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Lesotho

Lesotho has a Watch pressure reading, in the middle half.

🟡 Watch

55 / 100

#73 of 206

Chance of a conflict escalation in Lesotho in November or December 2026: 0.5% · remote

Chance of a conflict escalation in Lesotho in November or December 2026

Government attribution notice published 26 October 2026

What counts
In November or December 2026, organised violence on the territory of Lesotho, or with Lesotho as an active party, must cause at least 25 battle-related deaths in a calendar month and at least twice the monthly average of the preceding three months. A conflict continuing at a steady high intensity does not meet this escalation threshold.
Months measured
the whole of November 2026 and the whole of December 2026.
Decided by
UCDP Candidate Events data (Uppsala Conflict Data Program), best estimate of battle-related deaths, monthly release. The question will be resolved by 5 Feb 2027 if the required UCDP data are available.
Resolution convention
For records spanning calendar months, deaths are allocated in proportion to inclusive calendar days. Events not assigned to a territory under the frozen UCDP place table are excluded from both the target month's total and the average of its preceding three months. Active party means the country's government is coded as a side by UCDP. Certain active-party attribution is retained, and each event is counted once per country.
Published
25 Oct 2026
Our estimate
0.5% · remote
If data are unavailable
If the required UCDP data are unavailable by 5 Feb 2027, the question is recorded as Unresolved.

Earlier issues in the forecast record

22 Oct 2026 · October or November 2026

24 Oct 2026 · November or December 2026

Population2.4M
CapitalMaseru
Area30.4k km²
GDP~$2.6B (2025)
CurrencyLSL
LanguagesEnglish, Sotho
Armed forces2k (2020)
L1 Identity
n/a · identity, no pressure reading
L2 Economy
58.75
L3 Politics
67.75
L4 Events
64.1
L5 Information
69.83
L6 Society
78.17

Layer readings: method v1.1, from each layer's documented record, same 0-100 scale as country score. Snapshot 28 Oct 2026.

Since 1946

Highest decade mean 88.5 (1950s); lowest 63.1 (2020-2025).

Details

Recorded events 22 · Country record

  • 27 Nov 2016street pressure
  • 2013sovereign stress
  • 1 Jun 2010external support
  • 15 Mar 2007street pressure
  • 2006sovereign stress
  • 2002currency stress
  • 1 Mar 2001external support
  • 2001currency stress
  • 2001sovereign stress
  • 1998sovereign stress
  • 1 Sep 1996external support
  • 1 Jul 1995external support
Show all 22
  • 1 Sep 1994external support
  • 15 Aug 1994street pressure
  • 1990sovereign stress
  • 1 Jan 1985capital controls
  • 1985currency stress
  • 1985sovereign stress
  • 1984currency stress
  • 1982currency stress
  • 1 Jan 1979capital controls
  • 1979sovereign stress

public country snapshot archive, frozen 10 July 2026. The chart shows mapped historical scores through 2025, with bands at 55, 65 and 80. The 2026 snapshot uses a separate score scale. Its archived crisis category is independent of that number. No numerical change from 2025 to 2026 is implied.

