Bank return on assets (%, before tax) in Lesotho
Lesotho: Bank return on assets (%, before tax) was 0.9% in 2021. ▼ Falling
Bank return on assets in Lesotho, 2001–2021
Source: Bankscope, Bureau van Dijk (BvD). Measured in %, before tax.
Analysis
Lesotho recorded 0.9% for bank return on assets in 2021. That is the lowest value across all 17 years on record.
That represents a change of down 60.2% on the previous year and down 73.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, bank return on assets in Lesotho peaked at 4.9% in 2016 and was at its lowest, 0.9%, in 2021.
That places Lesotho 120th out of 168 countries with data for 2021, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 17 years of available data.
Bank return on assets (%, before tax) in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | %, before tax | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 3.0% | — |
| 2002 | 3.8% | +26.8% |
| 2003 | 4.3% | +13.4% |
| 2004 | 4.1% | -6.0% |
| 2009 | 4.7% | +17.1% |
| 2010 | 4.3% | -10.1% |
| 2011 | 3.6% | -14.8% |
| 2012 | 4.3% | +18.2% |
| 2013 | 4.6% | +6.6% |
| 2014 | 4.4% | -4.9% |
| 2015 | 3.7% | -14.8% |
| 2016 | 4.9% | +32.1% |
| 2017 | 3.5% | -27.8% |
| 2018 | 3.5% | -0.0% |
| 2019 | 4.1% | +16.9% |
| 2020 | 2.4% | -42.5% |
| 2021 | 0.9% | -60.2% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's 0.9% is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 1.7%, 57% of the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's 0.9% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 2.0%, 47% of the median. (39 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 4.0% | 3.0% | 4.7% | 5 |
| 2010s | 4.1% | 3.5% | 4.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.7% | 0.9% | 2.4% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
More financial sector data for Lesotho
- Reserve position in the IMF, US dollar, annual growth rate 5.59 % change on previous year (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, US dollar, per unit of GDP 0.0069 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, US dollar, per capita 7.46 units per person (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, SDR, annual growth rate 0.548 % change on previous year (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, SDR, per unit of GDP 0.005 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, SDR, per capita 5.45 units per person (2025)
- Reserve tranche position, US dollar, annual growth rate 5.59 % change on previous year (2025)
- Reserve tranche position, US dollar, per unit of GDP 0.0069 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Reserve tranche position, US dollar, per capita 7.46 units per person (2025)
- Reserve tranche position, SDR, annual growth rate 0.548 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is bank return on assets in Lesotho?
- Bank return on assets in Lesotho was 0.9% in 2021, according to Bankscope, Bureau van Dijk (BvD).
- What is the highest bank return on assets recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 4.9% in 2016.
- What is the lowest bank return on assets recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.9% in 2021.
- How does Lesotho rank for bank return on assets?
- Lesotho ranks 120th out of 168 countries with data for 2021.
- Is bank return on assets rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is down 73.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Lesotho data come from?
- The figures come from Bankscope, Bureau van Dijk (BvD), published as part of Bank return on assets (%, before tax). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 17 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Raw data are from Bankscope. Data10270[t] / ((data2025[t] + data2025[t-1])/2). Numerator and denominator are first aggregated on the country level before division. Note that banks used in the calculation might differ between indicators. Calculated from underlying bank-by-bank unconsolidated data from Bankscope.