Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Lesotho
Lesotho: Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female was 31.7% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Lesotho, 2000–2024
Source: Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Analysis
The most recent figure for prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Lesotho is 31.7%, measured in 2024.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.9% on the previous year and down 3.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Lesotho peaked at 39.0% in 2001 and was at its lowest, 30.2%, in 2020.
Lesotho ranks 18th of 162 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 38.9% | — |
| 2001 | 39.0% | +0.3% |
| 2002 | 39.0% | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 38.9% | -0.3% |
| 2004 | 38.7% | -0.5% |
| 2005 | 38.6% | -0.3% |
| 2006 | 38.4% | -0.5% |
| 2007 | 37.9% | -1.3% |
| 2008 | 37.3% | -1.6% |
| 2009 | 36.6% | -1.9% |
| 2010 | 35.8% | -2.2% |
| 2011 | 35.0% | -2.2% |
| 2012 | 34.2% | -2.3% |
| 2013 | 33.4% | -2.3% |
| 2014 | 32.7% | -2.1% |
| 2015 | 32.0% | -2.1% |
| 2016 | 31.4% | -1.9% |
| 2017 | 30.9% | -1.6% |
| 2018 | 30.5% | -1.3% |
| 2019 | 30.4% | -0.3% |
| 2020 | 30.2% | -0.7% |
| 2021 | 30.4% | +0.7% |
| 2022 | 30.8% | +1.3% |
| 2023 | 31.1% | +1.0% |
| 2024 | 31.7% | +1.9% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's 31.7% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 19.1%, 1.7× the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's 31.7% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 22.4%, 1.4× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 38.3% | 36.6% | 39.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 32.6% | 30.4% | 35.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 30.8% | 30.2% | 31.7% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
More health data for Lesotho
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -2.05 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate 0.4669 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 1,227 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 382 deaths (2100)
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 0 (2020)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate -0.8108 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, per capita 0.0548 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate -0.7473 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Lesotho?
- Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female in Lesotho was 31.7% in 2024, according to Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
- What is the highest prevalence of stunting, height for age, female recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 39.0% in 2001.
- What is the lowest prevalence of stunting, height for age, female recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 30.2% in 2020.
- How does Lesotho rank for prevalence of stunting, height for age, female?
- Lesotho ranks 18th out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
- Is prevalence of stunting, height for age, female rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is down 3.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Lesotho data come from?
- The figures come from Joint child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), published as part of Prevalence of stunting, height for age, female (modeled estimate, % of children under 5). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Prevalence of stunting, female, is the percentage of girls under age 5 whose height for age is more than two standard deviations below the median for the international reference population ages 0-59 months. For children up to two years old height is measured by recumbent length. For older children height is measured by stature while standing. The data are based on the WHO's 2006 Child Growth Standards.