Military spending as a share of GDP in Lesotho
Lesotho: Military spending as a share of GDP was 1.5% in 2019. ▼ Falling
Latest (2019)
1.5%
Change on year
down 4.5%
World rank
75th
of 172 countries
All-time high
5.0%
in 1984
All-time low
0.5%
in 1978
Years of data
54
1966–2019
Military spending as a share of GDP in Lesotho, 1966–2019
Source: Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
In 2019, military spending as a share of gdp in Lesotho stood at 1.5%.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 4.5% on the previous year and down 23.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, military spending as a share of gdp in Lesotho peaked at 5.0% in 1984 and was at its lowest, 0.5%, in 1978.
That places Lesotho 75th out of 172 countries with data for 2019, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 54 years of available data.
Military spending as a share of GDP in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1966 | 2.3% | — |
| 1967 | 2.2% | -5.5% |
| 1968 | 2.1% | -2.6% |
| 1969 | 2.0% | -4.2% |
| 1970 | 1.8% | -9.8% |
| 1971 | 1.7% | -8.1% |
| 1972 | 1.5% | -11.0% |
| 1973 | 1.2% | -19.4% |
| 1974 | 1.0% | -18.6% |
| 1975 | 0.9% | -7.1% |
| 1976 | 0.8% | -13.9% |
| 1977 | 0.7% | -13.3% |
| 1978 | 0.5% | -21.6% |
| 1979 | 1.4% | +170.8% |
| 1980 | 1.9% | +28.5% |
| 1981 | 2.2% | +19.4% |
| 1982 | 2.6% | +16.6% |
| 1983 | 3.9% | +51.4% |
| 1984 | 5.0% | +26.4% |
| 1985 | 3.5% | -29.0% |
| 1986 | 3.9% | +11.7% |
| 1987 | 2.9% | -25.3% |
| 1988 | 2.8% | -5.9% |
| 1989 | 3.5% | +25.4% |
| 1990 | 3.5% | -0.4% |
| 1991 | 2.5% | -26.4% |
| 1992 | 2.7% | +5.0% |
| 1993 | 2.2% | -18.7% |
| 1994 | 2.2% | +1.6% |
| 1995 | 2.3% | +4.3% |
| 1996 | 2.2% | -5.2% |
| 1997 | 2.1% | -2.3% |
| 1998 | 2.2% | +5.0% |
| 1999 | 2.1% | -5.5% |
| 2000 | 1.9% | -9.7% |
| 2001 | 1.6% | -13.8% |
| 2002 | 1.4% | -13.7% |
| 2003 | 1.5% | +8.4% |
| 2004 | 1.8% | +15.4% |
| 2005 | 1.7% | -5.7% |
| 2006 | 1.7% | -1.4% |
| 2007 | 1.7% | +0.9% |
| 2008 | 1.5% | -7.8% |
| 2009 | 2.0% | +27.2% |
| 2010 | 2.0% | +1.6% |
| 2011 | 1.9% | -3.8% |
| 2012 | 1.9% | -2.8% |
| 2013 | 1.7% | -6.9% |
| 2014 | 1.6% | -8.9% |
| 2015 | 1.4% | -8.3% |
| 2016 | 1.4% | -4.1% |
| 2017 | 1.6% | +13.7% |
| 2018 | 1.6% | -0.6% |
| 2019 | 1.5% | -4.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 2.2% | 2.0% | 2.3% | 4 |
| 1970s | 1.2% | 0.5% | 1.8% | 10 |
| 1980s | 3.2% | 1.9% | 5.0% | 10 |
| 1990s | 2.4% | 2.1% | 3.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.7% | 1.4% | 2.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.7% | 1.4% | 2.0% | 10 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
More economy & growth data for Lesotho
- Services, value added (constant LCU), per capita 5,937 constant LCU per person (2025)
- GDP deflator (base year varies by country), annual growth rate 3 % change on previous year (2025)
- Gross value added at basic prices (GVA) (current US$), annual growth 9.09 % change on previous year (2025)
- Gross value added at basic prices (GVA) (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.8725 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Gross value added at basic prices (GVA) (current US$), per capita 950.1 current US$ per person (2025)
- Gross value added at basic prices (GVA) (current LCU), annual growth 6.47 % change on previous year (2025)
- Gross value added at basic prices (GVA) (current LCU), per unit of GDP 15.61 current LCU per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Gross value added at basic prices (GVA) (current LCU), per capita 16,996 current LCU per person (2025)
- Gross value added at basic prices (GVA) (constant 2015 US$), annual 2.65 % change on previous year (2025)
- Gross value added at basic prices (GVA) (constant 2015 US$), per unit 0.8589 constant 2015 US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is military spending as a share of gdp in Lesotho?
- Military spending as a share of gdp in Lesotho was 1.5% in 2019, according to Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest military spending as a share of gdp recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 5.0% in 1984.
- What is the lowest military spending as a share of gdp recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.5% in 1978.
- How does Lesotho rank for military spending as a share of gdp?
- Lesotho ranks 75th out of 172 countries with data for 2019.
- Is military spending as a share of gdp rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is down 23.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Lesotho data come from?
- The figures come from Barnum et al. - Global Military Spending Dataset (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Military spending as a share of GDP. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 54 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Military spending measured as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP).