Malnutrition: Number of children who are stunted in Lesotho
Lesotho: Malnutrition: Number of children who are stunted was 92,100 in 2024. ▼ Falling
Malnutrition: Number of children who are stunted in Lesotho, 2000–2024
Source: World Health Organization – Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Lesotho recorded 92,100 for malnutrition: number of children who are stunted in 2024.
That represents a change of up 0.4% on the previous year and down 7.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, malnutrition: number of children who are stunted in Lesotho peaked at 110,600 in 2000 and was at its lowest, 91,700, in 2023.
Lesotho ranks 80th of 162 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Malnutrition: Number of children who are stunted in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 110,600 | — |
| 2001 | 109,300 | -1.2% |
| 2002 | 108,200 | -1.0% |
| 2003 | 107,300 | -0.8% |
| 2004 | 106,600 | -0.7% |
| 2005 | 105,700 | -0.8% |
| 2006 | 104,900 | -0.8% |
| 2007 | 104,100 | -0.8% |
| 2008 | 103,100 | -1.0% |
| 2009 | 102,300 | -0.8% |
| 2010 | 101,700 | -0.6% |
| 2011 | 101,400 | -0.3% |
| 2012 | 101,200 | -0.2% |
| 2013 | 100,600 | -0.6% |
| 2014 | 99,900 | -0.7% |
| 2015 | 99,300 | -0.6% |
| 2016 | 98,300 | -1.0% |
| 2017 | 97,200 | -1.1% |
| 2018 | 95,700 | -1.5% |
| 2019 | 94,600 | -1.1% |
| 2020 | 93,200 | -1.5% |
| 2021 | 92,500 | -0.8% |
| 2022 | 92,000 | -0.5% |
| 2023 | 91,700 | -0.3% |
| 2024 | 92,100 | +0.4% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's 92,100 is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 281,700, 33% of the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's 92,100 is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 577,800, 16% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 106,210 | 102,300 | 110,600 | 10 |
| 2010s | 98,990 | 94,600 | 101,700 | 10 |
| 2020s | 92,300 | 91,700 | 93,200 | 5 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
- 77 Bolivia 134,400 compare
- 78 United Kingdom 124,400 compare
- 79 Kazakhstan 93,700 compare
- 81 Jordan 88,400 compare
- 82 Germany 85,200 compare
- 83 Guinea-Bissau 85,000 compare
More reference data data for Lesotho
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0331 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.5388 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.582 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0101 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.582 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.111 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.1115 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 2.48 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 2.77 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0549 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is malnutrition: number of children who are stunted in Lesotho?
- Malnutrition: number of children who are stunted in Lesotho was 92,100 in 2024, according to World Health Organization – Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest malnutrition: number of children who are stunted recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 110,600 in 2000.
- What is the lowest malnutrition: number of children who are stunted recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 91,700 in 2023.
- How does Lesotho rank for malnutrition: number of children who are stunted?
- Lesotho ranks 80th out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
- Is malnutrition: number of children who are stunted rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is down 7.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Lesotho data come from?
- The figures come from World Health Organization – Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Malnutrition: Number of children who are stunted. 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
The number of children younger than five who are stunted – significantly shorter than the average for their age, as a consequence of poor nutrition or repeated infection.