 | 28,067 | 10 |
| 2020s | 27,822 | 26,988 | 28,283 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
More education data for Lesotho
- Theoretical duration of upper secondary education (years), annual 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Theoretical duration of secondary education (years), annual growth 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), gaps filled 2,021 tertiary education (2022)
- Start of the academic school year (tertiary education), annual growth -0.0496 % change on previous year (2018)
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 10,388 (2024)
- Duration of pre primary education, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Duration of pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre primary education 3 (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 62.0% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 34.1% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school age population, one year before the official primary entry in Lesotho?
- School age population, one year before the official primary entry in Lesotho was 26,988 in 2025, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school age population, one year before the official primary entry recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 29,071 in 1993.
- What is the lowest school age population, one year before the official primary entry recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 14,759 in 1970.
- How does Lesotho rank for school age population, one year before the official primary entry?
- Lesotho ranks 134th out of 222 countries with data for 2025.
- Is school age population, one year before the official primary entry rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.4%. 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, published as part of School age population, one year before the official primary entry age, male (number). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 56 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release