Age of electoral democracy (V-Dem) in Lesotho
Lesotho: Age of electoral democracy (V-Dem) was 23 years in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Age of electoral democracy in Lesotho, 1993–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in years.
Analysis
In 2025, age of electoral democracy in Lesotho stood at 23 years. That is the highest value across all 24 years on record.
That represents a change of up 4.5% on the previous year and up 76.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, age of electoral democracy in Lesotho peaked at 23 years in 2025 and was at its lowest, 1 years, in 1993.
Lesotho ranks 72nd of 111 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.
Age of electoral democracy (V-Dem) in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 1 years | — |
| 2003 | 1 years | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 2 years | +100.0% |
| 2005 | 3 years | +50.0% |
| 2006 | 4 years | +33.3% |
| 2007 | 5 years | +25.0% |
| 2008 | 6 years | +20.0% |
| 2009 | 7 years | +16.7% |
| 2010 | 8 years | +14.3% |
| 2011 | 9 years | +12.5% |
| 2012 | 10 years | +11.1% |
| 2013 | 11 years | +10.0% |
| 2014 | 12 years | +9.1% |
| 2015 | 13 years | +8.3% |
| 2016 | 14 years | +7.7% |
| 2017 | 15 years | +7.1% |
| 2018 | 16 years | +6.7% |
| 2019 | 17 years | +6.2% |
| 2020 | 18 years | +5.9% |
| 2021 | 19 years | +5.6% |
| 2022 | 20 years | +5.3% |
| 2023 | 21 years | +5.0% |
| 2024 | 22 years | +4.8% |
| 2025 | 23 years | +4.5% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's 23 years is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 21 years, 1.1× the median. (22 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's 23 years is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 12 years, 1.9× the median. (23 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Age of electoral democracy (V-Dem) 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | +100.0% | 1 years | 2 years |
| 2005 | +50.0% | 2 years | 3 years |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 1 years | 1 years | 1 years | 1 |
| 2000s | 4 years | 1 years | 7 years | 7 |
| 2010s | 12.5 years | 8 years | 17 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 20.5 years | 18 years | 23 years | 6 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
More social development data for Lesotho
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 478 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 27 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 2 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 2 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 27 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0002 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is age of electoral democracy in Lesotho?
- Age of electoral democracy in Lesotho was 23 years in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest age of electoral democracy recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 23 years in 2025.
- What is the lowest age of electoral democracy recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 1 years in 1993.
- How does Lesotho rank for age of electoral democracy?
- Lesotho ranks 72nd out of 111 countries with data for 2025.
- Is age of electoral democracy rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is up 76.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Lesotho data come from?
- The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Age of electoral democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of consecutive years in electoral democracy.