Lesotho: 0 km (2026 edition) · South Africa: 2,798 km (2026 edition)

Lesotho’s highest peak towers 32 m above South Africa’s

Lesotho: 3,482 m (2026 edition) · South Africa: 3,450 m (2026 edition)

Farmland covers 93% of Lesotho, versus 79% of South Africa

Lesotho: 92.9% (2024) · South Africa: 79.4% (2024)

South Africa has 27 times as many people as Lesotho

Lesotho: 2.36 million (2025) · South Africa: 64.7 million (2025)

Lesotho is 46% more densely populated than South Africa

Lesotho: 78 per km² (2025) · South Africa: 53 per km² (2025)

The typical person in South Africa is 6.8 years older than in Lesotho

Lesotho: 21.4 years (2023) · South Africa: 28.2 years (2023)

Women in Lesotho have 0.5 more children on average than in South Africa

Lesotho: 2.66 children per woman (2024) · South Africa: 2.21 children per woman (2024)

6.9% of people in South Africa are 65 or older, versus 3.9% in Lesotho

Lesotho: 3.9% (2025) · South Africa: 6.9% (2025)

South Africa hosts 4.2 times as many refugees per resident as Lesotho

Lesotho: 0.2 per 1,000 (2025) · South Africa: 0.9 per 1,000 (2025)

South Africa has produced 1.5 Nobel laureates per 10 million people, Lesotho none

Lesotho: 0 (2026) · South Africa: 1.5 (2026)

South Africa has 11 official languages, Lesotho 2

Lesotho: 2 (2026) · South Africa: 11 (2026)

South Africa’s economy is 166 times the size of Lesotho’s

Lesotho: $2.57 billion (2025) · South Africa: $427 billion (2025)

South Africa produces 5 times as much per person as Lesotho

Lesotho: Int$3,184 (2025) · South Africa: Int$15,906 (2025)

Income is more unequally shared in South Africa than in Lesotho (Gini 9.2 points higher)

Lesotho: 44.9 (2017) · South Africa: 54.1 (2022)

42% of people in Lesotho live on less than $3 a day, versus 17% in South Africa

Lesotho: 41.9% (2017) · South Africa: 17.4% (2022)

Unemployment is 32% in South Africa, versus 16% in Lesotho

Lesotho: 16.3% (2025) · South Africa: 32.4% (2025)

Lesotho spends 1.6% of its GDP on the military, South Africa 0.7%

Lesotho: 1.6% (2025) · South Africa: 0.7% (2025)

Lesotho’s central government collects 35% of GDP in tax, South Africa’s 26%

Lesotho: 35.4% (2024) · South Africa: 25.9% (2024)

South Africa’s price level (US = 100) is 1.2× Lesotho’s

Lesotho: 34% (2025) · South Africa: 41% (2025)

South Africa spends 4.4 times as much on health per person as Lesotho

Lesotho: $123 (2023) · South Africa: $537 (2023)

A baby in Lesotho is 2.3 times as likely to die before turning one as in South Africa

Lesotho: 56.3 per 1,000 (2024) · South Africa: 24.2 per 1,000 (2024)

South Africa has 3.4 times as many doctors per person as Lesotho

Lesotho: 0.2 per 1,000 (2022) · South Africa: 0.8 per 1,000 (2022)

The suicide rate in Lesotho is 2.2 times that in South Africa

Lesotho: 35 per 100k (2023) · South Africa: 16.2 per 100k (2023)

31% of adults in South Africa are obese, versus 20% in Lesotho

Lesotho: 20.2% (2024) · South Africa: 31.3% (2024)

28% of adults in Lesotho smoke, versus 24% in South Africa

Lesotho: 28% (2024) · South Africa: 23.7% (2024)

People in South Africa rate their lives 0.63 points higher than in Lesotho

Lesotho: 4.38 (2025) · South Africa: 5.01 (2025)

Adults in South Africa drink 2 times as much alcohol as in Lesotho

Lesotho: 4.2 litres (2023) · South Africa: 8.6 litres (2023)

South Africa has 3.1 times as much meat per person as Lesotho

Lesotho: 18.8 kg (2023) · South Africa: 58.3 kg (2023)

South Africa has 821 kcal more food per person per day than Lesotho

Lesotho: 1,873 kcal (2023) · South Africa: 2,694 kcal (2023)

Lesotho: no data · South Africa: 2,181 hours (2023)

Adults in South Africa went to school 3.9 years longer than in Lesotho

Lesotho: 7.7 years (2023) · South Africa: 11.6 years (2023)

Lesotho: no data · South Africa: 0.14 (2024)

South Africa has 11 more World Heritage sites than Lesotho (12 against 1)

Lesotho: 1 (2026) · South Africa: 12 (2026)

South Africa has won 95 Olympic medals, Lesotho none

Lesotho: 0 (2026 edition) · South Africa: 95 (2026 edition)

78% of people in South Africa are online, versus 52% in Lesotho

Lesotho: 52% (2024) · South Africa: 78% (2024)

Home internet in Lesotho is 4% faster than in South Africa

Lesotho: 82 Mbps (2026) · South Africa: 78 Mbps (2026)

90% of people in South Africa have electricity, versus 61% in Lesotho

Lesotho: 60.6% (2024) · South Africa: 90.2% (2024)

64% of people in South Africa live in cities, versus 45% in Lesotho

Lesotho: 45% (2025) · South Africa: 64% (2025)

South Africa has 179 mobile subscriptions per 100 people, Lesotho 70

Lesotho: 70 (2024) · South Africa: 179 (2024)

Lesotho: no data · South Africa: 20,953 km (2021)

Lesotho: no data · South Africa: 0.24 (2023)

Forest covers 19% of South Africa, but only 1.1% of Lesotho

Lesotho: 1.1% (2024) · South Africa: 18.8% (2024)

The average person in South Africa emits 6.2 times as much CO₂ as someone in Lesotho

Lesotho: 1.1 t (2024) · South Africa: 6.9 t (2024)

100% of Lesotho’s electricity is renewable, versus 14% in South Africa

Lesotho: 100% (2022) · South Africa: 13.6% (2025)

Lesotho and South Africa are nearly identical here

Lesotho: 24.5 µg/m³ (2024) · South Africa: 24.4 µg/m³ (2024)

Lesotho: no data · South Africa: 43.7 per 100k (2022)

Roads in South Africa are 11% deadlier than in Lesotho

Lesotho: 29.8 per 100k (2023) · South Africa: 33.1 per 100k (2023)

South Africa is on average 6.5 °C warmer than Lesotho

Lesotho: 11.9°C (2016–2025 avg) · South Africa: 18.4°C (2016–2025 avg)

Lesotho gets 2.1 times as much rain as South Africa

Lesotho: 1,060 mm (2016–2025 avg) · South Africa: 511 mm (2016–2025 avg)