Arable land — Share in Agricultural land in Lesotho
Lesotho: Arable land — Share in Agricultural land was 20.46 % in 2024. ▲ Rising
Arable land — Share in Agricultural land in Lesotho, 1961–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for arable land — share in agricultural land in Lesotho is 20.46 %, measured in 2024.
That represents a change of up 87.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, arable land — share in agricultural land in Lesotho peaked at 20.47 % in 2022 and was at its lowest, 6.35 %, in 2019.
That places Lesotho 174th 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 — Share in Agricultural land in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 13.87 % | — |
| 1962 | 13.71 % | -1.2% |
| 1963 | 13.71 % | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 13.77 % | +0.4% |
| 1965 | 13.77 % | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 13.94 % | +1.2% |
| 1967 | 13.94 % | +0.0% |
| 1968 | 14.11 % | +1.2% |
| 1969 | 14.11 % | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 14.2 % | +0.6% |
| 1971 | 13.94 % | -1.8% |
| 1972 | 13.77 % | -1.2% |
| 1973 | 13.77 % | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 13.77 % | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 14.34 % | +4.1% |
| 1976 | 13.77 % | -4.0% |
| 1977 | 11.47 % | -16.7% |
| 1978 | 11.51 % | +0.3% |
| 1979 | 12.07 % | +4.9% |
| 1980 | 11.62 % | -3.7% |
| 1981 | 11.83 % | +1.8% |
| 1982 | 11.48 % | -3.0% |
| 1983 | 11.3 % | -1.6% |
| 1984 | 11.79 % | +4.3% |
| 1985 | 12.04 % | +2.1% |
| 1986 | 11.44 % | -5.0% |
| 1987 | 12.8 % | +11.9% |
| 1988 | 13.24 % | +3.4% |
| 1989 | 11.94 % | -9.8% |
| 1990 | 12.49 % | +4.6% |
| 1991 | 12.56 % | +0.6% |
| 1992 | 13.01 % | +3.6% |
| 1993 | 12.87 % | -1.1% |
| 1994 | 12.74 % | -1.0% |
| 1995 | 12.58 % | -1.3% |
| 1996 | 12.59 % | +0.1% |
| 1997 | 12.6 % | +0.1% |
| 1998 | 12.62 % | +0.2% |
| 1999 | 12.64 % | +0.2% |
| 2000 | 12.65 % | +0.1% |
| 2001 | 12.66 % | +0.1% |
| 2002 | 12.67 % | +0.1% |
| 2003 | 12.68 % | +0.1% |
| 2004 | 12.69 % | +0.1% |
| 2005 | 12.7 % | +0.1% |
| 2006 | 12.01 % | -5.4% |
| 2007 | 12.77 % | +6.3% |
| 2008 | 13.89 % | +8.8% |
| 2009 | 13.11 % | -5.6% |
| 2010 | 12.67 % | -3.4% |
| 2011 | 12.19 % | -3.8% |
| 2012 | 11.25 % | -7.7% |
| 2013 | 10.05 % | -10.7% |
| 2014 | 10.93 % | +8.8% |
| 2015 | 8.98 % | -17.8% |
| 2016 | 13.69 % | +52.4% |
| 2017 | 15.89 % | +16.1% |
| 2018 | 16.38 % | +3.1% |
| 2019 | 6.35 % | -61.2% |
| 2020 | 13.46 % | +112.0% |
| 2021 | 17.61 % | +30.8% |
| 2022 | 20.47 % | +16.2% |
| 2023 | 20.46 % | -0.0% |
| 2024 | 20.46 % | +0.0% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's 20.46 % is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 23.52 %, 87% of the median. (44 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's 20.46 % is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 23.01 %, 89% of the median. (45 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Arable land — Share in Agricultural land 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 | +112.0% | 6.35 % | 13.46 % |
| 2019 | -61.2% | 16.38 % | 6.35 % |
| 2016 | +52.4% | 8.98 % | 13.69 % |
| 2021 | +30.8% | 13.46 % | 17.61 % |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 13.88 % | 13.71 % | 14.11 % | 9 |
| 1970s | 13.26 % | 11.47 % | 14.34 % | 10 |
| 1980s | 11.95 % | 11.3 % | 13.24 % | 10 |
| 1990s | 12.67 % | 12.49 % | 13.01 % | 10 |
| 2000s | 12.78 % | 12.01 % | 13.89 % | 10 |
| 2010s | 11.84 % | 6.35 % | 16.38 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 18.49 % | 13.46 % | 20.47 % | 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 — share in agricultural land in Lesotho?
- Arable land — share in agricultural land in Lesotho was 20.46 % in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest arable land — share in agricultural land recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 20.47 % in 2022.
- What is the lowest arable land — share in agricultural land recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.35 % in 2019.
- How does Lesotho rank for arable land — share in agricultural land?
- Lesotho ranks 174th out of 248 countries with data for 2024.
- Is arable land — share in agricultural land rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is up 87.2%. 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 — Share in Agricultural land. 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.