Travel services (% of commercial service exports) in Lesotho
Lesotho: Travel services (% of commercial service exports) was 75.5% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Travel services in Lesotho, 1975–2025
Source: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of commercial service exports.
Analysis
The most recent figure for travel services in Lesotho is 75.5%, measured in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 6.8% on the previous year and down 6.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, travel services in Lesotho peaked at 99.8% in 1982 and was at its lowest, 53.3%, in 2021.
Lesotho ranks 31st of 198 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 51 years of available data.
Travel services (% of commercial service exports) in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | % of commercial service exports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 82.9% | — |
| 1976 | 76.8% | -7.3% |
| 1977 | 68.7% | -10.6% |
| 1978 | 61.3% | -10.7% |
| 1979 | 59.2% | -3.5% |
| 1980 | 56.2% | -5.0% |
| 1981 | 56.6% | +0.7% |
| 1982 | 99.8% | +76.3% |
| 1983 | 99.4% | -0.3% |
| 1984 | 97.7% | -1.7% |
| 1985 | 97.9% | +0.2% |
| 1986 | 98.3% | +0.4% |
| 1987 | 99.0% | +0.8% |
| 1988 | 76.7% | -22.5% |
| 1989 | 80.5% | +4.9% |
| 1990 | 75.7% | -5.9% |
| 1991 | 86.1% | +13.7% |
| 1992 | 86.1% | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 81.6% | -5.2% |
| 1994 | 81.7% | +0.1% |
| 1995 | 86.5% | +5.8% |
| 1996 | 89.2% | +3.2% |
| 1997 | 84.8% | -4.9% |
| 1998 | 84.9% | +0.1% |
| 1999 | 95.4% | +12.4% |
| 2000 | 88.4% | -7.3% |
| 2001 | 88.8% | +0.4% |
| 2002 | 88.3% | -0.5% |
| 2003 | 88.1% | -0.3% |
| 2004 | 83.5% | -5.2% |
| 2005 | 84.8% | +1.6% |
| 2006 | 83.9% | -1.1% |
| 2007 | 79.8% | -5.0% |
| 2008 | 67.6% | -15.2% |
| 2009 | 83.8% | +23.9% |
| 2010 | 55.0% | -34.3% |
| 2011 | 57.8% | +5.1% |
| 2012 | 58.4% | +1.0% |
| 2013 | 59.4% | +1.8% |
| 2014 | 61.2% | +3.0% |
| 2015 | 80.4% | +31.3% |
| 2016 | 84.9% | +5.6% |
| 2017 | 74.5% | -12.2% |
| 2018 | 79.5% | +6.6% |
| 2019 | 77.8% | -2.1% |
| 2020 | 56.4% | -27.5% |
| 2021 | 53.3% | -5.4% |
| 2022 | 68.6% | +28.6% |
| 2023 | 71.4% | +4.2% |
| 2024 | 81.0% | +13.4% |
| 2025 | 75.5% | -6.8% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's 75.5% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 38.7%, 2.0× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's 75.5% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 43.9%, 1.7× the median. (46 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Travel services (% of commercial service exports) in Lesotho changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | +76.3% | 56.6% | 99.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 69.8% | 59.2% | 82.9% | 5 |
| 1980s | 86.2% | 56.2% | 99.8% | 10 |
| 1990s | 85.2% | 75.7% | 95.4% | 10 |
| 2000s | 83.7% | 67.6% | 88.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 68.9% | 55.0% | 84.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 67.7% | 53.3% | 81.0% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
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)
- Commercial service imports 460.39 million current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 23.3% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 70.1% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 773.00 million current US$ (2025)
- Commercial service exports 18.67 million current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 327.08 current US$ per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is travel services in Lesotho?
- Travel services in Lesotho was 75.5% in 2025, according to Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest travel services recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 99.8% in 1982.
- What is the lowest travel services recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 53.3% in 2021.
- How does Lesotho rank for travel services?
- Lesotho ranks 31st out of 198 countries with data for 2025.
- Is travel services rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is down 6.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Lesotho data come from?
- The figures come from Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Travel services (% of commercial service exports). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 51 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Travel services cover goods and services for own use or to give away acquired from an economy by nonresidents during visits to that economy, or acquired from other economies by residents during visits to these other economies. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of service exports which are commercial services provided by residents to non-residents.