{"id":16,"date":"2026-08-31T16:16:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T16:16:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/datamatrix.co.ls\/research\/?page_id=16"},"modified":"2026-09-02T17:10:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T17:10:07","slug":"research-hub","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/datamatrix.co.ls\/research\/","title":{"rendered":"Lesotho Data and Research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<main id=\"main\" class=\"research-page research-hub\">\n  <div class=\"wrap\">\n\n    <nav class=\"breadcrumb\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n      <ol>\n        <li><a href=\"\/\">Home<\/a><\/li>\n        <li aria-current=\"page\">Research<\/li>\n      <\/ol>\n    <\/nav>\n\n    <div class=\"section__head\">\n      <p class=\"eyebrow\">Research &amp; data<\/p>\n      <h1>Lesotho Data and Research<\/h1>\n    <\/div>\n    <p class=\"lead\" style=\"max-width:62ch\">Data Matrix tracks the numbers that shape life and business in Lesotho, and updates them on a fixed schedule. Each monitor has its own page, a named source, and a clear method. How we source, label and correct the data is set out in our <a href=\"\/research\/methodology\/\">research methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n    <div class=\"grid grid-3\" style=\"margin-top:2rem\">\n      <a class=\"card card--link\" href=\"\/research\/fuel-price-monitor\/\">\n        <span class=\"card__kicker\">Updated monthly<\/span>\n        <h3>Fuel Price Monitor<\/h3>\n        <p>Petrol, diesel and paraffin pump prices in Lesotho, from the Petroleum Fund. Latest: petrol 95 at M25.90 (May 2026 report).<\/p>\n        <span class=\"card__more\">View \u2192<\/span>\n      <\/a>\n      <a class=\"card card--link\" href=\"\/research\/newspaper-rankings\/\">\n        <span class=\"card__kicker\">Updated quarterly<\/span>\n        <h3>Newspaper Rankings<\/h3>\n        <p>Lesotho newspapers ranked by social media reach. Lesotho Tribune currently leads on Facebook.<\/p>\n        <span class=\"card__more\">View \u2192<\/span>\n      <\/a>\n      <a class=\"card card--link\" href=\"\/research\/radio-rankings\/\">\n        <span class=\"card__kicker\">Updated quarterly<\/span>\n        <h3>Radio Rankings<\/h3>\n        <p>Lesotho radio stations ranked by social media reach. MoAfrika FM currently leads on Facebook.<\/p>\n        <span class=\"card__more\">View \u2192<\/span>\n      <\/a>\n      <a class=\"card card--link\" href=\"\/research\/methodology\/\">\n        <span class=\"card__kicker\">Standards<\/span>\n        <h3>Research Methodology<\/h3>\n        <p>How we source, label and correct our data, including our estimate versus reported labels.<\/p>\n        <span class=\"card__more\">Read \u2192<\/span>\n      <\/a>\n      <div class=\"card is-soon\">\n        <span class=\"card__kicker\">In development<\/span>\n        <h3>Cost of Living Basket<\/h3>\n        <p>The monthly price of a basket of staple foods in Lesotho.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"card is-soon\">\n        <span class=\"card__kicker\">In development<\/span>\n        <h3>Mobile Data Prices<\/h3>\n        <p>The price of one gigabyte and standard bundles across Lesotho networks.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  <\/div>\n<\/main>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><div class=\"lt-rd-hub\"><section class=\"lt-rd-panel lt-rd-fuel\"><p class=\"lt-rd-kicker\">Updated monthly<\/p><h2>Fuel prices<\/h2><p class=\"lt-rd-lead\">Regulated pump prices in Lesotho. Latest Official reading is September 2026.<\/p><div class=\"lt-rd-pills\"><div class=\"lt-rd-pill\"><span>Petrol 93<\/span><strong>M24.50<\/strong><em>Official<\/em><\/div><div class=\"lt-rd-pill\"><span>Petrol 95<\/span><strong>M24.80<\/strong><em>Official<\/em><\/div><div class=\"lt-rd-pill\"><span>Diesel 50ppm<\/span><strong>M30.95<\/strong><em>Official<\/em><\/div><div class=\"lt-rd-pill\"><span>Paraffin (Retail)<\/span><strong>M22.10<\/strong><em>Official<\/em><\/div><\/div><p class=\"lt-rd-foot\">Source: Petroleum Fund. Prices are LSL per litre.