Key features of women's political empowerment in Lesotho
Lesotho: Key features of women's political empowerment was 0.809 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Key features of women's political empowerment in Lesotho, 1900–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Lesotho recorded 0.809 for key features of women's political empowerment in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 3.6% on the previous year and up 0.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, key features of women's political empowerment in Lesotho peaked at 0.835 in 2022 and was at its lowest, 0.234, in 1900.
That places Lesotho 73rd out of 176 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 126 years of available data.
Key features of women's political empowerment in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 0.234 | — |
| 1901 | 0.234 | +0.0% |
| 1902 | 0.234 | +0.0% |
| 1903 | 0.234 | +0.0% |
| 1904 | 0.234 | +0.0% |
| 1905 | 0.234 | +0.0% |
| 1906 | 0.234 | +0.0% |
| 1907 | 0.234 | +0.0% |
| 1908 | 0.234 | +0.0% |
| 1909 | 0.234 | +0.0% |
| 1910 | 0.235 | +0.4% |
| 1911 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1912 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1913 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1914 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1915 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1916 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1917 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1918 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1919 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1920 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1921 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1922 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1923 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1924 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1925 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1926 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1927 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1928 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1929 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1930 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1931 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1932 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1933 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1934 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1935 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1936 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1937 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1938 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1939 | 0.235 | +0.0% |
| 1940 | 0.34 | +44.7% |
| 1941 | 0.34 | +0.0% |
| 1942 | 0.34 | +0.0% |
| 1943 | 0.34 | +0.0% |
| 1944 | 0.34 | +0.0% |
| 1945 | 0.34 | +0.0% |
| 1946 | 0.34 | +0.0% |
| 1947 | 0.34 | +0.0% |
| 1948 | 0.34 | +0.0% |
| 1949 | 0.34 | +0.0% |
| 1950 | 0.34 | +0.0% |
| 1951 | 0.34 | +0.0% |
| 1952 | 0.34 | +0.0% |
| 1953 | 0.34 | +0.0% |
| 1954 | 0.34 | +0.0% |
| 1955 | 0.34 | +0.0% |
| 1956 | 0.34 | +0.0% |
| 1957 | 0.34 | +0.0% |
| 1958 | 0.34 | +0.0% |
| 1959 | 0.34 | +0.0% |
| 1960 | 0.361 | +6.2% |
| 1961 | 0.361 | +0.0% |
| 1962 | 0.361 | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 0.361 | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 0.361 | +0.0% |
| 1965 | 0.361 | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 0.51 | +41.3% |
| 1967 | 0.51 | +0.0% |
| 1968 | 0.51 | +0.0% |
| 1969 | 0.51 | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 0.472 | -7.5% |
| 1971 | 0.472 | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 0.472 | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 0.51 | +8.1% |
| 1974 | 0.51 | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 0.51 | +0.0% |
| 1976 | 0.51 | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 0.51 | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 0.514 | +0.8% |
| 1979 | 0.503 | -2.1% |
| 1980 | 0.522 | +3.8% |
| 1981 | 0.522 | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 0.522 | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 0.522 | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 0.522 | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 0.487 | -6.7% |
| 1986 | 0.495 | +1.6% |
| 1987 | 0.507 | +2.4% |
| 1988 | 0.507 | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 0.507 | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 0.527 | +3.9% |
| 1991 | 0.565 | +7.2% |
| 1992 | 0.572 | +1.2% |
| 1993 | 0.683 | +19.4% |
| 1994 | 0.682 | -0.1% |
| 1995 | 0.685 | +0.4% |
| 1996 | 0.685 | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 0.685 | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 0.679 | -0.9% |
| 1999 | 0.681 | +0.3% |
| 2000 | 0.694 | +1.9% |
| 2001 | 0.694 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 0.73 | +5.2% |
| 2003 | 0.75 | +2.7% |
| 2004 | 0.732 | -2.4% |
| 2005 | 0.745 | +1.8% |
| 2006 | 0.756 | +1.5% |
| 2007 | 0.789 | +4.4% |
| 2008 | 0.789 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 0.789 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 0.803 | +1.8% |
| 2011 | 0.803 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 0.805 | +0.2% |
| 2013 | 0.806 | +0.1% |
| 2014 | 0.807 | +0.1% |
| 2015 | 0.807 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 0.799 | -1.0% |
| 2017 | 0.753 | -5.8% |
| 2018 | 0.778 | +3.3% |
| 2019 | 0.749 | -3.7% |
| 2020 | 0.799 | +6.7% |
| 2021 | 0.825 | +3.3% |
| 2022 | 0.835 | +1.2% |
| 2023 | 0.831 | -0.5% |
| 2024 | 0.781 | -6.0% |
| 2025 | 0.809 | +3.6% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's 0.809 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.694, 1.2× the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's 0.809 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.7075, 1.1× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0.234 | 0.234 | 0.234 | 10 |
| 1910s | 0.235 | 0.235 | 0.235 | 10 |
| 1920s | 0.235 | 0.235 | 0.235 | 10 |
| 1930s | 0.235 | 0.235 | 0.235 | 10 |
| 1940s | 0.34 | 0.34 | 0.34 | 10 |
| 1950s | 0.34 | 0.34 | 0.34 | 10 |
| 1960s | 0.4206 | 0.361 | 0.51 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.4983 | 0.472 | 0.514 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.5113 | 0.487 | 0.522 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.6444 | 0.527 | 0.685 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.7468 | 0.694 | 0.789 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.791 | 0.749 | 0.807 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.8133 | 0.781 | 0.835 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
More gender data for Lesotho
- Child population (UN estimates and projections) 786.22 (2030)
- Child population (UN estimates and projections) (0-14), annual growth -0.5717 % change on previous year (2030)
- Population 1,708 (2030)
- Working-age population (UN estimates and projections) 1,708 (2030)
- Population (UN estimates and projections), annual growth rate 1.83 % change on previous year (2030)
- Age population, age 00, female, interpolated 26,291 (2025)
- Age population, age 00, male, interpolated 26,787 (2025)
- Age population, age 01, female, interpolated 25,880 (2025)
- Age population, age 01, male, interpolated 26,319 (2025)
- Age population, age 02, female, interpolated 25,717 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is key features of women's political empowerment in Lesotho?
- Key features of women's political empowerment in Lesotho was 0.809 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest key features of women's political empowerment recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 0.835 in 2022.
- What is the lowest key features of women's political empowerment recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.234 in 1900.
- How does Lesotho rank for key features of women's political empowerment?
- Lesotho ranks 73rd out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
- Is key features of women's political empowerment rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Lesotho data come from?
- The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Key features of women's political empowerment. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 126 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Central estimate of the extent to which women enjoy civil liberties, can participate in civil society, and are represented in politics.