Lesotho's labor force, female (% of total labor force) was 43.83% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is down 1.63 percentage points from 45.46% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 43.83% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 44.34% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 45.46% | 2015 |
| Highest | 48.41% | 1999 |
| Lowest | 43.83% | 2025 |
| Average since 2016 | 44.35% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 47.18% | 1990 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Lesotho's labor force, female (% of total labor force) fell 0.14 percentage points on 2024 (from 43.97% to 43.83%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.12 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.16 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 0.21 percentage points in 1999 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.39 percentage points in 2022. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2016 to 2025 the straight-line trend is downward, about 0.14 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 91% of the movement over 10 observed years.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2025, Lesotho had the 109th highest value of the 182 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Lesotho | 43.83% | 2025 |
| World | 40.18% | 2025 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 46.89% | 2025 |
| Lower middle income | 33.32% | 2025 |
Closest to Lesotho in the 2025 ranking
- Singapore — 105th of 182: 44.05%
- Cameroon — 106th of 182: 43.91%
- Mongolia — 107th of 182: 43.87%
- Cabo Verde — 109th of 182: 43.63%
- Brazil — 110th of 182: 43.37%
- Côte d'Ivoire — 111th of 182: 43.36%
What this measures
Female labor force as a percentage of the total show the extent to which women are active in the labor force. Labor force comprises people ages 15 and older who supply labor for the production of goods and services during a specified period.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 36 values
| Year | Labor force, female (% of total labor force) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 43.83 |
| 2024 | 43.97 |
| 2023 | 43.94 |
| 2022 | 43.95 |
| 2021 | 44.35 |
| 2020 | 44.34 |
| 2019 | 44.37 |
| 2018 | 44.65 |
| 2017 | 44.93 |
| 2016 | 45.2 |
| 2015 |
Labor force, female (% of total labor force) in nearby economies
- Angola — 49.38% (2025)
- Benin — 49.43% (2025)
- Botswana — 46.71% (2025)
- Burkina Faso — 46.52% (2025)
- Burundi — 51.61% (2025)
- Cabo Verde — 43.63% (2025)
- Cameroon — 43.91% (2025)
- Central African Republic — 48.32% (2025)
- Chad — 40.01% (2025)
- Comoros — 42.68% (2025)
More social protection & labor data for Lesotho
- Net migration — -5,192 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asylum — 478 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of origin — 27 (2025)
- Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, female (%) (modeled ILO estimate) — 23.8% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, male (%) (modeled ILO estimate) — 45.46% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, total (%) (modeled ILO estimate) — 34.63% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15-64) (modeled ILO estimate) — 50.49% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15-64) (modeled ILO estimate)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Lesotho's labor force, female (% of total labor force)?
- 43.83% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1990?
- It is down 3.35 percentage points from 47.18% in 1990. The highest value was 48.41% in 1999 and the lowest 43.83% in 2025.
- How does Lesotho rank?
- 109th highest of 182 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in labor force, female (% of total labor force) unusual for Lesotho?
- In 2025, Lesotho's labor force, female (% of total labor force) fell 0.14 percentage points on 2024 (from 43.97% to 43.83%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.12 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.16 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SL.TLF.TOTL.FE.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: International Labour Organization (ILO), type: estimates based on external database; United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Population Division; Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.
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