Lesotho's merchandise trade (% of GDP) was 102.89% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is down 21.11 percentage points from 124% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 102.89% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 108.34% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 124% | 2015 |
| Highest | 160.86% | 1982 |
| Lowest | 55.28% | 1970 |
| Average since 2016 | 118.9% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 60.73% | 1960 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Lesotho's merchandise trade (% of GDP) fell 16.04 percentage points on 2024 (from 118.93% to 102.89%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.09 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 11.29 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.4 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 37.41 percentage points in 1976 and the biggest yearly fall was 27.43 percentage points in 1983. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2016 to 2025 the straight-line trend is downward, about 2.37 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 46% 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 2025, Lesotho had the 22nd highest value of the 188 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 | 102.89% | 2025 |
| World | 43.89% | 2025 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 44.53% | 2025 |
| Lower middle income | 35.72% | 2025 |
Closest to Lesotho in the 2025 ranking
What this measures
General merchandise trade includes goods whose economic ownership is changed between a resident and a non-resident and that are not included in the following specific categories: goods under merchanting, non-monetary gold, and parts of travel, construction, and government goods and services n.i.e. It is the total of merchandise exports plus merchandise imports. 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.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 66 values
| Year | Merchandise trade (% of GDP) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 102.89 |
| 2024 | 118.93 |
| 2023 | 119.68 |
| 2022 | 116.77 |
| 2021 | 114.38 |
| 2020 | 108.34 |
| 2019 | 110.97 |
| 2018 | 133.24 |
| 2017 | 134.13 |
| 2016 | 129.68 |
| 2015 |
Merchandise trade (% of GDP) in nearby economies
- Angola — 38.84% (2025)
- Benin — 36.39% (2025)
- Botswana — 57.78% (2025)
- Burkina Faso — 67.5% (2025)
- Burundi — 45.17% (2025)
- Cabo Verde — 69.98% (2025)
- Cameroon — 24.6% (2025)
- Central African Republic — 27% (2025)
- Chad — 28.87% (2025)
- Comoros — 23.09% (2025)
- Congo, Dem. Rep. — 66.13% (2025)
More private sector & trade data for Lesotho
- Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$1.88 billion (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$773 million (2025)
- Insurance and financial services (% of commercial service imports) — 2.34% (2025)
- Computer, communications and other services (% of commercial service imports) — 8.72% (2025)
- Commercial service imports (current US$) — US$460.39 million (2025)
- Transport services (% of commercial service imports) — 11.28% (2025)
- Travel services (% of commercial service imports) — 77.67% (2025)
- Computer, communications and other services (% of commercial service exports) — 21.19% (2025)
- Commercial service exports (current US$)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Lesotho's merchandise trade (% of GDP)?
- 102.89% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1960?
- It is up 42.16 percentage points from 60.73% in 1960. The highest value was 160.86% in 1982 and the lowest 55.28% in 1970.
- How does Lesotho rank?
- 22nd highest of 188 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in merchandise trade (% of GDP) unusual for Lesotho?
- In 2025, Lesotho's merchandise trade (% of GDP) fell 16.04 percentage points on 2024 (from 118.93% to 102.89%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.09 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 11.29 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.4 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator TG.VAL.TOTL.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Trade Organization (WTO); World Bank GDP estimates, World Bank (WB); World Development Indicators, World Bank (WB) 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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