Lesotho vs Zimbabwe: Share of population living in rural areas
Lesotho
62.3%
in 2020
Zimbabwe
66.4%
in 2020
Lesotho rank
17th
Zimbabwe rank
16th
Share of population living in rural areas over time
- Lesotho
- Zimbabwe
How they compare
Zimbabwe currently reports 66.4% against 62.3% in Lesotho, a difference of 4.1%.
That makes Zimbabwe's figure about 1.1 times Lesotho's.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 15 shared years of data; in 1950 it was Lesotho ahead.
Lesotho ranks 17th and Zimbabwe ranks 16th of 236 countries.
Across the 8 decades both report, Lesotho averaged higher in 6 and Zimbabwe in 2.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Lesotho | Zimbabwe | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 86.0% | 76.0% | 10.0% | Lesotho |
| 1960s | 83.5% | 72.3% | 11.2% | Lesotho |
| 1970s | 79.7% | 68.0% | 11.7% | Lesotho |
| 1980s | 71.3% | 65.8% | 5.5% | Lesotho |
| 1990s | 64.8% | 62.7% | 2.1% | Lesotho |
| 2000s | 62.8% | 62.5% | 0.3% | Lesotho |
| 2010s | 63.1% | 63.6% | 0.4% | Zimbabwe |
| 2020s | 62.3% | 66.4% | 4.1% | Zimbabwe |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher share of population living in rural areas, Lesotho or Zimbabwe?
- Zimbabwe, at 66.4% against 62.3% in Lesotho as of 2020.
- What is the difference in share of population living in rural areas between Lesotho and Zimbabwe?
- 4.1%, with Zimbabwe ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Lesotho and Zimbabwe?
- 15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
- How do Lesotho and Zimbabwe rank globally for share of population living in rural areas?
- Lesotho ranks 17th and Zimbabwe ranks 16th 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 Share of population living in rural areas. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Estimated share of the population living in rural areas. Rural areas are identified using satellite imagery and population data, applying the same definitions across countries.