Number of cattle in Lesotho
Lesotho: Number of cattle was 517,450 animals in 2024. ▲ Rising
Number of cattle in Lesotho, 1961–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in animals.
Analysis
The most recent figure for number of cattle in Lesotho is 517,450 animals, measured in 2024.
That represents a change of down 22.8% on the previous year and down 4.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, number of cattle in Lesotho peaked at 755,134 animals in 1999 and was at its lowest, 278,940 animals, in 1966.
That places Lesotho 122nd out of 196 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 377,530 animals | 278,940 animals | 474,356 animals | 9 |
| 1970s | 495,850 animals | 440,000 animals | 560,327 animals | 10 |
| 1980s | 569,544 animals | 522,125 animals | 627,195 animals | 10 |
| 1990s | 597,231 animals | 495,614 animals | 755,134 animals | 10 |
| 2000s | 678,355 animals | 616,159 animals | 732,191 animals | 10 |
| 2010s | 527,734 animals | 360,602 animals | 650,000 animals | 10 |
| 2020s | 480,105 animals | 288,664 animals | 670,022 animals | 5 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
More agriculture & rural data for Lesotho
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 166.92 million current US$ (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 6.5% (2025)
- Rural population 1.31 million (2025)
- Rural population growth -0.7% (2025)
- Rural population 55.3% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 2.0% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 5.1% (2024)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 6.5% (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 6.5% (2025)
- Land under cereal production 177,933 hectares (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is number of cattle in Lesotho?
- Number of cattle in Lesotho was 517,450 animals in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest number of cattle recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 755,134 animals in 1999.
- What is the lowest number of cattle recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 278,940 animals in 1966.
- How does Lesotho rank for number of cattle?
- Lesotho ranks 122nd out of 196 countries with data for 2024.
- Is number of cattle rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Lesotho data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Number of cattle. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 64 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).