Land use in Lesotho
Lesotho: Land use was 360,748 hectares in 2023. ▼ Falling
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 139th out of 223 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.
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
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 3.06 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 1.31 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 0.7882 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 0.2847 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 0.3356 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0003 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 1.6 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0002 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0038 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 0.1865 Mt CO2e (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 139th out of 223 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).