Lesotho Bureau of Statistics

The Lesotho Population and Housing Census 2026 is the largest statistical operation conducted by the Government of Lesotho through Lesotho Bureau of Statistics. This Exercise is done every 10 years in Lesotho.

Lesotho has a long history of population censuses. From the 1966 Population Census, Lesotho adopted modern scientific census methods involving the enumeration of persons and households. Subsequent population and housing censuses were conducted in 1976, 1986, 1996, 2006 and 2016. The 2026 Population and Housing Census therefore forms part of Lesotho's established census programme and provides an opportunity to update the demographic, social, economic and housing information available from the 2016 Population and Housing Census.

The Bureau of Statistics is mandated under the Bureau of Statistics Act No. 8 of 2001 to conduct population and housing censuses and to collect, compile, analyse and disseminate official statistics for national development planning, research, public information and international cooperation.

The 2026 Population and Housing Census adopted a full-coverage population and housing census approach, whereby the population and housing units within the defined census scope were enumerated throughout Lesotho. The census was organized around a hierarchical geographic framework that permits information collected in the field to be linked to specific geographic areas.

The general structure was:

Lesotho → District → Constituency → Enumeration Area (EA) → Point / Structure → Household → Person

This structure was particularly important for digital census processing because each record must be associated with the correct geographic identifiers.

For 2026 Population and Housing Census, the reference night was 11 April 2026.

The census used structured field enumeration supported by digital data collection technology. Enumerators were assigned specific geographic areas and were responsible for visiting the structures, points and households within their assigned enumeration areas.

The general workflow was:

Enumerator receives assignment → Accesses assigned EA → Locates points/structures → Identifies household → Conducts interview → Captures information in CAPI → Application performs validation → Record is saved → Data transmitted/synchronized.