Lesotho · historical scale through 2025
YearMapped historical scoreHistorical bandRecord
194695.0Crisisarchive reading
194795.0Crisisarchive reading
194895.0Crisisarchive reading
194965.7Strainarchive reading
195088.5Crisisarchive reading
195188.5Crisisarchive reading
195288.5Crisisarchive reading
195388.5Crisisarchive reading
195488.5Crisisarchive reading
195588.5Crisisarchive reading
195688.5Crisisarchive reading
195788.4Crisisarchive reading
195888.4Crisisarchive reading
195988.4Crisisarchive reading
196086.3Crisisarchive reading
196168.3Strainarchive reading
196268.3Strainarchive reading
196368.2Strainarchive reading
196468.2Strainarchive reading
196568.2Strainarchive reading
196676.2Strainarchive reading
196774.9Strainarchive reading
196893.2Crisisarchive reading
196979.1Strainarchive reading
197095.0Crisisarchive reading
197195.0Crisisarchive reading
197283.1Crisisarchive reading
197378.3Strainarchive reading
197475.4Strainarchive reading
197594.9Crisisarchive reading
197674.2Strainarchive reading
197773.5Strainarchive reading
197872.8Strainarchive reading
197995.0Crisisarchive reading
198090.8Crisisarchive reading
198171.9Strainarchive reading
198271.6Strainarchive reading
198389.7Crisisarchive reading
198471.1Strainarchive reading
198582.8Crisisarchive reading
198689.5Crisisarchive reading
198786.7Crisisarchive reading
198885.6Crisisarchive reading
198968.9Strainarchive reading
199085.5Crisisarchive reading
199185.5Crisisarchive reading
199284.1Crisisarchive reading
199378.0Strainarchive reading
199480.7Crisisarchive reading
199563.5Watcharchive reading
199672.8Strainarchive reading
199772.4Strainarchive reading
199889.0Crisisarchive reading
199961.5Watcharchive reading
200062.8Watcharchive reading
200177.7Strainarchive reading
200262.3Watcharchive reading
200363.5Watcharchive reading
200460.5Watcharchive reading
200560.3Watcharchive reading
200672.0Strainarchive reading
200774.0Strainarchive reading
200873.9Strainarchive reading
200973.8Strainarchive reading
201059.3Watcharchive reading
201160.5Watcharchive reading
201258.9Watcharchive reading
201370.5Strainarchive reading
201470.1Strainarchive reading
201572.2Strainarchive reading
201679.2Strainarchive reading
201795.0Crisisarchive reading
201886.7Crisisarchive reading
201974.0Strainarchive reading
202082.1Crisisarchive reading
202170.6Strainarchive reading
202270.3Strainarchive reading
202371.7Strainarchive reading
202458.9Watcharchive reading
202524.9Calmarchive reading
Lesotho · 2026 snapshot, frozen 10 July 2026
Snapshot yearScore on the separate 2026 scaleIndependent archived crisis categoryRecord
202655.0Watcharchive reading

Years like now

3 similar years · Closest: Gabon, 2015

Details

GAB, 2015

Published archive distance 0.4555. This similarity is not a forecast.

SYC, 2015

Published archive distance 0.5437. This similarity is not a forecast.

CRI, 2006

Published archive distance 0.5543. This similarity is not a forecast.

Last cycles

Last change: 6 Oct 2026, 1 field.

Details
Country change history for Lesotho
CycleDateFields changedLayer distance from baselineRecord
date unavailable2026-10-280Identity: 0 · Economy: 0 · Politics: 0 · Events: 0 · Information: 0 · Society: 0Original public record
17 Oct 20262026-10-170Identity: 0 · Economy: 0 · Politics: 0 · Events: 0 · Information: 0 · Society: 0Original public record
6 Oct 20262026-10-061Identity: 0 · Economy: 0 · Politics: 1 · Events: 0 · Information: 0 · Society: 0Original public record
25 Sep 20262026-09-250Identity: 0 · Economy: 0 · Politics: 0 · Events: 0 · Information: 0 · Society: 0Original public record
14 Sep 20262026-09-140Identity: 0 · Economy: 0 · Politics: 0 · Events: 0 · Information: 0 · Society: 0Original public record
4 Sep 20262026-09-040Identity: 0 · Economy: 0 · Politics: 0 · Events: 0 · Information: 0 · Society: 0Original public record
27 Aug 20262026-08-270Identity: 0 · Economy: 0 · Politics: 0 · Events: 0 · Information: 0 · Society: 0Reconstructed from archived cycle files
14 Aug 20262026-08-143Identity: 0 · Economy: 0 · Politics: 0 · Events: 1 · Information: 1 · Society: 1Reconstructed from archived cycle files
2 Aug 20262026-08-020Identity: 0 · Economy: 0 · Politics: 0 · Events: 0 · Information: 0 · Society: 0Reconstructed from archived cycle files
29 Jul 20262026-07-29T13:40:26Z1Identity: 0 · Economy: 1 · Politics: 0 · Events: 0 · Information: 0 · Society: 0Reconstructed from archived cycle files
10 Jul 20262026-07-10T00:30:00Z0Identity: 0 · Economy: 0 · Politics: 0 · Events: 0 · Information: 0 · Society: 0Original public record
🟢 Calm <55🟡 Watch 55-<65🟠 Strain 65-<80🔴 Crisis 80-100

