Cropland — Area per capita in Lesotho
Lesotho: Cropland — Area per capita was 0.25 ha/cap in 2024. ▼ Falling
Cropland — Area per capita in Lesotho, 1961–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in ha/cap.
Analysis
In 2024, cropland — area per capita in Lesotho stood at 0.25 ha/cap.
The figure is up 92.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cropland — area per capita in Lesotho peaked at 0.48 ha/cap in 1961 and was at its lowest, 0.07 ha/cap, in 2019.
That places Lesotho 70th out of 250 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 64 years of available data.
Cropland — Area per capita in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | ha/cap | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 0.48 ha/cap | — |
| 1962 | 0.45 ha/cap | -6.2% |
| 1963 | 0.44 ha/cap | -2.2% |
| 1964 | 0.43 ha/cap | -2.3% |
| 1965 | 0.42 ha/cap | -2.3% |
| 1966 | 0.41 ha/cap | -2.4% |
| 1967 | 0.4 ha/cap | -2.4% |
| 1968 | 0.39 ha/cap | -2.5% |
| 1969 | 0.37 ha/cap | -5.1% |
| 1970 | 0.36 ha/cap | -2.7% |
| 1971 | 0.34 ha/cap | -5.6% |
| 1972 | 0.33 ha/cap | -2.9% |
| 1973 | 0.32 ha/cap | -3.0% |
| 1974 | 0.31 ha/cap | -3.1% |
| 1975 | 0.31 ha/cap | +0.0% |
| 1976 | 0.29 ha/cap | -6.5% |
| 1977 | 0.23 ha/cap | -20.7% |
| 1978 | 0.22 ha/cap | -4.3% |
| 1979 | 0.23 ha/cap | +4.5% |
| 1980 | 0.21 ha/cap | -8.7% |
| 1981 | 0.21 ha/cap | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 0.2 ha/cap | -4.8% |
| 1983 | 0.19 ha/cap | -5.0% |
| 1984 | 0.19 ha/cap | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 0.19 ha/cap | +0.0% |
| 1986 | 0.17 ha/cap | -10.5% |
| 1987 | 0.19 ha/cap | +11.8% |
| 1988 | 0.2 ha/cap | +5.3% |
| 1989 | 0.17 ha/cap | -15.0% |
| 1990 | 0.18 ha/cap | +5.9% |
| 1991 | 0.18 ha/cap | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 0.18 ha/cap | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 0.17 ha/cap | -5.6% |
| 1994 | 0.17 ha/cap | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 0.17 ha/cap | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 0.16 ha/cap | -5.9% |
| 1997 | 0.16 ha/cap | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 0.16 ha/cap | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 0.16 ha/cap | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 0.16 ha/cap | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 0.16 ha/cap | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 0.16 ha/cap | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 0.16 ha/cap | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 0.17 ha/cap | +6.3% |
| 2005 | 0.17 ha/cap | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 0.16 ha/cap | -5.9% |
| 2007 | 0.17 ha/cap | +6.3% |
| 2008 | 0.18 ha/cap | +5.9% |
| 2009 | 0.17 ha/cap | -5.6% |
| 2010 | 0.16 ha/cap | -5.9% |
| 2011 | 0.15 ha/cap | -6.3% |
| 2012 | 0.14 ha/cap | -6.7% |
| 2013 | 0.12 ha/cap | -14.3% |
| 2014 | 0.13 ha/cap | +8.3% |
| 2015 | 0.11 ha/cap | -15.4% |
| 2016 | 0.17 ha/cap | +54.5% |
| 2017 | 0.2 ha/cap | +17.6% |
| 2018 | 0.2 ha/cap | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 0.07 ha/cap | -65.0% |
| 2020 | 0.16 ha/cap | +128.6% |
| 2021 | 0.22 ha/cap | +37.5% |
| 2022 | 0.26 ha/cap | +18.2% |
| 2023 | 0.25 ha/cap | -3.8% |
| 2024 | 0.25 ha/cap | +0.0% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's 0.25 ha/cap is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.17 ha/cap, 1.5× the median. (44 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's 0.25 ha/cap is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.2 ha/cap, 1.2× the median. (45 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Cropland — Area per capita 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 | +128.6% | 0.07 ha/cap | 0.16 ha/cap |
| 2019 | -65.0% | 0.2 ha/cap | 0.07 ha/cap |
| 2016 | +54.5% | 0.11 ha/cap | 0.17 ha/cap |
| 2021 | +37.5% | 0.16 ha/cap | 0.22 ha/cap |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0.4211 ha/cap | 0.37 ha/cap | 0.48 ha/cap | 9 |
| 1970s | 0.294 ha/cap | 0.22 ha/cap | 0.36 ha/cap | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.192 ha/cap | 0.17 ha/cap | 0.21 ha/cap | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.169 ha/cap | 0.16 ha/cap | 0.18 ha/cap | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.166 ha/cap | 0.16 ha/cap | 0.18 ha/cap | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.145 ha/cap | 0.07 ha/cap | 0.2 ha/cap | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.228 ha/cap | 0.16 ha/cap | 0.26 ha/cap | 5 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
- 68 Cambodia 0.26 ha/cap compare
- 68 Chad 0.26 ha/cap compare
- 70 Cook Islands 0.25 ha/cap compare
- 70 Kiribati 0.25 ha/cap compare
- 70 Mozambique 0.25 ha/cap compare
- 70 North Macedonia 0.25 ha/cap compare
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 cropland — area per capita in Lesotho?
- Cropland — area per capita in Lesotho was 0.25 ha/cap in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest cropland — area per capita recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 0.48 ha/cap in 1961.
- What is the lowest cropland — area per capita recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.07 ha/cap in 2019.
- How does Lesotho rank for cropland — area per capita?
- Lesotho ranks 70th out of 250 countries with data for 2024.
- Is cropland — area per capita rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is up 92.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Lesotho data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Cropland — Area per capita. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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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.