Matchup file

Lesotho vs South Africa

109 shared metrics.

LesothoLeads in 33

vs109 shared

South AfricaLeads in 76

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South Africa leads by 43 metrics. Use the same instinct in a quick real-data brawl.

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Country briefing

What matters for both sides

Short real-world notes so the comparison reads like more than a stat strip.

Lesotho

Quick notes before you compare the numbers.

Identity

Formal name: Kingdom of Lesotho.

CIA 2026

Curated stat

Lesotho is completely surrounded by South Africa, a rare country enclosed by just one neighbor.

Britannica

South Africa

Quick notes before you compare the numbers.

Identity

Formal name: Republic of South Africa.

CIA 2026

Curated stat

South Africa splits its capitals three ways: Pretoria runs administration, Cape Town legislates, and Bloemfontein anchors the judiciary.

Gov.za

Analysis

South Africa leads in 76 of 109 shared metrics, while Lesotho leads in 33.

Lesotho's Broadband Access (%) is 66.3x that of South Africa (202 per 100 people vs 3.0 per 100 people).

Lesotho's Firms Making Informal Payments is 5.9x that of South Africa (10.23% of firms vs 1.5% of firms).

Lesotho's GDP Growth Rate is 4.3x that of South Africa (2.9% vs 0.53%).

Lesotho's Firms Asked for Bribes is 3.7x that of South Africa (7.3% of firms vs 1.5% of firms).

Lesotho's Renewable Energy (%) is 2.6x that of South Africa (34.9% vs 9.7%).

