Lesotho country handbook : highlights of ECA’s support to Lesotho 2015-2022

Abstract

Lesotho is a mountainous country that is surrounded by South Africa and is economically dependent on its neighbor for employment, with migrant labor remittances in the mining sector making a significant contribution to gross domestic product (GDP). The economy of Lesotho relies mainly on agriculture, livestock, manufacturing and mining. Lesotho is one of the most unequal countries in the world, although its Gini coefficient improved from 0.542 in 2010 to 0.449 in 2017. In the World Bank Group Country Survey, 2021, it is reported that the poverty headcount ratio at $2.15 a day (2017 purchasing power parity) is 32.4 per cent. Furthermore, youth unemployment remains high, despite a stimulus program (2020–2023) that helped to reduce youth unemployment from 50 per cent in 2000 to 33 per cent in 2020.The Sub regional Office for Southern Africa prepared and published a series entitled Country Profiles, which included a profile on Lesotho. Each profile provided robust independent analysis of the subject country’s economic and social development status, progress and prospects, which policymakers and analysts could use for key national, regional and international development initiative and agendas, including economic transformation. The series was published and updated until 2018.