Snapshot 28 Oct 2026 · Public country snapshot · Data notices

Technical detail

Field sources carry their own dates (shown in each detail).

Record support

How well documented each layer of this country's record is (share of confirmed and sourced fields). Not a pressure reading.

L1 Identity60%
L2 Economy80%
L3 Politics77%
L4 Events62%
L5 Information60%
L6 Society87%

Source: Hendeka record audit, snapshot 28 Oct 2026

Phase 2Confidence 72.9

Lesotho in this snapshot

Lesotho (LSO) records Watch pressure at 55.0 of 100 and touches 0 mapped pressure points.

The recorded country pattern is drifting; its numbered pressure band is 2. The source confidence score is 72.9.

Snapshot 28 Oct 2026. Dataset published 2026-11-05T08:17:49Z. Source: public country snapshot public country index.

5 public layer readings; 0 mapped pressure points in this dated snapshot; 11 country change records; 81 archive readings. Identity is descriptive; absent readings are named beside each layer.

Lesotho has pressure score 55/100 in Watch. 72 of 206 public Atlas entries have a higher score; 18 share this score. Its competition rank is 73. This is the published snapshot, not the mapped historical scale.

Adjacent entries in score-descending order (ties by case-folded name, then ISO3): Lao People's Democratic Republic (LAO), 55/100, tied; Moldova, Republic of (MDA), 55/100, tied.

Lesotho's highest decade mean is recorded in 1950-1959 (10 readings, mean 88.5). The lowest is 2020-2025 (6 readings, mean 63.1). Calendar decades use available years only; edge decades are partial. These means are calculated from published mapped scores, not the latest pressure scores.

Lesotho: published archive aggregates by calendar decade
Observed yearsReadingsMeanMinimumMaximumAt or above 80
1946-1949487.765.7953
1950-19591088.588.488.510
1960-19691075.168.293.22
1970-19791083.772.8955
1980-19891080.968.990.86
1990-19991077.361.5895
2000-20091068.160.377.70
2010-20191072.658.9952
2020-2025663.124.982.11

Across 80 annual readings (1946-2025), Lesotho's mapped-score peak is 95 in 1946-1948, 1970-1971, 1979, 2017; the minimum is 24.9 in 2025.

Lesotho is at or above the historical threshold 55 in 79 of 80 readings: 1946-2024. The remaining 1 are below 55.

Lesotho is at or above the historical threshold 65 in 68 of 80 readings: 1946-1994, 1996-1998, 2001, 2006-2009, 2013-2023. The remaining 12 are below 65.

Lesotho is at or above the historical threshold 80 in 34 of 80 readings: 1946-1948, 1950-1960, 1968, 1970-1972, 1975, 1979-1980, 1983, 1985-1988, 1990-1992, 1994, 1998, 2017-2018, 2020. The remaining 46 are below 80.

The latest observed annual historical-band change for Lesotho is 2024 to 2025: Watch (58.9) to Calm (24.9). This compares annual historical readings; it does not describe a change between published country snapshots.

Lesotho records no changed fields against the previous measured cycle at date unavailable (2026-10-28); previous cycle: 17 Oct 2026. Layer counts are distances from baseline, not cycle-change components.

Pressure point readings and their own snapshot date are shown in Pressure points.

CassandrIA A free public observatory of country pressure

CassandrIA, country pressure and conflict escalation forecasts