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Southern Africa

Lesotho

EU Compliance · Geopolitical Risk · Sourcing Attractiveness

EU Compliance

lower score = lower risk

4.6

Geopolitical Risk

lower score = lower risk

2.8

Sourcing Attractiveness

higher score = more attractive

3.3

Why these scores

EU Compliance, by dimension

Forced & child labour4
Worker rights & FOA4
OHS & audit transparency5
Food & product safety4
Environmental & regulatory4
Governance & anti-corruption7
Tariff & preferential access3
Non-tariff barriers4
Supply chain traceability6

1 = lowest risk · methodology & sources

Geopolitical Risk, by dimension

Geopolitical conflict2
Supplier concentration3
Climate & physical risk4
Sanctions exposure1
Policy continuity & property rights4

1 = lowest risk · methodology & sources

Attractiveness, by dimension

Labour cost competitiveness7
Supply base depth3
Logistics & infrastructure3
Workforce skills3
Scalability4
Ease of doing business3
Trade access & tariffs3
Sustainability baseline3
Innovation & IP1
Quality standards3

9 = most attractive · methodology & sources

Analyst scores, last reviewed June 2026; each dimension's sources and cadence are on its methodology page.

Data layers

The EU is Lesotho's #5 import source (world lens). Lesotho is the EU's #144 goods supplier.

Lesotho on the world stage

Lesotho$1.9bn total importsSouth Africa78.9% · $1.5bnChina10.3% · $193mOther Asia, nes2.9% · $54mIndia1.4% · $27mEU-271.2% · $22mJapan1.0% · $19mUS0.5% · $9mASEAN-60.4% · $7m

Total imports

$1.9bn

2024 annual

Total exports

$1.0bn

102 partners

#1 import source

South Africa

78.9%

#1 export dest.

South Africa

58.5%

2024 annual, UN Comtrade (HS TOTAL, all partners). Line colour: coverage (exports/imports per partner).

Lesotho and the EU

EU imports from

€126m

0.0% of extra-EU

EU exports to

€10m

0.0% of extra-EU

EU supplier rank

EU's #144 supplier

EU trade balance

one-sided

coverage 0.08

2025 annual totals, Eurostat COMEXT. EU trade board →

Electricity & grid

National sources · carbon from Ember · estimated

Electricity costs →

Industrial

25

EUR/MWh

Consumer

117

EUR/MWh, all-in

Grid carbon

21

gCO₂e/kWh

Renewables

of generation

regulated market

Power market

Import dependence

Market model

State monopoly (LEC)

Direct PPA

None

grid access: closed

Reserve margin

Regulator

Not independent

LEWA (Lesotho Electricity and Water Authority)

Imports roughly 80% of electricity from Eskom (South Africa). Domestic generation is limited to Muela hydro (72 MW) from the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. Very low carbon intensity (21 gCO2e/kWh) but entirely…

Power markets: full layer →

Tracked infrastructure

Operating assets tracked by Global Energy Monitor (CC BY 4.0); counts are tracked facilities, not exhaustive totals. Energy overview →

Demographics

UN World Population Prospects 2024 · medium variant

ASEAN demographics →

Median age

21.6

→ 28.8 by 2050

Fertility

2.66

above replacement

Working-age

61.6%

aged 15–64

Old-age dep.

6.3

→ 8.6 by 2050

Median age 1990–2050

Population 2.34M · peaks 2083

By 2050: +28% (2.99M)