Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Lesotho
Lesotho: Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within was 85.0% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Lesotho, 2000–2023
Source: Staff estimates, World Bank (WB). Measured in % of total merchandise imports.
Analysis
In 2023, merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Lesotho stood at 85.0%.
That represents a change of down 1.5% on the previous year and up 9.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Lesotho peaked at 100.0% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 68.6%, in 2017.
Lesotho ranks 3rd of 203 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.
Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | % of total merchandise imports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 100.0% | — |
| 2001 | 96.9% | -3.1% |
| 2002 | 74.9% | -22.8% |
| 2003 | 81.7% | +9.2% |
| 2004 | 76.1% | -6.9% |
| 2005 | 99.5% | +30.7% |
| 2006 | 96.8% | -2.8% |
| 2007 | 96.7% | -0.1% |
| 2008 | 94.4% | -2.4% |
| 2009 | 95.8% | +1.4% |
| 2010 | 78.6% | -17.9% |
| 2011 | 97.3% | +23.7% |
| 2012 | 88.6% | -9.0% |
| 2013 | 77.6% | -12.4% |
| 2014 | 81.1% | +4.4% |
| 2015 | 76.8% | -5.3% |
| 2016 | 77.2% | +0.5% |
| 2017 | 68.6% | -11.1% |
| 2018 | 84.4% | +23.0% |
| 2019 | 80.9% | -4.2% |
| 2020 | 77.4% | -4.2% |
| 2021 | 79.7% | +3.0% |
| 2022 | 86.2% | +8.1% |
| 2023 | 85.0% | -1.5% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's 85.0% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 19.5%, 4.4× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's 85.0% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 15.0%, 5.7× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 91.3% | 74.9% | 100.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 81.1% | 68.6% | 97.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 82.1% | 77.4% | 86.2% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
- 1 Korea, Democratic People's Republic of 97.1% compare
- 2 Bhutan 91.5% compare
- 4 Botswana 84.1% compare
- 5 Lao People's Democratic Republic 81.9% compare
- 6 Cambodia 80.9% compare
More private sector data for Lesotho
- Merchandise trade 102.9% (2025)
- Food imports 23.0% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 59.2% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 1.88 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 23.3% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 70.1% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 773.00 million current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 327.08 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.3004 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate -22 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Lesotho?
- Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within in Lesotho was 85.0% in 2023, according to Staff estimates, World Bank (WB).
- What is the highest merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 100.0% in 2000.
- What is the lowest merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 68.6% in 2017.
- How does Lesotho rank for merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within?
- Lesotho ranks 3rd out of 203 countries with data for 2023.
- Is merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is up 9.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Lesotho data come from?
- The figures come from Staff estimates, World Bank (WB), published as part of Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within region (% of total merchandise imports). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within region are the sum of merchandise imports by the reporting economy from other low- and middle-income economies in the same World Bank region according to the World Bank classification of economies. Data are as a percentage of total merchandise imports by the economy. Data are computed only if at least half of the economies in the partner country group had non-missing data. No figures are shown for high-income economies, because they are a separate category in the World Bank classification of economies.