Number of chickens in Lesotho

Number of chickens in Lesotho was 534,000 head in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. That is down 14.6% from 2023. That is the 158th highest of 179 countries in 2024.

2024, head534,000 Estimated
Change on 2023-14.6%
Rank158th of 179Countries ranked
Series high1,500,0001995
Series low286,0002019

Next release: Thursday, 31 December 2026, estimated by Invokely from past publication dates (low confidence), not announced by the publisher. Release calendar

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Number of chickens in Lesotho, 1961 to 2024

250K500K750K1M1.25M1.5M19611971198119912001201120241961: 635,000 head1962: 657,000 head1963: 677,000 head1964: 698,000 head1965: 720,000 head1966: 742,000 head1967: 765,000 head1968: 790,000 head1969: 815,000 head1970: 841,000 head1971: 830,000 head1972: 840,000 head1973: 850,000 head1974: 840,000 head1975: 830,000 head1976: 830,000 head1977: 812,000 head1978: 830,000 head1979: 826,000 head1980: 730,000 head1981: 815,000 head1982: 1,052,000 head1983: 924,000 head1984: 714,000 head1985: 824,000 head1986: 900,000 head1987: 1,000,000 head1988: 1,000,000 head1989: 1,000,000 head1990: 1,000,000 head1991: 900,000 head1992: 800,000 head1993: 1,000,000 head1994: 1,200,000 head1995: 1,500,000 head1996: 1,400,000 head1997: 1,300,000 head1998: 1,200,000 head1999: 1,100,000 head2000: 1,000,000 head2001: 950,000 head2002: 1,000,000 head2003: 900,000 head2004: 800,000 head2005: 900,000 head2006: 900,000 head2007: 893,000 head2008: 605,000 head2009: 771,000 head2010: 502,000 head2011: 485,000 head2012: 500,000 head2013: 367,000 head2014: 906,000 head2015: 522,000 head2016: 292,000 head2017: 433,000 head2018: 419,000 head2019: 286,000 head2020: 490,000 head2021: 752,000 head2022: 549,000 head2023: 625,000 head2024: 534,000 head
head. Source: FAOSTAT, Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Chickens, stocks, 1000 head (item 1057, element 5112). Retrieved 2026-10-12, published 2025-12-31.
All 64 values
Periodhead
2024534,000 Estimated
2023625,000
2022549,000
2021752,000
2020490,000 Estimated
2019286,000
2018419,000
2017433,000
2016292,000
2015522,000
2014906,000
2013367,000
2012500,000 Estimated
2011485,000 Estimated
2010502,000
2009771,000
2008605,000
2007893,000
2006900,000 Estimated
2005900,000 Estimated
2004800,000 Estimated
2003900,000 Estimated
20021,000,000 Estimated
2001950,000 Estimated
20001,000,000 Estimated
19991,100,000 Estimated
19981,200,000 Estimated
19971,300,000 Estimated
19961,400,000 Estimated
19951,500,000
19941,200,000 Estimated
19931,000,000 Estimated
1992800,000 Estimated
1991900,000 Estimated
19901,000,000 Estimated
19891,000,000 Estimated
19881,000,000 Estimated
19871,000,000 Estimated
1986900,000 Estimated
1985824,000
1984714,000
1983924,000
19821,052,000
1981815,000
1980730,000
1979826,000
1978830,000 Estimated
1977812,000
1976830,000 Estimated
1975830,000 Estimated
1974840,000 Estimated
1973850,000 Estimated
1972840,000 Estimated
1971830,000 Estimated
1970841,000
1969815,000 Estimated
1968790,000 Estimated
1967765,000 Estimated
1966742,000 Estimated
1965720,000 Estimated
1964698,000 Estimated
1963677,000 Estimated
1962657,000 Estimated
1961635,000 Estimated

Rankings

Definition

Number of chickens present in the country, laying hens and birds raised for meat alike, as published in FAOSTAT's crops and livestock products domain. FAO publishes thousands of birds; Invokely multiplies by 1,000.

A count on one day of the year, while broilers live a few weeks, so it understates the number of birds raised in a year. FAO fills gaps in national reporting with its own estimates and imputations, which are marked as estimated, and revises past years when countries send new figures.

How to cite

FAO. 2025. FAOSTAT: Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Chickens, stocks, 1000 head (item 1057, element 5112). Accessed on 2026-10-12. https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_%28Normalized%29.zip Licence: CC-BY-4.0. FAO does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2025). Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Chickens, stocks, 1000 head (item 1057, element 5112) (Number of chickens, Lesotho, 1961 to 2024) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_%28Normalized%29.zip

MLA 9

Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Chickens, stocks, 1000 head (item 1057, element 5112), Number of chickens, Lesotho, 1961 to 2024. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 31 Dec. 2025, https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_%28Normalized%29.zip. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/chicken-population/lesotho. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2025. Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Chickens, stocks, 1000 head (item 1057, element 5112). Number of chickens, Lesotho, 1961 to 2024. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_%28Normalized%29.zip. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/chicken-population/lesotho.

Harvard

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Chickens, stocks, 1000 head (item 1057, element 5112), Number of chickens, Lesotho, 1961 to 2024 [Dataset]. Available at: https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_%28Normalized%29.zip, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/en/chicken-population/lesotho (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{food_number_of_chickens_lesotho_2024,
  author = {{Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations}},
  title = {{Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Chickens, stocks, 1000 head (item 1057, element 5112): Number of chickens, Lesotho, 1961 to 2024}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_%28Normalized%29.zip},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/chicken-population/lesotho. Publisher attribution: FAO. 2025. FAOSTAT: Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Chickens, stocks, 1000 head (item 1057, element 5112). Accessed on 2026-10-12. https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production\_Crops\_Livestock\_E\_All\_Data\_\%28Normalized\%29.zip Licence: CC-BY-4.0. FAO does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
TI  - Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Chickens, stocks, 1000 head (item 1057, element 5112): Number of chickens, Lesotho, 1961 to 2024
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/31
PB  - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_%28Normalized%29.zip
L2  - https://invokely.ai/en/chicken-population/lesotho
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/chicken-population/lesotho.
N1  - Publisher attribution: FAO. 2025. FAOSTAT: Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Chickens, stocks, 1000 head (item 1057, element 5112). Accessed on 2026-10-12. https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_%28Normalized%29.zip Licence: CC-BY-4.0. FAO does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.
ER  - 
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Questions

What is the number of chickens in Lesotho?

Number of chickens in Lesotho was 534,000 head in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. That is down 14.6% from 2023. That is the 158th highest of 179 countries in 2024.

Where does this figure come from?

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Chickens, stocks, 1000 head (item 1057, element 5112). Retrieved by Invokely on 2026-10-12.

What was the highest number of chickens in Lesotho?

1,500,000 head in 1995, the highest value since 1961 in this series.

Number of chickens in other countries

Related statistics for Lesotho

All statistics for Lesotho | Lesotho in figures