Share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in Lesotho
Lesotho: Share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted was 35 percent in 2024. ▼ Falling
Share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in Lesotho, 2000–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in percent.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in Lesotho is 35 percent, measured in 2024.
That represents a change of up 1.7% on the previous year and down 2.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in Lesotho peaked at 42.2 percent in 2001 and was at its lowest, 33.4 percent, in 2020.
Lesotho ranks 16th of 160 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | percent | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 42.1 percent | — |
| 2001 | 42.2 percent | +0.2% |
| 2002 | 42.2 percent | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 42.1 percent | -0.2% |
| 2004 | 42 percent | -0.2% |
| 2005 | 41.8 percent | -0.5% |
| 2006 | 41.6 percent | -0.5% |
| 2007 | 41.2 percent | -1.0% |
| 2008 | 40.5 percent | -1.7% |
| 2009 | 39.8 percent | -1.7% |
| 2010 | 39.1 percent | -1.8% |
| 2011 | 38.3 percent | -2.0% |
| 2012 | 37.5 percent | -2.1% |
| 2013 | 36.7 percent | -2.1% |
| 2014 | 36 percent | -1.9% |
| 2015 | 35.3 percent | -1.9% |
| 2016 | 34.6 percent | -2.0% |
| 2017 | 34.2 percent | -1.2% |
| 2018 | 33.7 percent | -1.5% |
| 2019 | 33.6 percent | -0.3% |
| 2020 | 33.4 percent | -0.6% |
| 2021 | 33.6 percent | +0.6% |
| 2022 | 34.1 percent | +1.5% |
| 2023 | 34.4 percent | +0.9% |
| 2024 | 35 percent | +1.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 41.55 percent | 39.8 percent | 42.2 percent | 10 |
| 2010s | 35.9 percent | 33.6 percent | 39.1 percent | 10 |
| 2020s | 34.1 percent | 33.4 percent | 35 percent | 5 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
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 share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in Lesotho?
- Share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted in Lesotho was 35 percent in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 42.2 percent in 2001.
- What is the lowest share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 33.4 percent in 2020.
- How does Lesotho rank for share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted?
- Lesotho ranks 16th out of 160 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of the population undernourished vs. share of children who are stunted rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is down 2.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Lesotho data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of the population undernourished vs. share 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
Childhood stunting is the share of children younger than five years that are stunted, which means they are two standard deviations below the median height-for-age of the WHO's Child Growth Standards. Undernourishment is when a person's daily food intake does not provide enough energy to maintain a normal, active, and healthy life.