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Africa · Southern Africa

How many babies are born in Lesotho?

55.3 thousand babies born in Lesotho in 2026. That is 0.04% of all births worldwide, and the 130th largest of any country. UN projection

2024–2100 uses the UN World Population Prospects 2024 medium scenario, based on assumptions about fertility, mortality and migration. These are projections, not observed births or guaranteed outcomes. Uncertainty increases further into the future; this site does not display prediction intervals.

Births in Lesotho: history and projections

1K10K 1 CE1000150018002100
Annual births, logarithmic scale. Shading marks modelled years before 1800; the dashed line marks UN projections from 2024.
Every figure refers to the area inside Lesotho’s present-day borders. Before 1800 the state did not exist in its current form. See how borders are handled.
Year Estimated births Population Per 1,000 Evidence
1 CE ~350 ~8.4K 41.4 Modelled estimate
1000 ~1.3K ~32K 41.4 Modelled estimate
1500 ~2.6K ~62K 41.4 Modelled estimate
1800 ~11.3K ~276K 40.8 Historical reconstruction
1900 ~10.2K ~249K 40.8 Historical reconstruction
1950 25.3K 580K 43.6 UN estimate
2000 56.6K 2M 28.3 UN estimate
2023 55.7K 2.31M 24.1 UN estimate
2026 55.3K 2.39M 23.2 UN projection
2050 51.8K 2.99M 17.3 UN projection
2075 45.1K 3.3M 13.7 UN projection
2100 38K 3.26M 11.7 UN projection

What the numbers show

The highest annual births in Lesotho among estimates through 2023 were in 1987, at about 65.3K. That is roughly 187 times the estimated ~349 births a year in 1 CE.

At 2.61 children per woman, fertility in Lesotho is above the level of about 2.1 that would hold a population steady over the long run without migration.

See Lesotho on the map

How many babies are born in Lesotho each year?

An estimated 55.3 thousand babies are born in Lesotho in 2026, according to the UN World Population Prospects 2024 medium projection. That is about 151 a day and 0.04% of all births worldwide.

What is the birth rate in Lesotho?

Lesotho has an estimated 23.2 births per 1,000 people in 2026, and a total fertility rate of 2.61 children per woman.

Where these numbers come from

2026 figures are the UN World Population Prospects 2024 medium scenario. UN estimates cover 1950–2023; projections cover 2024–2100. Earlier years come from Gapminder’s reconstructions (1800–1949) and a model applied to HYDE population estimates (before 1800). The full chain is set out in the methodology, and every source is listed on the sources page.