Cereal yields in Lesotho
Lesotho: Cereal yields was 0.6035 tonnes per hectare in 2024. ▼ Falling
Latest (2024)
0.6035 tonnes per hectare
Change on year
down 24.9%
World rank
181st
of 186 countries
All-time high
1.51 tonnes per hectare
in 1977
All-time low
0.3745 tonnes per hectare
in 2008
Years of data
64
1961–2024
Cereal yields in Lesotho, 1961–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in tonnes per hectare.
Analysis
In 2024, cereal yields in Lesotho stood at 0.6035 tonnes per hectare.
The figure is down 24.9% on the previous year and down 11.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cereal yields in Lesotho peaked at 1.51 tonnes per hectare in 1977 and was at its lowest, 0.3745 tonnes per hectare, in 2008.
That places Lesotho 181st out of 186 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 64 years of available data.
Cereal yields in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | tonnes per hectare | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 0.8362 tonnes per hectare | — |
| 1962 | 0.8147 tonnes per hectare | -2.6% |
| 1963 | 0.8133 tonnes per hectare | -0.2% |
| 1964 | 0.8096 tonnes per hectare | -0.5% |
| 1965 | 0.7562 tonnes per hectare | -6.6% |
| 1966 | 0.7993 tonnes per hectare | +5.7% |
| 1967 | 0.747 tonnes per hectare | -6.5% |
| 1968 | 0.6802 tonnes per hectare | -8.9% |
| 1969 | 0.6804 tonnes per hectare | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 0.6055 tonnes per hectare | -11.0% |
| 1971 | 0.6228 tonnes per hectare | +2.9% |
| 1972 | 0.3751 tonnes per hectare | -39.8% |
| 1973 | 0.588 tonnes per hectare | +56.8% |
| 1974 | 0.9095 tonnes per hectare | +54.7% |
| 1975 | 0.7031 tonnes per hectare | -22.7% |
| 1976 | 0.6401 tonnes per hectare | -9.0% |
| 1977 | 1.51 tonnes per hectare | +135.5% |
| 1978 | 1.4 tonnes per hectare | -7.0% |
| 1979 | 1.14 tonnes per hectare | -18.7% |
| 1980 | 0.9598 tonnes per hectare | -15.8% |
| 1981 | 0.8309 tonnes per hectare | -13.4% |
| 1982 | 0.6644 tonnes per hectare | -20.0% |
| 1983 | 0.6798 tonnes per hectare | +2.3% |
| 1984 | 0.6489 tonnes per hectare | -4.5% |
| 1985 | 0.7206 tonnes per hectare | +11.0% |
| 1986 | 0.6794 tonnes per hectare | -5.7% |
| 1987 | 0.6018 tonnes per hectare | -11.4% |
| 1988 | 0.831 tonnes per hectare | +38.1% |
| 1989 | 0.9194 tonnes per hectare | +10.6% |
| 1990 | 1.04 tonnes per hectare | +12.8% |
| 1991 | 0.4603 tonnes per hectare | -55.6% |
| 1992 | 0.6121 tonnes per hectare | +33.0% |
| 1993 | 0.9726 tonnes per hectare | +58.9% |
| 1994 | 0.8182 tonnes per hectare | -15.9% |
| 1995 | 0.7764 tonnes per hectare | -5.1% |
| 1996 | 1.18 tonnes per hectare | +52.4% |
| 1997 | 1.02 tonnes per hectare | -14.2% |
| 1998 | 1.35 tonnes per hectare | +33.2% |
| 1999 | 0.9433 tonnes per hectare | -30.3% |
| 2000 | 0.7188 tonnes per hectare | -23.8% |
| 2001 | 0.9955 tonnes per hectare | +38.5% |
| 2002 | 0.7363 tonnes per hectare | -26.0% |
| 2003 | 0.6091 tonnes per hectare | -17.3% |
| 2004 | 0.5954 tonnes per hectare | -2.2% |
| 2005 | 0.6868 tonnes per hectare | +15.4% |
| 2006 | 0.4908 tonnes per hectare | -28.5% |
| 2007 | 0.4144 tonnes per hectare | -15.6% |
| 2008 | 0.3745 tonnes per hectare | -9.6% |
| 2009 | 0.4022 tonnes per hectare | +7.4% |
| 2010 | 0.9091 tonnes per hectare | +126.0% |
| 2011 | 0.6643 tonnes per hectare | -26.9% |
| 2012 | 0.6556 tonnes per hectare | -1.3% |
| 2013 | 0.769 tonnes per hectare | +17.3% |
| 2014 | 0.6832 tonnes per hectare | -11.2% |
| 2015 | 0.6615 tonnes per hectare | -3.2% |
| 2016 | 0.4714 tonnes per hectare | -28.7% |
| 2017 | 0.9902 tonnes per hectare | +110.1% |
| 2018 | 0.7159 tonnes per hectare | -27.7% |
| 2019 | 0.705 tonnes per hectare | -1.5% |
| 2020 | 0.4368 tonnes per hectare | -38.0% |
| 2021 | 0.9726 tonnes per hectare | +122.7% |
| 2022 | 0.7289 tonnes per hectare | -25.1% |
| 2023 | 0.8035 tonnes per hectare | +10.2% |
| 2024 | 0.6035 tonnes per hectare | -24.9% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's 0.6035 tonnes per hectare is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 2.02 tonnes per hectare, 30% of the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's 0.6035 tonnes per hectare is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 1.34 tonnes per hectare, 45% of the median. (46 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Cereal yields in Lesotho changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | +135.5% | 0.6401 tonnes per hectare | 1.51 tonnes per hectare |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0.7708 tonnes per hectare | 0.6802 tonnes per hectare | 0.8362 tonnes per hectare | 9 |
| 1970s | 0.8493 tonnes per hectare | 0.3751 tonnes per hectare | 1.51 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.7536 tonnes per hectare | 0.6018 tonnes per hectare | 0.9598 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.9172 tonnes per hectare | 0.4603 tonnes per hectare | 1.35 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.6024 tonnes per hectare | 0.3745 tonnes per hectare | 0.9955 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.7225 tonnes per hectare | 0.4714 tonnes per hectare | 0.9902 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.7091 tonnes per hectare | 0.4368 tonnes per hectare | 0.9726 tonnes per hectare | 5 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
More agriculture & rural data for Lesotho
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 5.38 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0649 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 70.63 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate -0.6715 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0005 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.5533 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 6.5% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 6.5% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 5.1% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 2.0% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is cereal yields in Lesotho?
- Cereal yields in Lesotho was 0.6035 tonnes per hectare 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 cereal yields recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 1.51 tonnes per hectare in 1977.
- What is the lowest cereal yields recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3745 tonnes per hectare in 2008.
- How does Lesotho rank for cereal yields?
- Lesotho ranks 181st out of 186 countries with data for 2024.
- Is cereal yields rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is down 11.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- 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 Cereal yields. 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).
About this data
Measured in tonnes per hectare.