Share of urban population using at least basic water services in Lesotho
Lesotho: Share of urban population using at least basic water services was 94.7% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of urban population using at least basic water services in Lesotho, 2000–2024
Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Lesotho recorded 94.7% for share of urban population using at least basic water services in 2024. That is the highest value across all 25 years on record.
The figure is up 0.6% on the previous year and up 6.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of urban population using at least basic water services in Lesotho peaked at 94.7% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 80.9%, in 2000.
Lesotho ranks 138th of 188 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
Share of urban population using at least basic water services in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 80.9% | — |
| 2001 | 81.5% | +0.7% |
| 2002 | 82.1% | +0.7% |
| 2003 | 82.6% | +0.7% |
| 2004 | 83.2% | +0.7% |
| 2005 | 83.7% | +0.7% |
| 2006 | 84.3% | +0.7% |
| 2007 | 84.9% | +0.7% |
| 2008 | 85.4% | +0.7% |
| 2009 | 86.0% | +0.7% |
| 2010 | 86.6% | +0.7% |
| 2011 | 87.1% | +0.7% |
| 2012 | 87.7% | +0.7% |
| 2013 | 88.3% | +0.7% |
| 2014 | 88.9% | +0.7% |
| 2015 | 89.4% | +0.7% |
| 2016 | 90.0% | +0.6% |
| 2017 | 90.6% | +0.6% |
| 2018 | 91.2% | +0.6% |
| 2019 | 91.8% | +0.6% |
| 2020 | 92.4% | +0.6% |
| 2021 | 92.9% | +0.6% |
| 2022 | 93.5% | +0.6% |
| 2023 | 94.1% | +0.6% |
| 2024 | 94.7% | +0.6% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's 94.7% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 94.4%, 1.0× the median. (44 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's 94.7% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 87.8%, 1.1× the median. (47 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 83.5% | 80.9% | 86.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 89.2% | 86.6% | 91.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 93.5% | 92.4% | 94.7% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
More environment data for Lesotho
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.284 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 0.783 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual -0.521 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate -2.27 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) (Mt CO2e), annual -0.4197 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of urban population using at least basic water services in Lesotho?
- Share of urban population using at least basic water services in Lesotho was 94.7% in 2024, according to WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of urban population using at least basic water services recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 94.7% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of urban population using at least basic water services recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 80.9% in 2000.
- How does Lesotho rank for share of urban population using at least basic water services?
- Lesotho ranks 138th out of 188 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of urban population using at least basic water services rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is up 6.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Lesotho data come from?
- The figures come from WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of urban population using at least basic water services. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Proportion of people who use an improved drinking water source, which is either located on their premises, or at a collection point, which takes no more than 30 minutes for a roundtrip.