Which has higher freedom of association index, Lesotho or South Africa?

Lesotho, at 0.873 against 0.87 in South Africa as of 2025.

How many years of comparable data are there for Lesotho and South Africa?

126 years are reported by both, from 1900 to 2025.

Where does this data come from?

V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Freedom of Association Index. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Lesotho vs South Africa: Freedom of Association Index

Lesotho

0.873

in 2025

South Africa

0.87

in 2025

Lesotho rank

38th

South Africa rank

41st

Freedom of Association Index over time

Lesotho
South Africa

How they compare

Lesotho currently reports 0.873 against 0.87 in South Africa, a difference of 0.003.

The two have swapped places 5 times across 126 shared years of data; in 1900 it was South Africa ahead.

Lesotho ranks 38th and South Africa ranks 41st of 176 countries.

Across the 13 decades both report, Lesotho averaged higher in 2 and South Africa in 11.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Lesotho	South Africa	Difference	Ahead
1900s	0.15	0.331	0.181	South Africa
1910s	0.15	0.4333	0.2833	South Africa
1920s	0.15	0.4346	0.2846	South Africa
1930s	0.15	0.4417	0.2917	South Africa
1940s	0.15	0.424	0.274	South Africa
1950s	0.3492	0.3258	0.0234	Lesotho
1960s	0.5202	0.2938	0.2264	Lesotho
1970s	0.1962	0.294	0.0978	South Africa
1980s	0.1958	0.2987	0.1029	South Africa
1990s	0.6993	0.7952	0.0959	South Africa
2000s	0.835	0.9294	0.0944	South Africa
2010s	0.8376	0.9072	0.0696	South Africa
2020s	0.8617	0.8898	0.0282	South Africa

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher freedom of association index, Lesotho or South Africa?: Lesotho, at 0.873 against 0.87 in South Africa as of 2025.
What is the difference in freedom of association index between Lesotho and South Africa?: 0.003, with Lesotho ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Lesotho and South Africa?: 126 years are reported by both, from 1900 to 2025.
How do Lesotho and South Africa rank globally for freedom of association index?: Lesotho ranks 38th and South Africa ranks 41st of 176 countries.
Where does this data come from?: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Freedom of Association Index. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Lesotho vs South Africa: Freedom of Association Index. Statizoid, drawing on V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 30 August 2026, from https://social-development.statizoid.com/compare/freedom-of-association-index/lesotho/south-africa/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://social-development.statizoid.com/compare/freedom-of-association-index/lesotho/south-africa/">Lesotho vs South Africa: Freedom of Association Index</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator: Freedom of Association Index
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 176 places, 30,011 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed: 28 August 2026

Central estimate of the extent to which parties, including opposition parties, are allowed to form and participate in elections and the extent to which civil society organizations are allowed to form and operate freely.