Costa Rica vs Lesotho: Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas
Costa Rica
1.33 million people
in 2020
Lesotho
1.39 million people
in 2020
Costa Rica rank
122nd
Lesotho rank
119th
Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas over time
- Costa Rica
- Lesotho
How they compare
Lesotho currently reports 1.39 million people against 1.33 million people in Costa Rica, a difference of 66,370 people.
That makes Lesotho's figure about 1.1 times Costa Rica's.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 15 shared years of data; in 1950 it was Costa Rica ahead.
Costa Rica ranks 122nd and Lesotho ranks 119th of 236 countries.
Across the 8 decades both report, Costa Rica averaged higher in 2 and Lesotho in 6.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Costa Rica | Lesotho | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 575,930 people | 525,416 people | 50,514 people | Costa Rica |
| 1960s | 706,384 people | 663,950 people | 42,434 people | Costa Rica |
| 1970s | 816,073 people | 888,411 people | 72,338 people | Lesotho |
| 1980s | 941,811 people | 1.08 million people | 137,009 people | Lesotho |
| 1990s | 1.05 million people | 1.22 million people | 169,045 people | Lesotho |
| 2000s | 1.14 million people | 1.24 million people | 106,225 people | Lesotho |
| 2010s | 1.25 million people | 1.29 million people | 42,610 people | Lesotho |
| 2020s | 1.33 million people | 1.39 million people | 66,370 people | Lesotho |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas, Costa Rica or Lesotho?
- Lesotho, at 1.39 million people against 1.33 million people in Costa Rica as of 2020.
- What is the difference in number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas between Costa Rica and Lesotho?
- 66,370 people, with Lesotho ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Costa Rica and Lesotho?
- 15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
- How do Costa Rica and Lesotho rank globally for number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas?
- Costa Rica ranks 122nd and Lesotho ranks 119th of 236 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Estimated number of people living in rural areas. Rural areas are identified using satellite imagery and population data, applying the same definitions across countries.