Current health expenditure in Lesotho
Lesotho: Current health expenditure was 12.6% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Current health expenditure in Lesotho, 2000–2023
Source: Global Health Expenditure Database, updated December 12th, 2025, World Health Organization (WHO). Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Lesotho recorded 12.6% for current health expenditure in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 2.2% on the previous year and up 14.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, current health expenditure in Lesotho peaked at 21.9% in 2019 and was at its lowest, 4.7%, in 2005.
That places Lesotho 8th out of 193 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 24 years of available data.
Current health expenditure in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 5.2% | — |
| 2001 | 6.6% | +27.8% |
| 2002 | 5.9% | -11.1% |
| 2003 | 5.3% | -8.9% |
| 2004 | 5.2% | -1.7% |
| 2005 | 4.7% | -10.9% |
| 2006 | 5.4% | +15.6% |
| 2007 | 7.2% | +33.6% |
| 2008 | 7.7% | +6.1% |
| 2009 | 9.0% | +16.8% |
| 2010 | 7.4% | -17.3% |
| 2011 | 9.0% | +21.5% |
| 2012 | 10.0% | +11.0% |
| 2013 | 11.0% | +10.0% |
| 2014 | 10.0% | -9.0% |
| 2015 | 9.3% | -7.4% |
| 2016 | 9.2% | -0.6% |
| 2017 | 10.5% | +14.5% |
| 2018 | 11.1% | +5.7% |
| 2019 | 21.9% | +97.0% |
| 2020 | 10.4% | -52.5% |
| 2021 | 10.7% | +2.4% |
| 2022 | 12.9% | +21.0% |
| 2023 | 12.6% | -2.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 6.2% | 4.7% | 9.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 10.9% | 7.4% | 21.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 11.6% | 10.4% | 12.9% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
- 5 Marshall Islands 13.4% compare
- 6 Liberia 13.0% compare
- 7 Micronesia, Federated States of 12.9% compare
- 9 Germany 12.3% compare
- 10 Austria 11.8% compare
- 11 Switzerland 11.7% compare
More health data for Lesotho
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -2.05 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate 0.4669 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 1,227 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 382 deaths (2100)
- Population ages 65-69, male, annual growth rate 1.92 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 65-69, male, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 65-69, male, per capita 0.0061 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 70-74, female, annual growth rate 1.91 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 70-74, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 70-74, female, per capita 0.0067 units per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is current health expenditure in Lesotho?
- Current health expenditure in Lesotho was 12.6% in 2023, according to Global Health Expenditure Database, updated December 12th, 2025, World Health Organization (WHO).
- What is the highest current health expenditure recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 21.9% in 2019.
- What is the lowest current health expenditure recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.7% in 2005.
- How does Lesotho rank for current health expenditure?
- Lesotho ranks 8th out of 193 countries with data for 2023.
- Is current health expenditure rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is up 14.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Lesotho data come from?
- The figures come from Global Health Expenditure Database, updated December 12th, 2025, World Health Organization (WHO), published as part of Current health expenditure (% of GDP). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Level of current health expenditure expressed as a percentage of GDP. Estimates of current health expenditures include healthcare goods and services consumed during each year. This indicator does not include capital health expenditures such as buildings, machinery, IT and stocks of vaccines for emergency or outbreaks.