What is the difference in the global population hockey stick between Botswana and Lesotho?

168,760 people, with Botswana ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for Botswana and Lesotho?

241 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2023.

Where does this data come from?

HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as The global population hockey stick. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Botswana vs Lesotho: The global population hockey stick

Botswana

2.48 million people

in 2023

Lesotho

2.31 million people

in 2023

Botswana rank

147th

Lesotho rank

148th

The global population hockey stick over time

Botswana
Lesotho

How they compare

Botswana currently reports 2.48 million people against 2.31 million people in Lesotho, a difference of 168,760 people.

That makes Botswana's figure about 1.1 times Lesotho's.

The two have swapped places 2 times across 241 shared years of data; in 1000 it was Botswana ahead.

Botswana ranks 147th and Lesotho ranks 148th of 239 countries.

Across the 40 decades both report, Botswana averaged higher in 19 and Lesotho in 21.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Botswana	Lesotho	Difference	Ahead
1000s	60,640 people	32,003 people	28,637 people	Botswana
1100s	65,132 people	36,575 people	28,557 people	Botswana
1200s	69,956 people	41,800 people	28,156 people	Botswana
1300s	75,138 people	47,772 people	27,366 people	Botswana
1400s	80,704 people	54,597 people	26,107 people	Botswana
1500s	86,682 people	62,396 people	24,286 people	Botswana
1600s	93,103 people	71,310 people	21,793 people	Botswana
1700s	100,000 people	81,497 people	18,503 people	Botswana
1710s	102,013 people	83,845 people	18,168 people	Botswana
1720s	103,479 people	86,364 people	17,115 people	Botswana
1730s	105,031 people	89,075 people	15,956 people	Botswana
1740s	106,680 people	92,002 people	14,678 people	Botswana
1750s	108,436 people	95,175 people	13,261 people	Botswana
1760s	110,311 people	98,627 people	11,684 people	Botswana
1770s	112,321 people	102,399 people	9,922 people	Botswana
1780s	114,483 people	106,543 people	7,940 people	Botswana
1790s	116,820 people	111,118 people	5,702 people	Botswana
1800s	118,954 people	276,361 people	157,407 people	Lesotho
1810s	114,516 people	276,280 people	161,764 people	Lesotho
1820s	110,243 people	258,645 people	148,402 people	Lesotho
1830s	106,129 people	223,600 people	117,471 people	Lesotho
1840s	102,196 people	193,146 people	90,950 people	Lesotho
1850s	104,823 people	183,902 people	79,079 people	Lesotho
1860s	115,742 people	196,543 people	80,801 people	Lesotho
1870s	127,935 people	210,234 people	82,299 people	Lesotho
1880s	141,411 people	224,622 people	83,210 people	Lesotho
1890s	156,328 people	239,734 people	83,406 people	Lesotho
1900s	177,938 people	263,050 people	85,112 people	Lesotho
1910s	208,411 people	297,013 people	88,602 people	Lesotho
1920s	249,371 people	351,695 people	102,323 people	Lesotho
1930s	305,713 people	431,156 people	125,442 people	Lesotho
1940s	371,683 people	524,074 people	152,391 people	Lesotho
1950s	458,954 people	639,760 people	180,806 people	Lesotho
1960s	560,811 people	849,324 people	288,513 people	Lesotho
1970s	718,061 people	1.19 million people	474,436 people	Lesotho
1980s	1.10 million people	1.60 million people	493,380 people	Lesotho
1990s	1.48 million people	1.93 million people	450,512 people	Lesotho
2000s	1.83 million people	1.98 million people	147,097 people	Lesotho
2010s	2.19 million people	2.10 million people	89,764 people	Botswana
2020s	2.42 million people	2.27 million people	148,155 people	Botswana

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher the global population hockey stick, Botswana or Lesotho?: Botswana, at 2.48 million people against 2.31 million people in Lesotho as of 2023.
What is the difference in the global population hockey stick between Botswana and Lesotho?: 168,760 people, with Botswana ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Botswana and Lesotho?: 241 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2023.
How do Botswana and Lesotho rank globally for the global population hockey stick?: Botswana ranks 147th and Lesotho ranks 148th of 239 countries.
Where does this data come from?: HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as The global population hockey stick. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

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Botswana vs Lesotho: The global population hockey stick. Statizoid, drawing on HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 28 August 2026, from https://population.statizoid.com/compare/world-population-over-the-last-12000-years-and-un-projection-until-2100/botswana/lesotho/

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<a href="https://population.statizoid.com/compare/world-population-over-the-last-12000-years-and-un-projection-until-2100/botswana/lesotho/">Botswana vs Lesotho: The global population hockey stick</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator: The global population hockey stick
Unit: people
Source: HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 239 places, 51,002 data points, 1000–2023
Last refreshed: 28 August 2026

Population by country, available from 10,000 BCE to 2023, based on data and estimates from different sources.