Economy · Tax-to-GDP ratio (central government) · Lesotho
Lesotho’s tax-to-GDP ratio (central government) rose to 22.7% of GDP in 2023.
22.7% of GDP
2023
Up 0.88 pp from 2022.
Updated 20 Oct 2026
In plain words
22.7% of GDP
What it is. Tax revenue of central government as a share of GDP, on the OECD classification of taxes. Excludes state and local government and social security funds, so it is lower than the general-government ratio (tax-to-gdp-total). It is the closest OECD measure to the World Bank central-government tax revenue series, but the classifications differ, so the two should not be mixed in one comparison.
Neither way is good in itself. Whether a change is welcome depends on why it happened, so read it against its own history and other countries.
Why it matters. A percentage puts countries of different sizes on the same footing, so it can be compared across borders and over time.
| Period | Tax-to-GDP ratio (central government) · Lesotho |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 18.9% of GDP |
| 2015 | 19.3% of GDP |
| 2016 | 19.3% of GDP |
| 2017 | 19.3% of GDP |
| 2018 | 21.4% of GDP |
| 2019 | 21.1% of GDP |
| 2020 | 19.8% of GDP |
| 2021 | 21.6% of GDP |
| 2022 | 21.8% of GDP |
| 2023 | 22.7% of GDP |
Source: OECD/AUC/ATAF, Revenue Statistics in Africa, OECD Data Explorer; 2025 edition DOI 10.1787/8d3bf3af-en (Tax-to-GDP ratio (central government), % of GDP) · Licence: OECD terms for Data (reuse for any purpose with credit to the OECD); publication under Creative Commons Attribution IGO. Confirmed by the owner, 20 Oct 2026 (T-057)
How to read this number
- Source
- Who published the figure
- Published
- When they released it
- Verified
- When we last checked it against the source
Every change is logged in Corrections. How the figure is made: Methodology.
Cite this number
Show text
Strata-AF™ Data, Tax-to-GDP ratio (central government), Lesotho, 2023; source OECD/AUC/ATAF, Revenue Statistics in Africa, OECD Data Explorer; 2025 edition DOI 10.1787/8d3bf3af-en (Tax-to-GDP ratio (central government), % of GDP), retrieved 20 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/economy/tax-to-gdp-central/lesotho
Data insights · Worked out from the published figures
What this means
Working this out from the published figures…
Strata AI commentary is coming — reviewed, dated, and generated only from the figures on this page.
Methodology
Tax revenue of central government as a share of GDP, on the OECD classification of taxes. Excludes state and local government and social security funds, so it is lower than the general-government ratio (tax-to-gdp-total). It is the closest OECD measure to the World Bank central-government tax revenue series, but the classifications differ, so the two should not be mixed in one comparison.
Tax revenue of central government as a share of GDP, on the OECD classification of taxes. Unit: % of GDP. It excludes state and local government and social security funds, so it is lower than the general-government ratio in the same dataset. It is the closest OECD measure to the World Bank's central-government tax revenue indicator, but the classifications differ, so the two should not be mixed in one comparison.
Source: OECD/AUC/ATAF, Revenue Statistics in Africa (2025 edition, DOI 10.1787/8d3bf3af-en, and later OECD updates), used under the OECD terms for Data with credit to the OECD. Covers 38 African countries, from 1990 where available; the latest year varies by country. Updated about once a year, with a lag of about two years; the OECD dataset is revised online and the figures here follow it weekly.