Arable land — Area in Lesotho
Lesotho: Arable land — Area was 577 1000 ha in 2024. ▲ Rising
Arable land — Area in Lesotho, 1961–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in 1000 ha.
Analysis
The most recent figure for arable land — area in Lesotho is 577 1000 ha, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 64 years on record.
That represents a change of up 111.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, arable land — area in Lesotho peaked at 577 1000 ha in 2022 and was at its lowest, 150.4 1000 ha, in 2019.
That places Lesotho 142nd out of 248 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.
Arable land — Area in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | 1000 ha | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 358 1000 ha | — |
| 1962 | 353 1000 ha | -1.4% |
| 1963 | 353 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 355 1000 ha | +0.6% |
| 1965 | 355 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 360 1000 ha | +1.4% |
| 1967 | 360 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 1968 | 365 1000 ha | +1.4% |
| 1969 | 365 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 368 1000 ha | +0.8% |
| 1971 | 360 1000 ha | -2.2% |
| 1972 | 355 1000 ha | -1.4% |
| 1973 | 355 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 355 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 372 1000 ha | +4.8% |
| 1976 | 355 1000 ha | -4.6% |
| 1977 | 288 1000 ha | -18.9% |
| 1978 | 289 1000 ha | +0.3% |
| 1979 | 305 1000 ha | +5.5% |
| 1980 | 292 1000 ha | -4.3% |
| 1981 | 298 1000 ha | +2.1% |
| 1982 | 288 1000 ha | -3.4% |
| 1983 | 283 1000 ha | -1.7% |
| 1984 | 297 1000 ha | +4.9% |
| 1985 | 304 1000 ha | +2.4% |
| 1986 | 287 1000 ha | -5.6% |
| 1987 | 326 1000 ha | +13.6% |
| 1988 | 339 1000 ha | +4.0% |
| 1989 | 301 1000 ha | -11.2% |
| 1990 | 317 1000 ha | +5.3% |
| 1991 | 319 1000 ha | +0.6% |
| 1992 | 332 1000 ha | +4.1% |
| 1993 | 328 1000 ha | -1.2% |
| 1994 | 324 1000 ha | -1.2% |
| 1995 | 320 1000 ha | -1.2% |
| 1996 | 320.3 1000 ha | +0.1% |
| 1997 | 320.6 1000 ha | +0.1% |
| 1998 | 320.9 1000 ha | +0.1% |
| 1999 | 321.2 1000 ha | +0.1% |
| 2000 | 321.5 1000 ha | +0.1% |
| 2001 | 321.8 1000 ha | +0.1% |
| 2002 | 322.1 1000 ha | +0.1% |
| 2003 | 322.4 1000 ha | +0.1% |
| 2004 | 322.7 1000 ha | +0.1% |
| 2005 | 323 1000 ha | +0.1% |
| 2006 | 303 1000 ha | -6.2% |
| 2007 | 325 1000 ha | +7.3% |
| 2008 | 358 1000 ha | +10.2% |
| 2009 | 335 1000 ha | -6.4% |
| 2010 | 322 1000 ha | -3.9% |
| 2011 | 308 1000 ha | -4.3% |
| 2012 | 281.3 1000 ha | -8.7% |
| 2013 | 248.1 1000 ha | -11.8% |
| 2014 | 272.3 1000 ha | +9.8% |
| 2015 | 219 1000 ha | -19.6% |
| 2016 | 352 1000 ha | +60.7% |
| 2017 | 419.4 1000 ha | +19.1% |
| 2018 | 434.7 1000 ha | +3.6% |
| 2019 | 150.4 1000 ha | -65.4% |
| 2020 | 345.4 1000 ha | +129.7% |
| 2021 | 497 1000 ha | +43.9% |
| 2022 | 577 1000 ha | +16.1% |
| 2023 | 577 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 577 1000 ha | +0.0% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's 577 1000 ha is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 1,653 1000 ha, 35% of the median. (44 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's 577 1000 ha is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 2,650 1000 ha, 22% of the median. (45 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Arable land — Area in Lesotho changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +129.7% | 150.4 1000 ha | 345.4 1000 ha |
| 2019 | -65.4% | 434.7 1000 ha | 150.4 1000 ha |
| 2016 | +60.7% | 219 1000 ha | 352 1000 ha |
| 2021 | +43.9% | 345.4 1000 ha | 497 1000 ha |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 358.22 1000 ha | 353 1000 ha | 365 1000 ha | 9 |
| 1970s | 340.2 1000 ha | 288 1000 ha | 372 1000 ha | 10 |
| 1980s | 301.5 1000 ha | 283 1000 ha | 339 1000 ha | 10 |
| 1990s | 322.3 1000 ha | 317 1000 ha | 332 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 325.45 1000 ha | 303 1000 ha | 358 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 300.72 1000 ha | 150.4 1000 ha | 434.7 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 514.68 1000 ha | 345.4 1000 ha | 577 1000 ha | 5 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
More environment data for Lesotho
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.284 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 0.783 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual -0.521 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate -2.27 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) (Mt CO2e), annual -0.4197 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is arable land — area in Lesotho?
- Arable land — area in Lesotho was 577 1000 ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest arable land — area recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 577 1000 ha in 2022.
- What is the lowest arable land — area recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 150.4 1000 ha in 2019.
- How does Lesotho rank for arable land — area?
- Lesotho ranks 142nd out of 248 countries with data for 2024.
- Is arable land — area rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is up 111.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Lesotho data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Arable land — Area. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 64 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
About this data
The FAOSTAT Land Use domain contains data on twenty-one land use categories and twenty-three categories of irrigation and agricultural practices. Data are available yearly and by country, regional and global levels. The domain includes Land Use Indicators providing information on the percentage share of agricultural and forest land, and their sub-components, including irrigated areas and areas under organic agriculture, within a country land use matrix. Data are available at country, regional and global level, for the following elements: (in percentage) i) Share in Land area; ii) Share in Agricultural land, iii) Share in Cropland; and iv) Share in Forest land; (in ha/pc) v) Area per capita.