Key Comparisons

Broadband Access (%)Lesotho leads

Lesotho

202 per 100 people

South Africa

3.0 per 100 people

Firms Making Informal PaymentsLesotho leads

Lesotho

10.23% of firms

South Africa

1.5% of firms

GDP Growth RateLesotho leads

Lesotho

2.9%

South Africa

0.53%

Firms Asked for BribesLesotho leads

Lesotho

7.3% of firms

South Africa

1.5% of firms

Renewable Energy (%)Lesotho leads

Lesotho

34.9%

South Africa

9.7%

Imports (% GDP)Lesotho leads

South Africa

Lesotho

2.0K

South Africa

89.0K

98% lower

Comparison of Lesotho and South Africa across 109 metrics
				Winner
Broadband Access (%)	202 per 100 people	3.0 per 100 people	6633% higher	Lesotho
Firms Making Informal Payments	10.23% of firms	1.5% of firms	588% higher	Lesotho
GDP Growth Rate	2.9%	0.53%	434% higher	Lesotho
Firms Asked for Bribes	7.3% of firms	1.5% of firms	373% higher	Lesotho
Renewable Energy (%)	34.9%	9.7%	260% higher	Lesotho
Imports (% GDP)	98.59% of GDP	29.85% of GDP	230% higher	Lesotho
Informal Employment Share	89.13% of employed people	34.81% of employed people	156% higher	Lesotho
Protected Land (%)	23.4%	9.5%	146% higher	Lesotho
Infant Mortality	55.4 per 1k births	24.4 per 1k births	127% higher	Lesotho
Military Spending	1.6% of GDP	0.70% of GDP	124% higher	Lesotho
Forest Area	345.2 km²	169.4K km²	100% lower	South Africa
Water Withdrawal	0.04 B m³	21.11 B m³	100% lower	South Africa
Scientific Publications	47.96	16.7K	100% lower	South Africa
Irrigated Land	12 km²	16.7K km²	100% lower	South Africa
Total CO2 Emissions	1.0 Mt CO2e	440.17 Mt CO2e	100% lower	South Africa
Electric Generating Capacity	104.0K kW	65.99M kW	100% lower	South Africa
Electricity Generation	0.48 TWh	244.81 TWh	100% lower	South Africa
GDP (Nominal)	$2,271,759,454.51	$401,144,998,373.59	99% lower	South Africa
Water Stress (%)	0.84%	47.12%	98% lower	South Africa
Armed Forces Personnel	2.0K	89.0K	98% lower	South Africa
High-Tech Exports (%)	0.09%	5.7%	98% lower	South Africa
Land Area	30.4K km²	1.21M km²	97% lower	South Africa
Electricity Carbon Intensity	20.83 gCO2/kWh	699.29 gCO2/kWh	97% lower	South Africa
Population	2.22M	61.09M	96% lower	South Africa
Government Debt (% GDP)	3.0% of GDP	79.45% of GDP	96% lower	South Africa
Airports	34	583	94% lower	South Africa
Forest Coverage (%)	1.1%	13.97%	92% lower	South Africa
UNESCO World Heritage Sites	1.0 sites	12 sites	92% lower	South Africa
CO2 Per Capita	1.1 t/person/yr	6.9 t/person/yr	84% lower	South Africa
Official Languages Count	2.0	12	83% lower	South Africa
Border Neighbors	1.0	6.0	83% lower	South Africa
Insufficient Physical Activity	8.0% of adults	44.8% of adults	82% lower	South Africa
GNI Per Capita	$1,180	$6,110	81% lower	South Africa
GDP Per Capita (PPP)	$3,001.16	$15,456.2	81% lower	South Africa
Land Border Length	1.1K km	5.2K km	79% lower	South Africa
Health Spending Per Capita	$133.7	$569.84	77% lower	South Africa
Spirits Consumption	0.27 L/person/yr	1.1 L/person/yr	75% lower	South Africa
ATMs per 100,000 Adults	13.94 per 100k	50.46 per 100k	72% lower	South Africa
Child Mortality	58.9 per 1k births	34.7 per 1k births	70% higher	Lesotho
Doctors (per 1,000)	0.24 per 1k	0.79 per 1k	70% lower	South Africa
Mobile Money Accounts	53.47% of adults	31.62% of adults	69% higher	Lesotho
Meat Consumption per Person	19.89 kg/person/yr	60.03 kg/person/yr	67% lower	South Africa
Youth Unemployment Rate	24.67% of youth labor force	59.93% of youth labor force	59% lower	South Africa
Mobile Subscriptions (%)	70 per 100 people	167 per 100 people	58% lower	South Africa
Seafood Consumption per Person	2.9 kg/person/yr	6.5 kg/person/yr	56% lower	South Africa
Milk Consumption per Person	25.35 kg/person/yr	55.75 kg/person/yr	55% lower	South Africa
Death Rate	10.2 per 1k	6.6 per 1k	55% higher	Lesotho
Credit Card Ownership	4.4% of adults	9.7% of adults	55% lower	South Africa
Safe Drinking Water (%)	31.32%	68.01%	54% lower	South Africa
Unemployment Rate	16.15%	33.17%	51% lower	South Africa
Tax Revenue (% GDP)	37.28% of GDP	25.4% of GDP	47% higher	Lesotho
