Number of people without access to electricity in Lesotho
Lesotho: Number of people without access to electricity was 920,945 people in 2024. ▼ Falling
Number of people without access to electricity in Lesotho, 2000–2024
Source: Data compiled from multiple sources by the World Bank – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in people.
Analysis
The most recent figure for number of people without access to electricity in Lesotho is 920,945 people, measured in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of down 6.7% on the previous year and down 38.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, number of people without access to electricity in Lesotho peaked at 1.97 million people in 2001 and was at its lowest, 920,945 people, in 2024.
That places Lesotho 51st out of 214 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Number of people without access to electricity in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | people | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 1.92 million people | — |
| 2001 | 1.97 million people | +3.0% |
| 2002 | 1.93 million people | -2.4% |
| 2003 | 1.88 million people | -2.5% |
| 2004 | 1.84 million people | -2.2% |
| 2005 | 1.77 million people | -3.9% |
| 2006 | 1.76 million people | -0.5% |
| 2007 | 1.68 million people | -4.2% |
| 2008 | 1.65 million people | -1.8% |
| 2009 | 1.64 million people | -0.5% |
| 2010 | 1.66 million people | +0.8% |
| 2011 | 1.56 million people | -5.8% |
| 2012 | 1.62 million people | +3.5% |
| 2013 | 1.50 million people | -6.9% |
| 2014 | 1.50 million people | -0.1% |
| 2015 | 1.44 million people | -4.4% |
| 2016 | 1.38 million people | -3.7% |
| 2017 | 1.43 million people | +3.4% |
| 2018 | 1.16 million people | -19.1% |
| 2019 | 1.22 million people | +5.8% |
| 2020 | 1.17 million people | -4.1% |
| 2021 | 1.12 million people | -4.4% |
| 2022 | 1.14 million people | +1.9% |
| 2023 | 986,999 people | -13.7% |
| 2024 | 920,945 people | -6.7% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's 920,945 people is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 781,524 people, 1.2× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's 920,945 people is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 6.10 million people, 15% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 1.80 million people | 1.64 million people | 1.97 million people | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.45 million people | 1.16 million people | 1.66 million people | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.07 million people | 920,945 people | 1.17 million people | 5 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
More energy & mining data for Lesotho
- Fossil fuel consumption by fuel, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary energy use, annual growth rate -7.77 % change on previous year (2024)
- Coal consumption, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2024)
- Coal consumption, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary energy use, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Coal production, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2024)
- Coal production, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary energy use, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2024)
- Fuel imports 15.3% (2024)
- Ores and metals imports 0.5% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is number of people without access to electricity in Lesotho?
- Number of people without access to electricity in Lesotho was 920,945 people in 2024, according to Data compiled from multiple sources by the World Bank – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest number of people without access to electricity recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 1.97 million people in 2001.
- What is the lowest number of people without access to electricity recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 920,945 people in 2024.
- How does Lesotho rank for number of people without access to electricity?
- Lesotho ranks 51st out of 214 countries with data for 2024.
- Is number of people without access to electricity rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is down 38.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Lesotho data come from?
- The figures come from Data compiled from multiple sources by the World Bank – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Number of people without access to electricity. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Access to electricity means having an electricity source that can provide very basic lighting, and charge a phone or power a radio for 4 hours per day.