Lesotho's expense (% of GDP) was 40.23% in 2022, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 0.18 percentage points from 40.05% in 2012.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 40.23% | 2022 |
| Five years earlier | 39.72% | 2017 |
| Ten years earlier | 40.05% | 2012 |
| Highest | 52.18% | 2009 |
| Lowest | 28.35% | 1993 |
| Average since 2013 | 39.97% | 2013–2022 |
| First recorded | 38.98% | 1987 |
What the numbers say
In 2022, Lesotho's expense (% of GDP) rose 2.13 percentage points on 2021 (from 38.11% to 40.23%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1992 to 2021), the average change was +0.29 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.6 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 6.73 percentage points in 1998 and the biggest yearly fall was 9.64 percentage points in 2010. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2013 to 2022 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains less than 1% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2022, Lesotho had the 3rd highest value of the 25 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Lesotho | 40.23% | 2022 |
| World | 28.49% | 2022 |
| Lower middle income | 15.71% | 2018 |
Closest to Lesotho in the 2022 ranking
- Timor-Leste — 1st of 25: 52.49%
- Hungary — 2nd of 25: 42.42%
- Slovak Republic — 4th of 25: 39.77%
- Belgium — 5th of 25: 39.71%
- Romania — 6th of 25: 37.3%
What this measures
Expense is a decrease in net worth resulting from a transaction. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.
Limitations: For most countries central government finance data have been consolidated into one account, but for others only budgetary central government accounts are available. Countries reporting budgetary data are noted in the country metadata. Because budgetary accounts may not include all central government units (such as social security funds), they usually provide an incomplete picture. In federal states the central government accounts provide an incomplete view of total public finance. Data on government revenue and expense are collected by the IMF through questionnaires to member countries and by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 35 values
| Year | Expense (% of GDP) |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 40.23 |
| 2021 | 38.11 |
| 2020 | 43.29 |
| 2019 | 39.25 |
| 2018 | 39.25 |
| 2017 | 39.72 |
| 2016 | 40.58 |
| 2015 | 38.24 |
| 2014 | 38.32 |
| 2013 | 42.71 |
| 2012 |
Expense (% of GDP) in nearby economies
- Angola — 14.57% (2019)
- Botswana — 26.53% (2024)
- Burkina Faso — 19.58% (2023)
- Burundi — 12.26% (2021)
- Cabo Verde — 30.88% (2020)
- Cameroon — 12.42% (2021)
- Central African Republic — 11.66% (2021)
- Congo, Dem. Rep. — 12.45% (2022)
- Congo, Rep. — 16.13% (2021)
- Côte d'Ivoire — 17.88% (2023)
- Equatorial Guinea — 11.05% (2022)
- Eswatini
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)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Lesotho's expense (% of GDP)?
- 40.23% in 2022, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1987?
- It is up 1.25 percentage points from 38.98% in 1987. The highest value was 52.18% in 2009 and the lowest 28.35% in 1993.
- How does Lesotho rank?
- 3rd highest of 25 economies with data for 2022.
- Is the latest change in expense (% of GDP) unusual for Lesotho?
- In 2022, Lesotho's expense (% of GDP) rose 2.13 percentage points on 2021 (from 38.11% to 40.23%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1992 to 2021), the average change was +0.29 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.6 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator GC.XPN.TOTL.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF); World Development Indicators, World Bank (WB); National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 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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