Lesotho

Lesotho: Economic, Security and Governance Snapshot

Lesotho's economy was valued at $2.27 billion in 2024, according to World Bank World Development Indicators (WDI), with per-capita output of $971.91 and a population of 2,337,423 the same year. The World Bank also reports foreign reserves of $1.01 billion for 2024. The IMF's World Economic Outlook puts government debt at 49.0% of GDP in its 2026 projection.

Defense and capability

Defense spending, per SIPRI's Military Expenditure Database, stood at $39.91 million in 2025, equivalent to 1.629% of GDP on SIPRI's own GDP series for that year; that share is drawn from SIPRI's GDP series rather than the World Bank figure cited above. The Correlates of War National Material Capabilities (COW NMC) dataset lists active military personnel at 2,000 and a Composite Index of National Capability (CINC) score of 0.0000876536, both dated 2022.

Governance

V-Dem v15 scores Lesotho's electoral democracy index at 0.661 and its liberal democracy index at 0.512 for 2025, alongside a state capacity score of 0.716 for the same year.

Energy

Our World in Data's Energy series records primary energy consumption of 0.0198 exajoules in 2023. Electricity generation is recorded at 0.0 terawatt-hour for 2024, and oil production and gas production are both recorded at zero, dated 2016.

Data gaps

The electricity-generation figure of zero for 2024 is notable within this bundle and reflects that dataset's reported value rather than independent confirmation of generating capacity. No figures beyond those listed above are available for Lesotho in this bundle.

Sources: World Bank WDI; IMF WEO; SIPRI Milex; COW NMC; V-Dem v15; Our World in Data (Energy).