Democracy in Lesotho

Lesotho: Democracy was 4 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
4
Change on year
up 33.3%
World rank
16th
of 128 countries
All-time high
4
in 2013
All-time low
3
in 2009
Years of data
9
2009–2025

Democracy in Lesotho, 2009–2025

012342009201720252009: 32011: 32013: 42015: 32017: 32019: 32021: 32023: 32025: 4

Source: Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

Lesotho recorded 4 for democracy in 2025. That is the highest value across all 9 years on record.

That represents a change of up 33.3% on the previous year and up 33.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, democracy in Lesotho peaked at 4 in 2013 and was at its lowest, 3, in 2009.

Lesotho ranks 16th of 128 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 3 3 3 1
2010s 3.2 3 4 5
2020s 3.33 3 4 3

Countries ranked near Lesotho

  1. 16 Albania 4 compare
  2. 16 Argentina 4 compare
  3. 16 Armenia 4 compare
  4. 16 Bhutan 4 compare
  5. 16 Bolivia 4 compare
  6. 16 Brazil 4 compare
  7. 16 Bulgaria 4 compare
  8. 16 Colombia 4 compare
  9. 16 Dominican Republic 4 compare
  10. 16 Ecuador 4 compare
  11. 16 Ghana 4 compare
  12. 16 Hungary 4 compare
  13. 16 India 4 compare
  14. 16 Liberia 4 compare
  15. 16 Malawi 4 compare
  16. 16 Malaysia 4 compare
  17. 16 Mauritius 4 compare
  18. 16 Moldova 4 compare
  19. 16 Mongolia 4 compare
  20. 16 Montenegro 4 compare
  21. 16 Namibia 4 compare
  22. 16 Nepal 4 compare
  23. 16 North Macedonia 4 compare
  24. 16 Panama 4 compare
  25. 16 Paraguay 4 compare
  26. 16 Romania 4 compare
  27. 16 Senegal 4 compare
  28. 16 South Africa 4 compare
  29. 16 Sri Lanka 4 compare
  30. 16 Ukraine 4 compare
  31. 16 Zambia 4 compare

See the full ranking of 128 places →

More reference data data for Lesotho

All data for Lesotho →

Frequently asked questions

What is democracy in Lesotho?
Democracy in Lesotho was 4 in 2025, according to Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest democracy recorded in Lesotho?
The highest recorded value was 4 in 2013.
What is the lowest democracy recorded in Lesotho?
The lowest recorded value was 3 in 2009.
How does Lesotho rank for democracy?
Lesotho ranks 16th out of 128 countries with data for 2025.
Is democracy rising or falling in Lesotho?
Over the last ten years it is up 33.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Lesotho data come from?
The figures come from Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 9 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Democracy
Source
Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
128 places, 1,394 data points, 2005–2025
Last refreshed

Identifies the political regime of a country. It distinguishes between hard-line autocracies (score 1), moderate autocracies (score 2), highly defective democracies (score 3), defective democracies (score 4), and consolidating democracies (score 5).