Age of democracy in Lesotho
Lesotho: Age of democracy was 21 years in 2018. ◆ Volatile
Age of democracy in Lesotho, 1998–2018
Source: Polity 5 (2020) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in years.
Analysis
Lesotho recorded 21 years for age of democracy in 2018. That is the highest value across all 21 years on record.
That represents a change of up 5.0% on the previous year and up 90.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, age of democracy in Lesotho peaked at 21 years in 2018 and was at its lowest, 1 years, in 1998.
Lesotho ranks 70th of 110 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 1.5 years | 1 years | 2 years | 2 |
| 2000s | 7.5 years | 3 years | 12 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 17 years | 13 years | 21 years | 9 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
More social development data for Lesotho
- Political Rights Rating 2 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 478 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 27 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Liberal democracy 2 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.512 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 2 (2025)
- Human Rights Index 0.835 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.404 (2025)
- Key features of human rights 0.835 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is age of democracy in Lesotho?
- Age of democracy in Lesotho was 21 years in 2018, according to Polity 5 (2020) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest age of democracy recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 21 years in 2018.
- What is the lowest age of democracy recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 1 years in 1998.
- How does Lesotho rank for age of democracy?
- Lesotho ranks 70th out of 110 countries with data for 2018.
- Is age of democracy rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is up 90.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Lesotho data come from?
- The figures come from Polity 5 (2020) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Age of democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 21 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of consecutive years in a democracy.