Statizoid

Median age in Lesotho

Lesotho: Median age was 21.43 years in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
21.43 years
Change on year
up 0.8%
World rank
183rd
of 236 countries
All-time high
21.43 years
in 2023
All-time low
16.19 years
in 1964
Years of data
74
1950–2023

Median age in Lesotho, 1950–2023

05101520195019862023

Source: UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in years.

Analysis

The most recent figure for median age in Lesotho is 21.43 years, measured in 2023. That is the highest value across all 74 years on record.

That represents a change of up 0.8% on the previous year and up 6.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, median age in Lesotho peaked at 21.43 years in 2023 and was at its lowest, 16.19 years, in 1964.

Lesotho ranks 183rd of 236 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 74 years of available data.

Median age in Lesotho, year by year

Year years Change
1950 17.66 years —
1951 17.36 years -1.7%
1952 17.11 years -1.4%
1953 16.91 years -1.2%
1954 16.73 years -1.0%
1955 16.6 years -0.8%
1956 16.49 years -0.6%
1957 16.43 years -0.3%
1958 16.41 years -0.2%
1959 16.37 years -0.2%
1960 16.32 years -0.3%
1961 16.27 years -0.3%
1962 16.23 years -0.3%
1963 16.2 years -0.2%
1964 16.19 years -0.0%
1965 16.23 years +0.3%
1966 16.38 years +0.9%
1967 16.56 years +1.1%
1968 16.71 years +0.9%
1969 16.82 years +0.7%
1970 16.97 years +0.9%
1971 17.14 years +1.0%
1972 17.32 years +1.0%
1973 17.5 years +1.0%
1974 17.67 years +1.0%
1975 17.82 years +0.9%
1976 17.91 years +0.5%
1977 17.9 years -0.0%
1978 17.85 years -0.3%
1979 17.78 years -0.4%
1980 17.71 years -0.4%
1981 17.63 years -0.4%
1982 17.55 years -0.5%
1983 17.48 years -0.4%
1984 17.41 years -0.4%
1985 17.36 years -0.3%
1986 17.49 years +0.8%
1987 17.59 years +0.6%
1988 17.5 years -0.5%
1989 17.41 years -0.5%
1990 17.36 years -0.3%
1991 17.31 years -0.2%
1992 17.3 years -0.1%
1993 17.31 years +0.1%
1994 17.37 years +0.3%
1995 17.45 years +0.5%
1996 17.54 years +0.5%
1997 17.66 years +0.7%
1998 17.82 years +0.9%
1999 18 years +1.0%
2000 18.18 years +1.0%
2001 18.34 years +0.9%
2002 18.49 years +0.8%
2003 18.63 years +0.7%
2004 18.76 years +0.7%
2005 18.89 years +0.7%
2006 19.04 years +0.8%
2007 19.2 years +0.9%
2008 19.37 years +0.9%
2009 19.54 years +0.9%
2010 19.7 years +0.9%
2011 19.86 years +0.8%
2012 19.99 years +0.7%
2013 20.12 years +0.6%
2014 20.24 years +0.6%
2015 20.35 years +0.5%
2016 20.45 years +0.5%
2017 20.56 years +0.5%
2018 20.69 years +0.6%
2019 20.84 years +0.7%
2020 20.99 years +0.7%
2021 21.13 years +0.6%
2022 21.26 years +0.6%
2023 21.43 years +0.8%

Lesotho compared with similar countries

  • Lesotho's 21.43 years is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 21.43 years, 1.0× the median. (47 countries reporting)
  • Lesotho's 21.43 years is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 18.22 years, 1.2× the median. (48 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1950s 16.81 years 16.37 years 17.66 years 10
1960s 16.39 years 16.19 years 16.82 years 10
1970s 17.59 years 16.97 years 17.91 years 10
1980s 17.51 years 17.36 years 17.71 years 10
1990s 17.51 years 17.3 years 18 years 10
2000s 18.84 years 18.18 years 19.54 years 10
2010s 20.28 years 19.7 years 20.84 years 10
2020s 21.2 years 20.99 years 21.43 years 4

Countries ranked near Lesotho

  1. 180 Eswatini 22 years compare
  2. 181 Tajikistan 21.93 years compare
  3. 182 Gabon 21.5 years compare
  4. 184 Equatorial Guinea 20.98 years compare
  5. 185 East Timor 20.97 years compare
  6. 186 Namibia 20.96 years compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More reference data data for Lesotho

All data for Lesotho →

Frequently asked questions

What is median age in Lesotho?
Median age in Lesotho was 21.43 years in 2023, according to UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest median age recorded in Lesotho?
The highest recorded value was 21.43 years in 2023.
What is the lowest median age recorded in Lesotho?
The lowest recorded value was 16.19 years in 1964.
How does Lesotho rank for median age?
Lesotho ranks 183rd out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
Is median age rising or falling in Lesotho?
Over the last ten years it is up 6.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Lesotho data come from?
The figures come from UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Median age. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 74 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Median age in Lesotho. Statizoid, drawing on UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 22 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/median-age/lesotho/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/median-age/lesotho/">Median age in Lesotho</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Median age
Unit
years
Source
UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
236 places, 17,464 data points, 1950–2023
Last refreshed

Age that divides the population into two halves of equal size — half are younger and half are older.