Cereals, primary — Production in Lesotho
Lesotho: Cereals, primary — Production was 67,527 t in 2024. ▼ Falling
Cereals, primary — Production in Lesotho, 1961–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in t.
Analysis
In 2024, cereals, primary — production in Lesotho stood at 67,527 t.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 52.8% on the previous year and down 41.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cereals, primary — production in Lesotho peaked at 288,249 t in 1978 and was at its lowest, 25,678 t, in 2016.
That places Lesotho 141st out of 178 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.
Cereals, primary — Production in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | t | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 226,648 t | — |
| 1962 | 223,800 t | -1.3% |
| 1963 | 223,400 t | -0.2% |
| 1964 | 222,000 t | -0.6% |
| 1965 | 216,800 t | -2.3% |
| 1966 | 223,400 t | +3.0% |
| 1967 | 217,300 t | -2.7% |
| 1968 | 212,506 t | -2.2% |
| 1969 | 211,684 t | -0.4% |
| 1970 | 182,536 t | -13.8% |
| 1971 | 197,254 t | +8.1% |
| 1972 | 104,350 t | -47.1% |
| 1973 | 150,350 t | +44.1% |
| 1974 | 264,905 t | +76.2% |
| 1975 | 154,422 t | -41.7% |
| 1976 | 119,658 t | -22.5% |
| 1977 | 251,026 t | +109.8% |
| 1978 | 288,249 t | +14.8% |
| 1979 | 228,837 t | -20.6% |
| 1980 | 194,497 t | -15.0% |
| 1981 | 171,796 t | -11.7% |
| 1982 | 125,048 t | -27.2% |
| 1983 | 123,097 t | -1.6% |
| 1984 | 131,679 t | +7.0% |
| 1985 | 167,107 t | +26.9% |
| 1986 | 132,455 t | -20.7% |
| 1987 | 146,191 t | +10.4% |
| 1988 | 233,910 t | +60.0% |
| 1989 | 199,365 t | -14.8% |
| 1990 | 242,119 t | +21.4% |
| 1991 | 67,254 t | -72.2% |
| 1992 | 93,800 t | +39.5% |
| 1993 | 153,256 t | +63.4% |
| 1994 | 222,853 t | +45.4% |
| 1995 | 81,221 t | -63.6% |
| 1996 | 257,418 t | +216.9% |
| 1997 | 206,026 t | -20.0% |
| 1998 | 171,933 t | -16.5% |
| 1999 | 173,865 t | +1.1% |
| 2000 | 149,723 t | -13.9% |
| 2001 | 254,960 t | +70.3% |
| 2002 | 149,947 t | -41.2% |
| 2003 | 116,475 t | -22.3% |
| 2004 | 109,280 t | -6.2% |
| 2005 | 111,647 t | +2.2% |
| 2006 | 87,205 t | -21.9% |
| 2007 | 71,887 t | -17.6% |
| 2008 | 72,997 t | +1.5% |
| 2009 | 74,121 t | +1.5% |
| 2010 | 173,193 t | +133.7% |
| 2011 | 103,897 t | -40.0% |
| 2012 | 101,382 t | -2.4% |
| 2013 | 107,452 t | +6.0% |
| 2014 | 115,733 t | +7.7% |
| 2015 | 82,840 t | -28.4% |
| 2016 | 25,678 t | -69.0% |
| 2017 | 216,012 t | +741.2% |
| 2018 | 157,857 t | -26.9% |
| 2019 | 35,092 t | -77.8% |
| 2020 | 28,536 t | -18.7% |
| 2021 | 98,326 t | +244.6% |
| 2022 | 82,450 t | -16.1% |
| 2023 | 142,973 t | +73.4% |
| 2024 | 67,527 t | -52.8% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's 67,527 t is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 1.54 million t, 4% of the median. (40 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's 67,527 t is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 1.52 million t, 4% of the median. (42 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Cereals, primary — Production 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | +741.2% | 25,678 t | 216,012 t |
| 2021 | +244.6% | 28,536 t | 98,326 t |
| 1996 | +216.9% | 81,221 t | 257,418 t |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 219,726 t | 211,684 t | 226,648 t | 9 |
| 1970s | 194,159 t | 104,350 t | 288,249 t | 10 |
| 1980s | 162,514 t | 123,097 t | 233,910 t | 10 |
| 1990s | 166,974 t | 67,254 t | 257,418 t | 10 |
| 2000s | 119,824 t | 71,887 t | 254,960 t | 10 |
| 2010s | 111,914 t | 25,678 t | 216,012 t | 10 |
| 2020s | 83,962 t | 28,536 t | 142,973 t | 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 cereals, primary — production in Lesotho?
- Cereals, primary — production in Lesotho was 67,527 t in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest cereals, primary — production recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 288,249 t in 1978.
- What is the lowest cereals, primary — production recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 25,678 t in 2016.
- How does Lesotho rank for cereals, primary — production?
- Lesotho ranks 141st out of 178 countries with data for 2024.
- Is cereals, primary — production rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is down 41.7%. 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, published as part of Cereals, primary — Production. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 64 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
About this data
Crop and livestock statistics are recorded for 278 products, covering the following categories: 1) CROPS PRIMARY: Cereals, Citrus Fruit, Fibre Crops, Fruit, Oil Crops, Oil Crops and Cakes in Oil Equivalent, Pulses, Roots and Tubers, Sugar Crops, Treenuts and Vegetables. Data are expressed in terms of area harvested, production quantity and yield. Cereals: Area and production data on cereals relate to crops harvested for dry grain only. Cereal crops harvested for hay or harvested green for food, feed or silage or used for grazing are therefore excluded. 2) CROPS PROCESSED: Beer of barley; Cotton lint; Cottonseed; Margarine, short; Molasses; Oil, coconut (copra); Oil, cottonseed; Oil, groundnut; Oil, linseed; Oil, maize; Oil, olive, virgin; Oil, palm; Oil, palm kernel; Oil, rapeseed; Oil, safflower; Oil, sesame; Oil, soybean; Oil, sunflower; Palm kernels; Sugar Raw Centrifugal; Wine. 3) LIVE ANIMALS: Animals live n.e.s.; Asses; Beehives; Buffaloes; Camelids, other; Camels; Cattle; Chickens; Ducks; Geese and guinea fowls; Goats; Horses; Mules; Pigeons, other birds; Pigs; Rabbits and hares; Rodents, other; Sheep; Turkeys. 4) LIVESTOCK PRIMARY: Beeswax; Eggs (various types); Hides buffalo, fresh; Hides, cattle, fresh; Honey, natural; Meat (ass, bird nes, buffalo, camel, cattle, chicken, duck, game, goat, goose and guinea fowl, horse, mule, Meat nes, meat other camelids, Meat other rodents, pig, rabbit, sheep, turkey); Milk (buffalo, camel, cow, goat, sheep); Offals, nes; Silk-worm cocoons, reelable; Skins (goat, sheep); Snails, not sea; Wool, greasy. 5) LIVESTOCK PROCESSED: Butter (of milk from sheep, goat, buffalo, cow); Cheese (of milk from goat, buffalo, sheep, cow milk); Cheese of skimmed cow milk; Cream fresh; Ghee (cow and buffalo milk); Lard; Milk (dry buttermilk, skimmed condensed, skimmed cow, skimmed dried, skimmed evaporated, whole condensed, whole dried, whole evaporated); Silk raw; Tallow; Whey (condensed and dry); Yoghurt.