Yields of key staple crops in Lesotho
Lesotho: Yields of key staple crops was 0.7195 tonnes per hectare in 2024. ▲ Rising
Yields of key staple crops 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
Lesotho recorded 0.7195 tonnes per hectare for yields of key staple crops in 2024.
That represents a change of up 22.4% on the previous year and down 21.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, yields of key staple crops in Lesotho peaked at 2.05 tonnes per hectare in 2001 and was at its lowest, 0.1314 tonnes per hectare, in 2008.
Lesotho ranks 120th of 125 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0.7441 tonnes per hectare | 0.6271 tonnes per hectare | 0.8648 tonnes per hectare | 9 |
| 1970s | 0.8121 tonnes per hectare | 0.2256 tonnes per hectare | 1.47 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.6605 tonnes per hectare | 0.5082 tonnes per hectare | 0.9738 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.8895 tonnes per hectare | 0.1959 tonnes per hectare | 1.63 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.6297 tonnes per hectare | 0.1314 tonnes per hectare | 2.05 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.9776 tonnes per hectare | 0.5937 tonnes per hectare | 1.47 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.6552 tonnes per hectare | 0.4614 tonnes per hectare | 0.8107 tonnes per hectare | 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 yields of key staple crops in Lesotho?
- Yields of key staple crops in Lesotho was 0.7195 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 yields of key staple crops recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 2.05 tonnes per hectare in 2001.
- What is the lowest yields of key staple crops recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.1314 tonnes per hectare in 2008.
- How does Lesotho rank for yields of key staple crops?
- Lesotho ranks 120th out of 125 countries with data for 2024.
- Is yields of key staple crops rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is down 21.0%. 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 Yields of key staple crops. 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
Yield is the amount produced per unit of land used, measured in tonnes per hectare.