Population Density	76.14 /km²	52.11 /km²	46% higher	Lesotho
Beer Consumption	1.7 L/person/yr	3.1 L/person/yr	45% lower	South Africa
Women in Parliament (%)	25%	44.7%	44% lower	South Africa
Health Spending (% GDP)	12.65% of GDP	8.8% of GDP	44% higher	Lesotho
Elderly Population (%)	3.9%	6.7%	42% lower	South Africa
Alcohol Consumption	4.3 L/adult/yr	7.1 L/adult/yr	40% lower	South Africa
Inflation Rate	6.1%	4.4%	39% higher	Lesotho
Food Waste per Person	130.18 kg/person/yr	93.36 kg/person/yr	39% higher	Lesotho
Sanitation Access (%)	47.89%	77.38%	38% lower	South Africa
Teen Birth Rate	70.64 per 1k	51.56 per 1k	37% higher	Lesotho
Internet Users (%)	48%	76%	37% lower	South Africa
Obesity Rate	19.29%	30.03%	36% lower	South Africa
Electricity Access (%)	57.3%	87.7%	35% lower	South Africa
Exports (% GDP)	42.92% of GDP	31.79% of GDP	35% higher	Lesotho
Time Zones Count	2.0 time zones	3.0 time zones	33% lower	South Africa
Youth Population (%)	34.52%	25.88%	33% higher	Lesotho
Urban Population (%)	43.68%	63.69%	31% lower	South Africa
Firms Hit by Power Outages	64.55% of firms	92.02% of firms	30% lower	South Africa
Dependency Ratio	62.27% of working-age pop.	48.31% of working-age pop.	29% higher	Lesotho
Suicide Rate	28.66 per 100k	22.3 per 100k	29% higher	Lesotho
Human Development Index	0.55	0.74	26% lower	South Africa
Birth Rate	21.68 per 1k	17.21 per 1k	26% higher	Lesotho
Median Age	21.4 years	28.2 years	24% lower	South Africa
Firms with Female Top Manager	30.04% of firms	38.51% of firms	22% lower	South Africa
Minimum Paid Vacation Days	12 days/yr	15 days/yr	20% lower	South Africa
Liberal Democracy Index	0.51	0.63	19% lower	South Africa
Smoking Rate	24.3%	20.7%	17% higher	Lesotho
Average Weekly Work Hours	49.26 hrs/week	42.39 hrs/week	16% higher	Lesotho
Women in Senior Management	32.92% of managers	39.27% of managers	16% lower	South Africa
Capital Elevation	1.6K m	1.4K m	15% higher	Lesotho
Tobacco Use Prevalence	26.6% of adults	23.6% of adults	13% higher	Lesotho
Life Expectancy	57.4 years	66.1 years	13% lower	South Africa
Life Evaluation Score	4.4 pts	5.0 pts	13% lower	South Africa
Can Raise Emergency Money	77.4% of adults	68.2% of adults	13% higher	Lesotho
Freedom of Expression Index	0.73	0.84	13% lower	South Africa
Digital Payments Used	58.35% of adults	67.17% of adults	13% lower	South Africa
Political Corruption Index	0.47	0.54	12% lower	South Africa
Fertility Rate	2.5 children/woman	2.2 children/woman	12% higher	Lesotho
Road Traffic Death Rate	21.6 per 100k	24.5 per 100k	12% lower	South Africa
Electoral Democracy Index	0.66	0.74	11% lower	South Africa
Corruption Perceptions Index	37 pts	41 pts	10% lower	South Africa
Education Spending (% GDP)	6.6% of GDP	6.0% of GDP	10% higher	Lesotho
Hypertension Prevalence	40.6% of adults	44.4% of adults	9% lower	South Africa
Women's Political Empowerment	0.81	0.83	3% lower	South Africa
Agricultural Land (%)	77.76%	79.42%	2% lower	South Africa
Adult Literacy Rate	90.45%	91.15%	1% lower	South Africa
Air Pollution (PM2.5)	23.44 µg/m³	23.75 µg/m³	1% lower	South Africa
Highest Elevation	3.5K m	3.5K m	1% higher	Lesotho
Coastline Length	0 km	2.8K km	ranked lower	South Africa
Coal Electricity Share	0%	81.36%	ranked lower	South Africa
Wind Electricity Share	0%	4.7%	ranked lower	South Africa
Solar Electricity Share	0%	8.0%	ranked lower	South Africa
Nobel Laureates Born per Million People	0 per 1M people	0.15 per 1M people	ranked lower	South Africa
Lowest Elevation	1.4K m	0 m	ranked higher	Lesotho
Current Account Balance (% of GDP)	-3.3% of GDP	-0.5% of GDP	ranked lower	South Africa
FDI Inflows (% GDP)	-0.55% of GDP	0.58% of GDP	ranked lower	South Africa
EV Chargers per 100,000 PeopleSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors - Open Database License (ODbL)	0 per 100k people	0.01 per 100k people	ranked lower	South Africa
McDonald's Outlets per Million PeopleSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors - Open Database License (ODbL)	0 per 1M people	3.5 per 1M people	ranked lower	South Africa

