Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Lesotho
Lesotho: Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops was 0.7618 in 2023. ▼ Falling
Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Lesotho, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025); Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Lesotho is 0.7618, measured in 2023.
The figure is up 13.7% on the previous year and up 26.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Lesotho peaked at 1.7 in 1972 and was at its lowest, 0.4581, in 2019.
That places Lesotho 32nd out of 163 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.
Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 1 | — |
| 1962 | 1.02 | +2.0% |
| 1963 | 1.02 | +0.2% |
| 1964 | 1.03 | +1.2% |
| 1965 | 1.05 | +1.9% |
| 1966 | 1.01 | -4.3% |
| 1967 | 1.04 | +3.0% |
| 1968 | 1.07 | +2.6% |
| 1969 | 1.07 | -0.0% |
| 1970 | 1.16 | +8.6% |
| 1971 | 1.07 | -7.9% |
| 1972 | 1.7 | +59.9% |
| 1973 | 1.25 | -26.4% |
| 1974 | 0.8007 | -36.1% |
| 1975 | 1.11 | +39.2% |
| 1976 | 1.3 | +16.9% |
| 1977 | 0.5821 | -55.3% |
| 1978 | 0.5864 | +0.7% |
| 1979 | 0.7265 | +23.9% |
| 1980 | 0.8272 | +13.9% |
| 1981 | 0.9191 | +11.1% |
| 1982 | 1.01 | +10.0% |
| 1983 | 1.02 | +1.1% |
| 1984 | 1.02 | -0.1% |
| 1985 | 0.8888 | -12.9% |
| 1986 | 0.9386 | +5.6% |
| 1987 | 0.9942 | +5.9% |
| 1988 | 0.7465 | -24.9% |
| 1989 | 0.6958 | -6.8% |
| 1990 | 0.6649 | -4.4% |
| 1991 | 1.32 | +98.2% |
| 1992 | 1.2 | -9.2% |
| 1993 | 0.9386 | -21.5% |
| 1994 | 0.7094 | -24.4% |
| 1995 | 1.11 | +56.6% |
| 1996 | 0.6175 | -44.4% |
| 1997 | 0.6596 | +6.8% |
| 1998 | 0.7638 | +15.8% |
| 1999 | 0.7321 | -4.1% |
| 2000 | 0.7769 | +6.1% |
| 2001 | 0.5996 | -22.8% |
| 2002 | 0.7322 | +22.1% |
| 2003 | 0.8035 | +9.7% |
| 2004 | 0.8355 | +4.0% |
| 2005 | 0.8695 | +4.1% |
| 2006 | 0.8674 | -0.2% |
| 2007 | 0.9533 | +9.9% |
| 2008 | 1.04 | +9.5% |
| 2009 | 1.01 | -3.1% |
| 2010 | 0.6726 | -33.5% |
| 2011 | 0.755 | +12.3% |
| 2012 | 0.7177 | -4.9% |
| 2013 | 0.6048 | -15.7% |
| 2014 | 0.6407 | +5.9% |
| 2015 | 0.5722 | -10.7% |
| 2016 | 1.14 | +99.5% |
| 2017 | 0.7541 | -33.9% |
| 2018 | 0.8809 | +16.8% |
| 2019 | 0.4581 | -48.0% |
| 2020 | 1.05 | +129.8% |
| 2021 | 0.5047 | -52.1% |
| 2022 | 0.6702 | +32.8% |
| 2023 | 0.7618 | +13.7% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's 0.7618 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.2966, 2.6× the median. (43 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's 0.7618 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.3874, 2.0× the median. (44 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops 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 | +129.8% | 0.4581 | 1.05 |
| 2016 | +99.5% | 0.5722 | 1.14 |
| 1991 | +98.2% | 0.6649 | 1.32 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1.03 | 1 | 1.07 | 9 |
| 1970s | 1.03 | 0.5821 | 1.7 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.9065 | 0.6958 | 1.02 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.8711 | 0.6175 | 1.32 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.8494 | 0.5996 | 1.04 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.7198 | 0.4581 | 1.14 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.7474 | 0.5047 | 1.05 | 4 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
More reference data data for Lesotho
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0331 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.5388 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.582 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0101 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.582 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.111 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.1115 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 2.48 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 2.77 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0549 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Lesotho?
- Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Lesotho was 0.7618 in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025); Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 1.7 in 1972.
- What is the lowest arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.4581 in 2019.
- How does Lesotho rank for arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops?
- Lesotho ranks 32nd out of 163 countries with data for 2023.
- Is arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is up 26.0%. 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); Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Index of arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops (where values in 1961 are equal to 1.0).