Democracy in Lesotho

Lesotho: Democracy was 5 in 2025. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2025)
5
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
1st
of 172 countries
All-time high
5
in 1993
All-time low
0
in 1969
Years of data
126
1900–2025

Democracy in Lesotho, 1900–2025

012345190019622025

Source: Episodes of Regime Transformation (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

The most recent figure for democracy in Lesotho is 5, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 126 years on record.

That represents a change of up 66.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, democracy in Lesotho peaked at 5 in 1993 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1969.

That places Lesotho 1st out of 172 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1900s 1 1 1 10
1910s 1 1 1 10
1920s 1 1 1 10
1930s 1 1 1 10
1940s 1 1 1 10
1950s 1 1 1 10
1960s 1.7 0 2 10
1970s 0.8 0 1 10
1980s 1 1 1 10
1990s 1.5 0 5 10
2000s 3.3 1 5 10
2010s 3.9 3 5 10
2020s 5 5 5 6

Countries ranked near Lesotho

  1. 1 Bolivia 5 compare
  2. 1 Botswana 5 compare
  3. 1 Brazil 5 compare
  4. 1 Dominican Republic 5 compare
  5. 1 East Timor 5 compare
  6. 1 Gambia 5 compare
  7. 1 Guatemala 5 compare
  8. 1 Honduras 5 compare
  9. 1 Maldives 5 compare
  10. 1 Montenegro 5 compare
  11. 1 Nepal 5 compare
  12. 1 Poland 5 compare
  13. 1 Seychelles 5 compare
  14. 1 Solomon Islands 5 compare
  15. 1 Sri Lanka 5 compare

See the full ranking of 175 places →

More reference data data for Lesotho

All data for Lesotho →

Frequently asked questions

What is democracy in Lesotho?
Democracy in Lesotho was 5 in 2025, according to Episodes of Regime Transformation (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest democracy recorded in Lesotho?
The highest recorded value was 5 in 1993.
What is the lowest democracy recorded in Lesotho?
The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1969.
How does Lesotho rank for democracy?
Lesotho ranks 1st out of 172 countries with data for 2025.
Is democracy rising or falling in Lesotho?
Over the last ten years it is up 66.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Lesotho data come from?
The figures come from Episodes of Regime Transformation (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 — 126 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Democracy
Source
Episodes of Regime Transformation (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
175 places, 19,128 data points, 1900–2025
Last refreshed

Political regime of a country using the classification by the Episodes of Regime Transformation-project. It distinguishes between hardening autocracies (score 0), stable autocracies (score 1), liberalizing autocracies (score 2), eroding democracies (score 3), stable democracies (score 4), and deepening democracies (score 5).