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Lesotho South Africa

Analysis

South Africa leads in 76 of 109 shared metrics, while Lesotho leads in 33.

Lesotho's Broadband Access (%) is 66.3x that of South Africa (202 per 100 people vs 3.0 per 100 people).

Lesotho's Firms Making Informal Payments is 5.9x that of South Africa (10.23% of firms vs 1.5% of firms).

Lesotho's GDP Growth Rate is 4.3x that of South Africa (2.9% vs 0.53%).

Lesotho's Firms Asked for Bribes is 3.7x that of South Africa (7.3% of firms vs 1.5% of firms).

Lesotho's Renewable Energy (%) is 2.6x that of South Africa (34.9% vs 9.7%).

Key Comparisons

Broadband Access (%)Lesotho leads

Lesotho

202 per 100 people

South Africa

3.0 per 100 people

Firms Making Informal PaymentsLesotho leads

Lesotho

10.23% of firms

South Africa

1.5% of firms

GDP Growth RateLesotho leads

Lesotho

2.9%

South Africa

0.53%

Firms Asked for BribesLesotho leads

Lesotho

7.3% of firms

South Africa

1.5% of firms

Renewable Energy (%)Lesotho leads

Lesotho

34.9%

South Africa

9.7%

Imports (% GDP)Lesotho leads

Lesotho

98.59% of GDP

South Africa

29.85% of GDP

Broadband Access (%)

202 per 100 people

3.0 per 100 people

Firms Making Informal Payments

10.23% of firms

1.5% of firms

GDP Growth Rate

2.9%

0.53%

Firms Asked for Bribes

7.3% of firms

1.5% of firms

Renewable Energy (%)

34.9%

9.7%

Imports (% GDP)

98.59% of GDP

29.85% of GDP

Informal Employment Share

89.13% of employed people

34.81% of employed people

Protected Land (%)

23.4%

9.5%

Infant Mortality

55.4 per 1k births

24.4 per 1k births

Military Spending

1.6% of GDP

0.70% of GDP

Forest Area

345.2 km²

169.4K km²

Water Withdrawal

0.04 B m³

21.11 B m³

Scientific Publications

47.96

16.7K

Irrigated Land

12 km²

16.7K km²

Total CO2 Emissions

1.0 Mt CO2e

440.17 Mt CO2e

Electric Generating Capacity

104.0K kW

65.99M kW

Electricity Generation

0.48 TWh

244.81 TWh

GDP (Nominal)

$2,271,759,454.51

$401,144,998,373.59

Water Stress (%)

0.84%

47.12%

Armed Forces Personnel

2.0K

89.0K

Lesotho vs South Africa

Think you can spot the next winner?

What matters for both sides

Lesotho

South Africa

Analysis

Key Comparisons

All Metrics

Broadband Access (%)

Firms Making Informal Payments

GDP Growth Rate

Firms Asked for Bribes

Renewable Energy (%)

Imports (% GDP)

Informal Employment Share

Protected Land (%)

Infant Mortality

Military Spending

Forest Area

Water Withdrawal

Scientific Publications

Irrigated Land

Total CO2 Emissions

Electric Generating Capacity

Electricity Generation

GDP (Nominal)

Water Stress (%)

Armed Forces Personnel

High-Tech Exports (%)

Land Area

Electricity Carbon Intensity

Population

Government Debt (% GDP)

Airports

Forest Coverage (%)

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

CO2 Per Capita

Official Languages Count

Border Neighbors

Insufficient Physical Activity

GNI Per Capita

GDP Per Capita (PPP)

Land Border Length

Health Spending Per Capita

Spirits Consumption

ATMs per 100,000 Adults

Child Mortality

Doctors (per 1,000)

Mobile Money Accounts

Meat Consumption per Person

Youth Unemployment Rate

Mobile Subscriptions (%)

Seafood Consumption per Person

Milk Consumption per Person

Death Rate

Credit Card Ownership

Safe Drinking Water (%)

Unemployment Rate

Tax Revenue (% GDP)

Population Density

Beer Consumption

Women in Parliament (%)

Health Spending (% GDP)

Elderly Population (%)

Alcohol Consumption

Inflation Rate

Food Waste per Person

Sanitation Access (%)

Teen Birth Rate

Internet Users (%)

Obesity Rate

Electricity Access (%)

Exports (% GDP)

Time Zones Count

Youth Population (%)

Urban Population (%)

Firms Hit by Power Outages

Dependency Ratio

Suicide Rate

Human Development Index