World Bank Group · Debt Service on External Debt
External debt service by country
How much of its foreign earnings does a country pay on its external debt?
Of the 109 countries compared in 2024, Iran had the lowest reading, 0.285%, and El Salvador had the highest reading, 96.199%. In the middle country the figure was 12.925%. Among the 60 countries measured in every edition since 1982, the middle one moved from 18.196% to 13.375%.
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External debt service · 2024
Context statistic
Lowest of 109Iran
0.285%012024 · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the lowest end of 109 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1Photo: User:Gire 3pich2005 , derived: User:Nastoshka · CC0, greyscale
2
3Photo: Daggett.fr derivative work: JamesA · CC BY-SA 2.0, greyscale
Highest in 2024
El Salvador96.199%
Haiti63.163%
Egypt49.229%
Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.
02Every measured country
External debt service on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a lower value — the better end.
- 26.172–96.199%
- 15.832–24.728%
- 10.543–15.766%
- 7.671–10.493%
- 0.285–7.385%
- No reading in 2024 (12 measured in an earlier edition)
- Oceania
9.285%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 21 members
Solomon Islands3.650%
Papua New Guinea43.338%Lowest and highest reading in Oceania.
- Europe
11.352%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 49 members
Kosovo7.178%
Montenegro29.801%Lowest and highest reading in Europe.
- Africa
12.357%
the middle country, of 42 measured · 55 members
Somalia0.657%Egypt49.229%Lowest and highest reading in Africa.
- Asia
13.953%
the middle country, of 29 measured · 52 members
Iran0.285%
Kazakhstan48.434%Lowest and highest reading in Asia.
- Americas
18.116%
the middle country, of 21 measured · 48 members
Guyana2.886%El Salvador96.199%Lowest and highest reading in Americas.
- Every region
17 sub-regions, lowest middle country first
- South-eastern Asia
9.133%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 11 members
Timor-Leste3.051%
Indonesia24.691%Lowest and highest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Eastern Europe
11.352%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 10 members
Belarus10.470%
Moldova16.619%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Eastern Africa
11.538%
the middle country, of 13 measured · 19 members
Somalia0.657%
Mozambique46.510%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Southern Europe
12.628%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 17 members
Kosovo7.178%Montenegro29.801%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Europe.
- Western Africa
12.941%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Guinea3.729%
Senegal41.805%Lowest and highest reading in Western Africa.
- Middle Africa
13.397%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 9 members
DR Congo1.321%
Angola28.912%Lowest and highest reading in Middle Africa.
- Central America
13.839%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 8 members
Belize7.671%El Salvador96.199%Lowest and highest reading in Central America.
- Southern Asia
14.079%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 9 members
Iran0.285%
Pakistan39.543%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Asia.
- Western Asia
18.150%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 19 members
Iraq2.957%
Georgia26.563%Lowest and highest reading in Western Asia.
- South America
19.823%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 12 members
Guyana2.886%
Colombia42.998%Lowest and highest reading in South America.
- Caribbean
22.041%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 24 members
Saint Lucia4.746%Haiti63.163%Lowest and highest reading in Caribbean.
- Central Asia
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan.
Tajikistan8.764%Kazakhstan48.434%Lowest and highest reading in Central Asia.
- Eastern Asia
2 of 8 measured — too few for a middle: China, Mongolia.
China8.593%
Mongolia32.042%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Melanesia
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu.
Solomon Islands3.650%Papua New Guinea43.338%Lowest and highest reading in Melanesia.
- Northern Africa
4 of 6 measured — too few for a middle: Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia.
Algeria0.798%Egypt49.229%Lowest and highest reading in Northern Africa.
- Polynesia
2 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Samoa, Tonga.
Samoa9.034%
Tonga22.821%Lowest and highest reading in Polynesia.
- Southern Africa
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, South Africa.
Botswana4.718%
South Africa16.301%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Africa.
03The whole field at once
The spread
109 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 12.925%; a quarter are above 22.041%, and a quarter below 8.482%. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 121 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first — position 1 is the highest value, the way World Bank Group’s own tables read. “=” marks a position shared with another country. World Bank Group ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. This table is not a world ranking. International Debt Statistics covers low- and middle-income borrowers, so most high-income countries are missing by design rather than because they owe nothing — an absent country is an unreported one.
Showing 25 of 121 countries
Values for 2024. The change column compares 2024 with 2023 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
051982–2024 · 43 reference years
Over time
Each point is one year from 1982. A spike usually reflects export earnings collapsing rather than repayments rising, because this is a ratio of the two.
