Lesotho: Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values)

Key figures

Since 1977 it is unchanged at from 1 million in 1977. The World Bank has no value for 28 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

How it compares

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

Closest to Lesotho in the 2019 ranking

• Nicaragua — 1st of 4: 13 million
• Costa Rica — 2nd of 4: 8 million
• Burundi — 3rd of 4: 2 million

What this measures

Arms transfers (imports) cover the volume of transfers of major arms through sales and gifts, and those made through manufacturing licenses. Data cover major conventional weapons such as aircraft, armored vehicles, artillery, radar systems, missiles, and ships. Figures are SIPRI Trend Indicator Values (TIVs). A '0' indicates that the volume of deliveries is between 0 and 0.5 million SIPRI TIV.

Limitations: SIPRI calculates the volume of transfers to, from and between all parties using the TIV and the number of weapon systems or subsystems delivered in a given year. This data is intended to provide a common unit to allow the measurement if trends in the flow of arms to particular countries and regions over time. Therefore, the main priority is to ensure that the TIV system remains consistent over time, and that any changes introduced are backdated. SIPRI TIV figures do not represent sales prices for arms transfers.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a sum.

All 15 values

Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) in nearby economies

• Angola — 84 million (2025)
• Benin — 4 million (2025)
• Botswana — 11 million (2024)
• Burkina Faso — 34 million (2025)
• Burundi — 2 million (2019)
• Cameroon — 2 million (2023)
• Central African Republic — 43 million (2023)
• Chad — 4 million (2025)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 44 million (2025)
• Congo, Rep. — 9 million (2024)

More public sector data for Lesotho

• Military expenditure (current USD) — 39.91 million (2025)
• Military expenditure (current LCU) — 713.78 million (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 1.63% (2025)
• Grants and other revenue (current LCU) — 7.98 billion (2024)
• Taxes on goods and services (current LCU) — 7.69 billion (2024)
• Taxes on goods and services (% of industry and services value added) — 22.08% (2024)
• Customs and other import duties (current LCU) — 3.04 billion (2024)
• Customs and other import duties (% of tax revenue) — 19.61% (2024)
• Taxes on international trade (current LCU) — 3.04 billion (2024)

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Questions people ask

What is Lesotho's arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values)?

1 million in 2019, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1977?

It is unchanged at from 1 million in 1977. The highest value was 10 million in 1986 and the lowest 0 in 1985.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Arms Transfers Programme, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), uri: https://armstransfers.sipri.org/ArmsTransfer/.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator MS.MIL.MPRT.KD, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Arms Transfers Programme, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), uri: https://armstransfers.sipri.org/ArmsTransfer/ Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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