<\/p><\/section><div class=\"lt-rd-grid\"><section class=\"lt-rd-panel\"><p class=\"lt-rd-kicker\">Updated quarterly<\/p><h2>Newspaper rankings<\/h2><p class=\"lt-rd-lead\">Facebook reach, 2026-Q3.<\/p><table class=\"lt-rd-table\"><thead><tr><th>Outlet<\/th><th>Followers<\/th><th>Label<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Lesotho Tribune<\/td><td>190,000<\/td><td>Observed<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Public Eye<\/td><td>180,000<\/td><td>Observed<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>The Post<\/td><td>160,500<\/td><td>Observed<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Lesotho Times<\/td><td>146,000<\/td><td>Estimated<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Maseru Metro<\/td><td>74,000<\/td><td>Observed<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Informative<\/td><td>62,700<\/td><td>Observed<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Newsday Lesotho<\/td><td>9,000<\/td><td>Estimated<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><p class=\"lt-rd-foot\">Source: Data Matrix. Combined pages are noted on the outlet.<\/p><\/section><section class=\"lt-rd-panel\"><p class=\"lt-rd-kicker\">Updated quarterly<\/p><h2>Radio rankings<\/h2><p class=\"lt-rd-lead\">Facebook reach, 2026-Q3.<\/p><table class=\"lt-rd-table\"><thead><tr><th>Outlet<\/th><th>Followers<\/th><th>Label<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>MoAfrika FM<\/td><td>595,000<\/td><td>Observed<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Mapholi FM<\/td><td>200,000<\/td><td>Reported<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Harvest FM<\/td><td>162,000<\/td><td>Observed<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Ultimate Radio<\/td><td>112,000<\/td><td>Observed<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><p class=\"lt-rd-foot\">Source: Data Matrix. Combined pages are noted on the outlet.<\/p><\/section><\/div><section class=\"lt-rd-panel\"><p class=\"lt-rd-kicker\">Official series<\/p><h2>Three-year fuel series<\/h2><div class=\"lt-rd-scroll\"><table class=\"lt-rd-table\"><thead><tr><th>Period<\/th><th>93<\/th><th>95<\/th><th>Diesel<\/th><th>Paraffin<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>2026-09<\/td><td>24.50<\/td><td>24.80<\/td><td>30.95<\/td><td>22.10<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2026-05<\/td><td>25.40<\/td><td>25.90<\/td><td>34.75<\/td><td>22.50<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2026-04<\/td><td>22.50<\/td><td>23.30<\/td><td>30.50<\/td><td>21.30<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2026-03<\/td><td>17.80<\/td><td>17.95<\/td><td>19.40<\/td><td>13.30<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2026-02<\/td><td>17.60<\/td><td>17.70<\/td><td>18.85<\/td><td>13.00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2026-01<\/td><td>18.05<\/td><td>18.20<\/td><td>19.00<\/td><td>13.10<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2025-12<\/td><td>18.95<\/td><td>19.20<\/td><td>21.00<\/td><td>14.40<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2025-11<\/td><td>18.50<\/td><td>18.75<\/td><td>20.00<\/td><td>13.70<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2025-10<\/td><td>19.15<\/td><td>19.35<\/td><td>20.35<\/td><td>13.80<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2025-09<\/td><td>19.50<\/td><td>19.65<\/td><td>20.45<\/td><td>14.00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2025-08<\/td><td>19.40<\/td><td>19.55<\/td><td>21.15<\/td><td>14.50<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2025-07<\/td><td>19.90<\/td><td>20.10<\/td><td>20.50<\/td><td>14.30<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2025-06<\/td><td>18.95<\/td><td>19.10<\/td><td>19.35<\/td><td>13.30<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2025-05<\/td><td>19.15<\/td><td>19.30<\/td><td>19.85<\/td><td>13.80<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2025-04<\/td><td>19.35<\/td><td>19.50<\/td><td>20.30<\/td><td>14.00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2025-03<\/td><td>19.95<\/td><td>20.10<\/td><td>20.60<\/td><td>15.00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2025-02<\/td><td>19.95<\/td><td>20.15<\/td><td>21.20<\/td><td>15.20<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