Share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in Lesotho

Lesotho: Share of children enrolled in pre-primary school was 20.6% in 2020. ▼ Falling

Latest (2020)
20.6%
Change on year
down 0.1%
World rank
160th
of 178 countries
All-time high
25.3%
in 2005
All-time low
20.6%
in 2020
Years of data
9
2005–2020

Share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in Lesotho, 2005–2020

01020302005201220202005: 25.3 %2013: 25.1 %2014: 21.5 %2015: 23.9 %2016: 23.1 %2017: 22.6 %2018: 21.5 %2019: 20.6 %2020: 20.6 %

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

In 2020, share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in Lesotho stood at 20.6%. That is the lowest value across all 9 years on record.

That represents a change of down 0.1% on the previous year and down 17.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in Lesotho peaked at 25.3% in 2005 and was at its lowest, 20.6%, in 2020.

That places Lesotho 160th out of 178 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the bottom quarter.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 25.3% 25.3% 25.3% 1
2010s 22.6% 20.6% 25.1% 7
2020s 20.6% 20.6% 20.6% 1

Countries ranked near Lesotho

  1. 157 Samoa 22.7% compare
  2. 158 Micronesia (country) 21.7% compare
  3. 159 Senegal 21.3% compare
  4. 161 Botswana 19.7% compare
  5. 162 South Africa 18.4% compare
  6. 163 Angola 16.7% compare

See the full ranking of 178 places →

More education data for Lesotho

All data for Lesotho →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in Lesotho?
Share of children enrolled in pre-primary school in Lesotho was 20.6% in 2020, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest share of children enrolled in pre-primary school recorded in Lesotho?
The highest recorded value was 25.3% in 2005.
What is the lowest share of children enrolled in pre-primary school recorded in Lesotho?
The lowest recorded value was 20.6% in 2020.
How does Lesotho rank for share of children enrolled in pre-primary school?
Lesotho ranks 160th out of 178 countries with data for 2020.
Is share of children enrolled in pre-primary school rising or falling in Lesotho?
Over the last ten years it is down 17.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
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 children enrolled in pre-primary school. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

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About this data

Indicator
Share of children enrolled in pre-primary school
Unit
%
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
178 places, 2,976 data points, 1997–2025
Last refreshed

The share of children of pre-primary school age (typically 3–5 years old) who are enrolled in pre-primary education.