Lesotho's interest payments (% of expense) was 3.99% in 2022, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 1.98 percentage points from 2.02% in 2012.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 3.99% | 2022 |
| Five years earlier | 2.7% | 2017 |
| Ten years earlier | 2.02% | 2012 |
| Highest | 21.72% | 1989 |
| Lowest | 1.35% | 2010 |
| Average since 2013 | 2.87% | 2013–2022 |
| First recorded | 9.32% | 1987 |
What the numbers say
In 2022, Lesotho's interest payments (% of expense) rose 0.74 percentage points on 2021 (from 3.25% to 3.99%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1992 to 2021), the average change was −0.27 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.89 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 10.78 percentage points in 1989 and the biggest yearly fall was 4.82 percentage points in 1996. 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 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.25 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 83% of the movement over 10 observed years.
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 12th highest value of the 23 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 | 3.99% | 2022 |
| World | 5.77% | 2022 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 10.17% | 2021 |
| Lower middle income | 10.23% | 2021 |
Closest to Lesotho in the 2022 ranking
What this measures
Interest payments include interest payments on government debt (including long-term bonds, long-term loans, and other debt instruments) to domestic and foreign residents. This indicator is expressed as percentage of total expenses which is any decrease in net worth resulting from a transaction.
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 median.
All 35 values
| Year | Interest payments (% of expense) |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.99 |
| 2021 | 3.25 |
| 2020 | 3.72 |
| 2019 | 3.7 |
| 2018 | 3.38 |
| 2017 | 2.7 |
| 2016 | 1.96 |
| 2015 | 2.32 |
| 2014 | 1.72 |
| 2013 | 1.95 |
| 2012 |
Interest payments (% of expense) in nearby economies
- Angola — 31.91% (2019)
- Botswana — 4.04% (2023)
- Burkina Faso — 11.93% (2023)
- Burundi — 3.33% (2021)
- Cabo Verde — 8.76% (2020)
- Cameroon — 7.79% (2021)
- Central African Republic — 5.17% (2021)
- Congo, Dem. Rep. — 0.68% (2022)
- Congo, Rep. — 11.51% (2021)
- Côte d'Ivoire — 14.14% (2023)
- Equatorial Guinea
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 interest payments (% of expense)?
- 3.99% in 2022, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1987?
- It is down 5.33 percentage points from 9.32% in 1987. The highest value was 21.72% in 1989 and the lowest 1.35% in 2010.
- How does Lesotho rank?
- 12th highest of 23 economies with data for 2022.
- Is the latest change in interest payments (% of expense) unusual for Lesotho?
- In 2022, Lesotho's interest payments (% of expense) rose 0.74 percentage points on 2021 (from 3.25% to 3.99%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1992 to 2021), the average change was −0.27 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.89 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.INTP.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF) 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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