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Country profile · Sub-Saharan Africa

Mortality in Lesotho, by the numbers

Lesotho sits in Sub-Saharan Africa. A newborn there can expect about 57.7 years of life, 209th of 212 countries with data. Below, every mortality measure the National Death Index tracks for Lesotho, each with its global rank and source year.

Life expectancy
57.7 yrs
209th of 212
Age-standardized death rate
23.0 /1,000
1st highest of 182
Life expectancy at 60
12.0 yrs
1st lowest of 182

17 measures · sources: World Bank Open Data and WHO Global Health Observatory (Global Health Estimates 2021) · latest available year per figure

How Lesotho ranks, measure by measure
MeasureValueWorld rankYear
Life expectancy at birth 57.7 yrs 209 of 212 2024
Age-standardized death rate 23.0 /1,000 1 of 182 2021
Crude death rate 10.5 /1,000 29 of 212 2024
Life expectancy at 60 12.0 yrs 182 of 182 2021
Male mortality penalty 109 /1,000 28 of 212 2024
Life-expectancy gap (F−M) 5.4 yrs 84 of 212 2024
Old-age sex ratio (65+) 54.4 men/100 women 10 of 212 2024
Infant mortality 56.3 /1,000 10 of 192 2024
Maternal mortality 478 /100k 10 of 191 2023
Premature NCD mortality 36.3 % 6 of 182 2021
Suicide rate 28.7 /100k 1 of 182 2021
Road-traffic deaths 31.9 /100k 17 of 187 2019
Adult obesity 19.9 % 53 of 143 2012
Recorded alcohol per adult 4.3 L 94 of 185 2020
Population aged 65+ 3.9 % 163 of 212 2024
Health spending per capita $123 140 of 191 2023
GDP per capita $972 198 of 212 2024

Measured against the rest of the world, Lesotho's sharpest departures from the middle of the pack are the 1st highest age-standardized death rate in the world (23.0 /1,000) and the 1st lowest life expectancy at 60 in the world (12.0 yrs). Every figure above is the most recent the source reports for Lesotho; the year sits beside each one, and rankings cover only countries with data for that measure.