Economy of Lesotho
Maseru, the economic hub of Lesotho | |
| Currency | Lesotho loti |
|---|---|
| 1 April - 31 March | |
Trade organisations | WTO, SACU, SADC |
Country group | |
| Statistics | |
| GDP | |
| GDP rank | |
GDP growth |
|
GDP per capita | $3,360 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) (2025 est.) |
| 3.1% (2010 est.) | |
Population below poverty line | 40% |
Labour force | 855,000 (2007) |
Labour force by occupation | agriculture: About 80% of the resident population are engaged in subsistence agriculture; roughly 20% of the formal wage earners (about 200,000) work (mainly males) in South Africa, 20% of the workers (mainly females) are in the apparel industry in Lesotho, and 20% are employed by the Government of Lesotho. The others are employed in services and other manufacturing (2008). |
| Unemployment | 24%-28% |
Main industries | food, beverages, textiles and apparel, handicrafts, construction, tourism, mining |
| External | |
| Exports | $1,043 million f.o.b. (2010 est.) |
Export goods | Garments 53% , other including diamonds 47% (2008) |
Main export partners | US 60% Europe 17% SACU 19% (2007) |
| Imports | $1,766 million c.i.f. (2010 est.) |
Import goods | food, building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products, inputs to the apparel industry (2010) |
Main import partners | SACU 85% Taiwan Hong Kong and China 14% (2007) |
| Public finances | |
| $647 million (33% of GDP) (31 December 2010 est.) | |
| Revenues | $1,232 million (57% of GDP) (2009/10) |
| Expenses | $1,168 million (2009/10) |
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars. | |
The economy of Lesotho is based on tourism, manufacturing, mining, and agriculture, and depends heavily on remittances from its diaspora. Lesotho, a lower middle income country, is geographically surrounded by South Africa and is economically integrated with it as well. A significant portion of the population subsists on farming with a gradual ongoing transition into tourism and manufacturing.
Lesotho is a member of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) in which tariffs have been eliminated on the trade of goods between the other member countries, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Eswatini. Lesotho, Eswatini, Namibia, and South Africa also form a common currency and exchange control area known as the Rand Monetary Area that uses the South African rand as the common currency. In 1980, Lesotho introduced its own currency, the loti (plural: maloti). One hundred lisente equal one loti. The loti is at par with the rand.