Cattle — Livestock units per agricultural land area in Lesotho
Lesotho: Cattle — Livestock units per agricultural land area was 0.09 LSU/ha in 2023. ▲ Rising
Cattle — Livestock units per agricultural land area in Lesotho, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in LSU/ha.
Analysis
Lesotho recorded 0.09 LSU/ha for cattle — livestock units per agricultural land area in 2023.
That represents a change of down 30.8% on the previous year and down 25.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cattle — livestock units per agricultural land area in Lesotho peaked at 0.16 LSU/ha in 1999 and was at its lowest, 0.05 LSU/ha, in 1966.
Lesotho ranks 143rd of 190 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 63 years of available data.
Cattle — Livestock units per agricultural land area in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | LSU/ha | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 0.07 LSU/ha | — |
| 1962 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 0.06 LSU/ha | -14.3% |
| 1965 | 0.08 LSU/ha | +33.3% |
| 1966 | 0.05 LSU/ha | -37.5% |
| 1967 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +40.0% |
| 1968 | 0.09 LSU/ha | +28.6% |
| 1969 | 0.1 LSU/ha | +11.1% |
| 1970 | 0.11 LSU/ha | +10.0% |
| 1971 | 0.1 LSU/ha | -9.1% |
| 1972 | 0.09 LSU/ha | -10.0% |
| 1973 | 0.09 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 0.1 LSU/ha | +11.1% |
| 1975 | 0.11 LSU/ha | +10.0% |
| 1976 | 0.11 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 0.11 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 0.11 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1979 | 0.12 LSU/ha | +9.1% |
| 1980 | 0.13 LSU/ha | +8.3% |
| 1981 | 0.13 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 0.12 LSU/ha | -7.7% |
| 1983 | 0.12 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 0.11 LSU/ha | -8.3% |
| 1985 | 0.11 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1986 | 0.11 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 0.13 LSU/ha | +18.2% |
| 1988 | 0.13 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 0.13 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 0.11 LSU/ha | -15.4% |
| 1991 | 0.12 LSU/ha | +9.1% |
| 1992 | 0.15 LSU/ha | +25.0% |
| 1993 | 0.14 LSU/ha | -6.7% |
| 1994 | 0.12 LSU/ha | -14.3% |
| 1995 | 0.12 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 0.12 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 0.13 LSU/ha | +8.3% |
| 1998 | 0.11 LSU/ha | -15.4% |
| 1999 | 0.16 LSU/ha | +45.5% |
| 2000 | 0.15 LSU/ha | -6.3% |
| 2001 | 0.16 LSU/ha | +6.7% |
| 2002 | 0.14 LSU/ha | -12.5% |
| 2003 | 0.15 LSU/ha | +7.1% |
| 2004 | 0.15 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 0.16 LSU/ha | +6.7% |
| 2006 | 0.15 LSU/ha | -6.3% |
| 2007 | 0.15 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 0.13 LSU/ha | -13.3% |
| 2009 | 0.13 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 0.13 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 0.14 LSU/ha | +7.7% |
| 2012 | 0.14 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 0.12 LSU/ha | -14.3% |
| 2014 | 0.12 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 0.11 LSU/ha | -8.3% |
| 2016 | 0.1 LSU/ha | -9.1% |
| 2017 | 0.1 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 0.09 LSU/ha | -10.0% |
| 2019 | 0.08 LSU/ha | -11.1% |
| 2020 | 0.07 LSU/ha | -12.5% |
| 2021 | 0.06 LSU/ha | -14.3% |
| 2022 | 0.13 LSU/ha | +116.7% |
| 2023 | 0.09 LSU/ha | -30.8% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's 0.09 LSU/ha is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.195 LSU/ha, 46% of the median. (40 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's 0.09 LSU/ha is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.155 LSU/ha, 58% of the median. (44 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Cattle — Livestock units per agricultural 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | +116.7% | 0.06 LSU/ha | 0.13 LSU/ha |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0.0733 LSU/ha | 0.05 LSU/ha | 0.1 LSU/ha | 9 |
| 1970s | 0.105 LSU/ha | 0.09 LSU/ha | 0.12 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.122 LSU/ha | 0.11 LSU/ha | 0.13 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.128 LSU/ha | 0.11 LSU/ha | 0.16 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.147 LSU/ha | 0.13 LSU/ha | 0.16 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.113 LSU/ha | 0.08 LSU/ha | 0.14 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.0875 LSU/ha | 0.06 LSU/ha | 0.13 LSU/ha | 4 |
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 cattle — livestock units per agricultural land area in Lesotho?
- Cattle — livestock units per agricultural land area in Lesotho was 0.09 LSU/ha in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest cattle — livestock units per agricultural land area recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 0.16 LSU/ha in 1999.
- What is the lowest cattle — livestock units per agricultural land area recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.05 LSU/ha in 1966.
- How does Lesotho rank for cattle — livestock units per agricultural land area?
- Lesotho ranks 143rd out of 190 countries with data for 2023.
- Is cattle — livestock units per agricultural land area rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is down 25.0%. 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 Cattle — Livestock units per agricultural land area. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 63 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
About this data
The Livestock Patterns domain of FAOSTAT contains data on livestock numbers, shares of major livestock species and densities of livestock units in the agricultural land area. Values are calculated using Livestock Units (LSU), which facilitate aggregating information for different livestock types. Data are available by country, with global coverage, for the period 1961 to the most recent year available with annual updates. This methodology applies the LSU coefficients reported in the "Guidelines for the preparation of livestock sector reviews" (FAO, 2011). From this publication, LSU coefficients are computed by livestock type and by country. The reference unit used for the calculation of livestock units (=1 LSU) is the grazing equivalent of one adult dairy cow producing 3000 kg of milk annually, fed without additional concentrated foodstuffs. FAOSTAT agri-environmental indicators on livestock patterns closely follow the structure of the indicators in EUROSTAT.