What is rule of law index in Lesotho?

Rule of law index in Lesotho was 0.716 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

What is the highest rule of law index recorded in Lesotho?

The highest recorded value was 0.716 in 2025.

What is the lowest rule of law index recorded in Lesotho?

The lowest recorded value was 0.397 in 1986.

How does Lesotho rank for rule of law index?

Lesotho ranks 66th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.

Is rule of law index rising or falling in Lesotho?

Over the last ten years it is up 19.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.

Where does this Lesotho data come from?

The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Rule of Law Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Rule of Law Index in Lesotho

Name: Rule of Law Index in Lesotho
Creator: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
License: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)

Lesotho: Rule of Law Index was 0.716 in 2025. ▼ Falling

Latest (2025)

0.716

Change on year

up 6.5%

World rank

66th

of 176 countries

All-time high

0.716

in 2025

All-time low

0.397

in 1986

Years of data

126

1900–2025

Rule of Law Index in Lesotho, 1900–2025

Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

Lesotho recorded 0.716 for rule of law index in 2025. That is the highest value across all 126 years on record.

That represents a change of up 6.5% on the previous year and up 19.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, rule of law index in Lesotho peaked at 0.716 in 2025 and was at its lowest, 0.397, in 1986.

Lesotho ranks 66th of 176 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 126 years of available data.

Rule of Law Index in Lesotho, year by year

Annual values for Rule of Law Index in Lesotho, 1900 to 2025.
Year	Value	Change
1900	0.688	—
1901	0.688	+0.0%
1902	0.688	+0.0%
1903	0.688	+0.0%
1904	0.688	+0.0%
1905	0.688	+0.0%
1906	0.688	+0.0%
1907	0.688	+0.0%
1908	0.688	+0.0%
1909	0.688	+0.0%
1910	0.688	+0.0%
1911	0.688	+0.0%
1912	0.688	+0.0%
1913	0.688	+0.0%
1914	0.688	+0.0%
1915	0.688	+0.0%
1916	0.688	+0.0%
1917	0.688	+0.0%
1918	0.688	+0.0%
1919	0.688	+0.0%
1920	0.688	+0.0%
1921	0.688	+0.0%
1922	0.688	+0.0%
1923	0.688	+0.0%
1924	0.688	+0.0%
1925	0.688	+0.0%
1926	0.688	+0.0%
1927	0.688	+0.0%
1928	0.688	+0.0%
1929	0.688	+0.0%
1930	0.688	+0.0%
1931	0.688	+0.0%
1932	0.688	+0.0%
1933	0.688	+0.0%
1934	0.688	+0.0%
1935	0.688	+0.0%
1936	0.688	+0.0%
1937	0.688	+0.0%
1938	0.688	+0.0%
1939	0.688	+0.0%
1940	0.688	+0.0%
1941	0.688	+0.0%
1942	0.688	+0.0%
1943	0.688	+0.0%
1944	0.688	+0.0%
1945	0.688	+0.0%
1946	0.688	+0.0%
1947	0.688	+0.0%
1948	0.688	+0.0%
1949	0.688	+0.0%
1950	0.688	+0.0%
1951	0.688	+0.0%
1952	0.688	+0.0%
1953	0.688	+0.0%
1954	0.688	+0.0%
1955	0.688	+0.0%
1956	0.688	+0.0%
1957	0.688	+0.0%
1958	0.688	+0.0%
1959	0.688	+0.0%
1960	0.685	-0.4%
1961	0.684	-0.1%
1962	0.684	+0.0%
1963	0.684	+0.0%
1964	0.684	+0.0%
1965	0.684	+0.0%
1966	0.701	+2.5%
1967	0.685	-2.3%
1968	0.685	+0.0%
1969	0.691	+0.9%
1970	0.416	-39.8%
1971	0.398	-4.3%
1972	0.398	+0.0%
1973	0.398	+0.0%
1974	0.398	+0.0%
1975	0.398	+0.0%
1976	0.398	+0.0%
1977	0.398	+0.0%
1978	0.398	+0.0%
1979	0.398	+0.0%
1980	0.419	+5.3%
1981	0.419	+0.0%
1982	0.411	-1.9%
1983	0.42	+2.2%
1984	0.42	+0.0%
1985	0.42	+0.0%
1986	0.397	-5.5%
1987	0.464	+16.9%
1988	0.464	+0.0%
1989	0.464	+0.0%
1990	0.457	-1.5%
1991	0.461	+0.9%
1992	0.461	+0.0%
1993	0.682	+47.9%
1994	0.663	-2.8%
1995	0.684	+3.2%
1996	0.69	+0.9%
1997	0.69	+0.0%
1998	0.591	-14.3%
1999	0.591	+0.0%
2000	0.586	-0.8%
2001	0.586	+0.0%
2002	0.587	+0.2%
2003	0.594	+1.2%
2004	0.594	+0.0%
2005	0.6	+1.0%
2006	0.6	+0.0%
2007	0.6	+0.0%
2008	0.603	+0.5%
2009	0.603	+0.0%
2010	0.608	+0.8%
2011	0.607	-0.2%
2012	0.594	-2.1%
2013	0.661	+11.3%
2014	0.665	+0.6%
2015	0.601	-9.6%
2016	0.606	+0.8%
2017	0.639	+5.4%
2018	0.579	-9.4%
2019	0.643	+11.1%
2020	0.663	+3.1%
2021	0.686	+3.5%
2022	0.695	+1.3%
2023	0.669	-3.7%
2024	0.672	+0.4%
2025	0.716	+6.5%

Lesotho compared with similar countries

Lesotho's 0.716 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.3495, 2.0× the median. (46 countries reporting)
Lesotho's 0.716 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.3685, 1.9× the median. (48 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1900s	0.688	0.688	0.688	10
1910s	0.688	0.688	0.688	10
1920s	0.688	0.688	0.688	10
1930s	0.688	0.688	0.688	10
1940s	0.688	0.688	0.688	10
1950s	0.688	0.688	0.688	10
1960s	0.6867	0.684	0.701	10
1970s	0.3998	0.398	0.416	10
1980s	0.4298	0.397	0.464	10
1990s	0.597	0.457	0.69	10
2000s	0.5953	0.586	0.603	10
2010s	0.6203	0.579	0.665	10
2020s	0.6835	0.663	0.716	6

Countries ranked near Lesotho

See the full ranking of 176 places →

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)

All data for Lesotho →

Frequently asked questions

What is rule of law index in Lesotho?: Rule of law index in Lesotho was 0.716 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest rule of law index recorded in Lesotho?: The highest recorded value was 0.716 in 2025.
What is the lowest rule of law index recorded in Lesotho?: The lowest recorded value was 0.397 in 1986.
How does Lesotho rank for rule of law index?: Lesotho ranks 66th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is rule of law index rising or falling in Lesotho?: Over the last ten years it is up 19.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Lesotho data come from?: The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Rule of Law Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Rule of Law Index in Lesotho. Statizoid, drawing on V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 28 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/rule-of-law-index/lesotho/

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About this data

Indicator: Rule of Law Index
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 176 places, 30,303 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed: 18 September 2026

Central estimate of the extent to which the government complies with the law, courts are independent, laws transparent, justice accessible, corruption absent, and the bureaucracy is impartial.