2025-01<\/td><td>18.90<\/td><td>19.20<\/td><td>19.95<\/td><td>14.00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2024-12<\/td><td>19.75<\/td><td>20.15<\/td><td>20.15<\/td><td>14.60<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2024-11<\/td><td>18.65<\/td><td>19.20<\/td><td>19.50<\/td><td>13.90<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2024-10<\/td><td>18.35<\/td><td>18.75<\/td><td>19.05<\/td><td>13.50<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2024-09<\/td><td>19.75<\/td><td>20.15<\/td><td>20.15<\/td><td>14.60<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2024-08<\/td><td>21.00<\/td><td>21.40<\/td><td>21.35<\/td><td>15.90<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2024-07<\/td><td>21.05<\/td><td>21.55<\/td><td>21.65<\/td><td>16.30<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2024-06<\/td><td>22.35<\/td><td>22.80<\/td><td>22.45<\/td><td>16.60<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2024-05<\/td><td>23.25<\/td><td>23.70<\/td><td>23.35<\/td><td>17.60<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2024-04<\/td><td>22.70<\/td><td>23.15<\/td><td>23.35<\/td><td>17.60<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2024-03<\/td><td>22.25<\/td><td>22.70<\/td><td>23.35<\/td><td>17.60<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2024-02<\/td><td>19.80<\/td><td>20.25<\/td><td>21.55<\/td><td>16.50<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2024-01<\/td><td>19.05<\/td><td>19.40<\/td><td>21.90<\/td><td>16.50<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2023-12<\/td><td>19.75<\/td><td>20.25<\/td><td>23.00<\/td><td>17.40<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2023-11<\/td><td>20.65<\/td><td>21.15<\/td><td>24.15<\/td><td>18.30<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2023-10<\/td><td>22.50<\/td><td>23.00<\/td><td>25.40<\/td><td>19.20<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2023-09<\/td><td>22.40<\/td><td>22.90<\/td><td>24.00<\/td><td>18.20<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2023-08<\/td><td>20.50<\/td><td>21.00<\/td><td>20.85<\/td><td>15.50<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2023-07<\/td><td>19.80<\/td><td>20.25<\/td><td>19.75<\/td><td>14.50<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2023-06<\/td><td>20.10<\/td><td>20.55<\/td><td>19.85<\/td><td>14.80<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2023-05<\/td><td>20.60<\/td><td>20.95<\/td><td>20.20<\/td><td>15.30<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2023-04<\/td><td>20.10<\/td><td>20.40<\/td><td>21.05<\/td><td>16.50<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2023-03<\/td><td>20.10<\/td><td>20.40<\/td><td>22.15<\/td><td>17.60<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2023-02<\/td><td>19.30<\/td><td>19.60<\/td><td>22.15<\/td><td>17.60<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2023-01<\/td><td>19.65<\/td><td>20.00<\/td><td>24.10<\/td><td>18.10<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><p class=\"lt-rd-foot\">Official Petroleum Fund history to February 2026, dated notices through May 2026, live Fund homepage for the current month.<\/p><\/section><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Regularly updated data on Lesotho from Data Matrix, covering fuel prices, newspaper reach and radio reach, each with a named source and clear method.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"dm-page","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-16","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/datamatrix.co.ls\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/datamatrix.co.ls\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/datamatrix.co.ls\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/datamatrix.co.ls\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/datamatrix.co.ls\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/datamatrix.co.ls\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31,"href":"https:\/\/datamatrix.co.ls\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16\/revisions\/31"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/datamatrix.co.ls\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}