Africa · Country profile
Obesity in Lesotho
22.2% of adults live with obesity (2024). That ranks 102nd highest of 199 countries.
22.2%
of adults live with obesity (2024)
Likely range 19.9%–24.6%
Source: WHO
280 thousand
adults with obesity (estimated number)
WHO rate × UN population
Source: WHO; UN WPP 2024
4.7%
of children & teens (5–19) live with obesity (2024)
Source: WHO
#102
highest adult obesity out of 199 countries
#1 = highest share
Source: WHO
The story of Lesotho in numbers
In 2024, about 22.2% of adults in Lesotho were living with obesity — about 1 in 5 adults, according to World Health Organization estimates (the likely range is 19.9% to 24.6%). That is roughly 280 thousand people aged 18 and over.
That is higher than the world average of 16.2%, and ranks 102nd highest out of 199 countries. It is above the average for WHO’s Africa region (12.7%).
Back in 1980, the figure was 6.1%. Since then it has gone up by 16.1 percentage points — about 3.6 times the 1980 level. In people, that is a change from about 41 thousand to 280 thousand adults, partly because the population itself changed.
Women are more likely to live with obesity than men: 36.0% compared with 6.3%.
Among children and teenagers aged 5 to 19, 4.7% were living with obesity in 2024, compared with 0.5% in 1980 — around 37 thousand young people.
Obesity is not the only weight problem here: 8.7% of adults are underweight (BMI under 18.5). Health experts call this mix the “double burden” of malnutrition.
For context, 7.8% of adults had diabetes in 2022, 8.0% of adults did not get enough physical activity in 2022 and the food supply provided about 1,873 calories per person per day in 2023. These numbers don’t prove what causes obesity, but they help paint the picture.
How it changed
Adults with obesity in Lesotho: men, women and the world
What this meansSince 1980, the share of men went from 0.9% to 6.3%, and women from 10.9% to 36.0%.
- Men
- Women
- World
Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Men | Women | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 0.9% | 10.9% | 5.4% |
| 1985 | 1.1% | 12.2% | 6.0% |
| 1990 | 1.6% | 13.7% | 6.7% |
| 1995 | 2.1% | 15.6% | 7.6% |
| 2000 | 2.8% | 18.2% | 8.7% |
| 2005 | 3.7% | 21.4% | 10.1% |
| 2010 | 4.4% | 24.8% | 11.5% |
| 2015 | 5.0% | 28.6% | 13.0% |
| 2020 | 5.6% | 32.7% | 14.6% |
| 2024 | 6.3% | 36.0% | 16.2% |
Age-standardized WHO estimates. Shaded bands show the 95% uncertainty range.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Children & teens (5–19) with obesity in Lesotho
What this meansSince 1980, the share of boys went from 0.2% to 4.5%, and girls from 0.9% to 4.9%.
- Boys
- Girls
BMI-for-age more than 2 standard deviations above the WHO growth reference median.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Lesotho compared (2024)
What this meansHow Lesotho’s adult obesity rate compares with its region, countries at a similar income level, and the world.
- Lesotho22.2%
- World16.2%
- Africa (WHO region)12.7%
- Lower-middle income countries12.0%
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory.
Food supply: calories per person per day in Lesotho
What this meansThe food available per person went from 2,297 calories a day in 1961 to 1,873 in 2023. This counts food available, not food actually eaten.
- Lesotho
- World
Countries ranked nearby
- 100. Moldova22.3%
- 102. Iceland22.2%
- 102. Israel22.2%
- 102. Lesotho22.2%
- 102. Turkmenistan22.2%
- 106. Kyrgyzstan22.0%
- 107. Poland21.8%
Last updated