Land use in Lesotho
Lesotho: Land use was 360,748 hectares in 2023. ▼ Falling
Latest (2023)
360,748 hectares
Change on year
up 31.0%
World rank
140th
of 224 countries
All-time high
433,300 hectares
in 2018
All-time low
154,400 hectares
in 2019
Years of data
63
1961–2023
Land use in Lesotho, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
The most recent figure for land use in Lesotho is 360,748 hectares, measured in 2023.
The figure is up 31.0% on the previous year and up 43.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, land use in Lesotho peaked at 433,300 hectares in 2018 and was at its lowest, 154,400 hectares, in 2019.
That places Lesotho 140th out of 224 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.
Land use in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | hectares | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 361,000 hectares | — |
| 1962 | 356,000 hectares | -1.4% |
| 1963 | 356,000 hectares | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 358,000 hectares | +0.6% |
| 1965 | 358,000 hectares | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 363,000 hectares | +1.4% |
| 1967 | 363,000 hectares | +0.0% |
| 1968 | 368,000 hectares | +1.4% |
| 1969 | 368,000 hectares | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 372,000 hectares | +1.1% |
| 1971 | 364,000 hectares | -2.2% |
| 1972 | 359,000 hectares | -1.4% |
| 1973 | 359,000 hectares | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 359,000 hectares | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 376,000 hectares | +4.7% |
| 1976 | 359,000 hectares | -4.5% |
| 1977 | 292,000 hectares | -18.7% |
| 1978 | 293,000 hectares | +0.3% |
| 1979 | 309,000 hectares | +5.5% |
| 1980 | 296,000 hectares | -4.2% |
| 1981 | 302,000 hectares | +2.0% |
| 1982 | 292,000 hectares | -3.3% |
| 1983 | 287,000 hectares | -1.7% |
| 1984 | 301,000 hectares | +4.9% |
| 1985 | 308,000 hectares | +2.3% |
| 1986 | 291,000 hectares | -5.5% |
| 1987 | 330,000 hectares | +13.4% |
| 1988 | 343,000 hectares | +3.9% |
| 1989 | 305,000 hectares | -11.1% |
| 1990 | 321,000 hectares | +5.2% |
| 1991 | 323,000 hectares | +0.6% |
| 1992 | 336,000 hectares | +4.0% |
| 1993 | 334,000 hectares | -0.6% |
| 1994 | 329,000 hectares | -1.5% |
| 1995 | 324,000 hectares | -1.5% |
| 1996 | 326,000 hectares | +0.6% |
| 1997 | 329,000 hectares | +0.9% |
| 1998 | 329,000 hectares | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 329,000 hectares | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 334,000 hectares | +1.5% |
| 2001 | 334,000 hectares | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 304,000 hectares | -9.0% |
| 2003 | 304,000 hectares | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 314,000 hectares | +3.3% |
| 2005 | 327,000 hectares | +4.1% |
| 2006 | 307,000 hectares | -6.1% |
| 2007 | 329,000 hectares | +7.2% |
| 2008 | 362,000 hectares | +10.0% |
| 2009 | 339,000 hectares | -6.4% |
| 2010 | 326,000 hectares | -3.8% |
| 2011 | 312,000 hectares | -4.3% |
| 2012 | 285,300 hectares | -8.6% |
| 2013 | 252,100 hectares | -11.6% |
| 2014 | 276,300 hectares | +9.6% |
| 2015 | 223,000 hectares | -19.3% |
| 2016 | 356,000 hectares | +59.6% |
| 2017 | 418,000 hectares | +17.4% |
| 2018 | 433,300 hectares | +3.7% |
| 2019 | 154,400 hectares | -64.4% |
| 2020 | 349,400 hectares | +126.3% |
| 2021 | 229,400 hectares | -34.3% |
| 2022 | 275,400 hectares | +20.1% |
| 2023 | 360,748 hectares | +31.0% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's 360,748 hectares is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 2.82 million hectares, 13% of the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's 360,748 hectares is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 3.21 million hectares, 11% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Land use 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 | +126.3% | 154,400 hectares | 349,400 hectares |
| 2019 | -64.4% | 433,300 hectares | 154,400 hectares |
| 2016 | +59.6% | 223,000 hectares | 356,000 hectares |
| 2021 | -34.3% | 349,400 hectares | 229,400 hectares |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 361,222 hectares | 356,000 hectares | 368,000 hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 344,200 hectares | 292,000 hectares | 376,000 hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 305,500 hectares | 287,000 hectares | 343,000 hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 328,000 hectares | 321,000 hectares | 336,000 hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 325,400 hectares | 304,000 hectares | 362,000 hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 303,640 hectares | 154,400 hectares | 433,300 hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 303,737 hectares | 229,400 hectares | 360,748 hectares | 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 land use in Lesotho?
- Land use in Lesotho was 360,748 hectares in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest land use recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 433,300 hectares in 2018.
- What is the lowest land use recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 154,400 hectares in 2019.
- How does Lesotho rank for land use?
- Lesotho ranks 140th out of 224 countries with data for 2023.
- Is land use rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is up 43.1%. 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 (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Land use. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 63 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).