Lesotho
Africa
Trade in Lesotho
Lesotho was the world’s 135th largest exporter of goods and 147th largest exporter of commercial services in 2021. Export values were $1,061 and $17 million USD respectively. Lesotho’s top export category was manufactures, followed by agricultural products, and fuels and mining products. In 2020, Lesotho’s main export destination markets for goods and services trade were to South Africa, Belgium and the United States, with trade representing 127.61 per cent of GDP. In terms of imports, Lesotho’s import values were $1,844 and $400 million USD respectively in 2021. Lesotho’s top import category was manufactures, followed by agricultural products and fuels and mining products. Leading import partners were South Africa, China and Italy. Lesotho is part of 7 different Regional Trade Agreements, such as Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), EFTA – SACU and EU – SADC. |
General InformationThis section includes general information on the economy, legal system, official languages and links to additional demographic information. |
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Official Name |
Kingdom of Lesotho |
Abbreviation |
LS |
Capital |
Maseru |
WTO Membership Date |
31 May 1995 |
Legal System |
mixed legal system of English common law and Roman-Dutch law; judicial review of legislative acts in High Court and Court of Appeal |
Language |
Sesotho, English |
Number of Time Zone(s) |
1 |
Additional Information | |
Financial InformationThis section includes financial information such as the currency, exchange rate lookup and local banks issuing trade finance. |
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Currency |
Lesotho loti |
Exchange Rate |
Google Finance Currencies |
Contact InformationThis section includes contact information for business support organizations and national resources. |
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Business Support Organizations |
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SPS Enquiry Points Sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) enquiry points are government agencies designated to answer questions about trade requirements. |
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TBT Enquiry Points Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) enquiry points are government agencies designated to answer questions about trade requirements. |
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Additional Information |
ePing alert |
Links to other helpful resourcesThis section includes additional links to trade-related resources. |
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National Tariff Finder |
https://www.rsl.org.ls/tariff-home |
Trade Information Portal |
https://www.lesothotradeportal.org.ls/ |
Last Reviewed: June, 2023
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