- the middle country
- the middle half of countries
- the middle of the 60 countries measured every time
- each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
| Year | Countries | Middle country | Middle half | Measured every time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 109 | 12.925% | 8.482% – 22.041% | 13.375% |
| 2023 | 114 | 12.428% | 8.478% – 19.421% | 13.700% |
| 2022 | 115 | 11.887% | 7.265% – 18.245% | 12.786% |
| 2021 | 116 | 13.874% | 7.732% – 22.651% | 13.874% |
| 2020 | 117 | 15.736% | 8.687% – 26.282% | 15.650% |
| 2019 | 117 | 11.697% | 6.753% – 21.186% | 12.084% |
| 2018 | 115 | 11.715% | 6.327% – 21.252% | 11.510% |
| 2017 | 115 | 11.145% | 5.737% – 19.479% | 11.182% |
| 2016 | 117 | 12.805% | 5.296% – 20.935% | 11.339% |
| 2015 | 117 | 10.296% | 5.139% – 19.151% | 10.141% |
| 2014 | 115 | 9.434% | 4.210% – 15.249% | 9.229% |
| 2013 | 115 | 8.110% | 3.491% – 14.387% | 7.859% |
| 2012 | 114 | 7.413% | 3.567% – 14.761% | 6.677% |
| 2011 | 113 | 6.547% | 3.412% – 12.945% | 6.719% |
| 2010 | 114 | 6.196% | 3.080% – 13.249% | 6.196% |
| 2009 | 112 | 6.977% | 4.189% – 16.503% | 6.099% |
| 2008 | 111 | 7.675% | 3.021% – 14.384% | 7.685% |
| 2007 | 109 | 7.994% | 4.018% – 15.454% | 7.116% |
| 2006 | 106 | 8.051% | 4.674% – 15.577% | 8.255% |
| 2005 | 106 | 9.225% | 5.618% – 14.900% | 9.547% |
| 2004 | 100 | 9.684% | 5.663% – 17.995% | 10.463% |
| 2003 | 98 | 10.937% | 7.269% – 21.207% | 10.554% |
| 2002 | 96 | 11.630% | 7.491% – 19.721% | 11.600% |
| 2001 | 94 | 11.742% | 7.396% – 19.357% | 11.406% |
| 2000 | 93 | 13.135% | 7.754% – 20.929% | 13.622% |
| 1999 | 95 | 14.277% | 7.408% – 21.227% | 15.394% |
| 1998 | 95 | 14.058% | 8.112% – 21.974% | 14.806% |
| 1997 | 98 | 12.510% | 7.501% – 21.041% | 12.793% |
| 1996 | 94 | 13.359% | 6.593% – 22.631% | 16.051% |
| 1995 | 93 | 15.316% | 6.342% – 23.119% | 16.875% |
| 1994 | 94 | 14.246% | 7.134% – 22.201% | 17.326% |
| 1993 | 91 | 12.983% | 6.516% – 25.176% | 16.389% |
| 1992 | 88 | 16.744% | 7.173% – 26.408% | 19.372% |
| 1991 | 87 | 17.643% | 8.659% – 28.463% | 23.041% |
| 1990 | 86 | 18.308% | 9.224% – 31.889% | 19.107% |
| 1989 | 86 | 20.715% | 9.528% – 33.158% | 24.286% |
| 1988 | 85 | 24.608% | 11.054% – 34.557% | 27.799% |
| 1987 | 86 | 25.296% | 11.606% – 37.118% | 28.031% |
| 1986 | 86 | 28.101% | 12.225% – 38.413% | 29.511% |
| 1985 | 86 | 24.828% | 12.134% – 33.776% | 25.499% |
| 1984 | 84 | 21.787% | 12.409% – 30.206% | 23.151% |
| 1983 | 81 | 21.647% | 10.881% – 29.949% | 21.980% |
| 1982 | 81 | 18.206% | 8.592% – 30.460% | 18.196% |
062023 → 2024
Who rose and fell
The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions — reference years recalculated in one report, not two separate publications. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.
Improved most
before → after
Brazil53.543% → 26.744% · 2nd → 20th−26.799
Uganda29.968% → 13.941% · 16th → 49th−16.027
Lebanon34.501% → 21.047% · 10th → 32nd−13.454
Kyrgyzstan27.401% → 13.953% · 17th → 48th−13.448
Argentina51.362% → 38.253% · 3rd → 10th−13.109
Worsened most
before → after- Haiti6.362% → 63.163% · 96th → 2nd+56.800
Zambia8.224% → 30.467% · 88th → 14th+22.244- Egypt30.391% → 49.229% · 14th → 3rd+18.838
- El Salvador83.073% → 96.199% · 1st → 1st+13.126
- Tonga11.048% → 22.821% · 69th → 27th+11.774
109 countries were measured in both 2023 and 2024. The field changed from 114 to 109 countries, so a place can move for reasons that have nothing to do with the country itself.
07Across every edition
External debt service in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
156.858%
Total debt service (% of exports of goods, services and primary income)
Lowest reading on record
0.003%
Total debt service (% of exports of goods, services and primary income)
Biggest improvement between editions
−121.108
156.858% → 35.750%
Biggest decline between editions
+151.853
5.005% → 156.858%
Most improved since first measured
−56.864
78.722% → 21.858%
At the top most often
7 of 43
editions, alone at the first-listed end
08The measure
About external debt service
Debt service on external debt is what a country pays out each year on money it owes abroad — principal and interest together — measured against everything it earns from abroad. Where debt stocks show the size of the burden, this shows the annual squeeze.
What the number is: Total debt service (% of exports of goods, services and primary income).
09Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Governance & Institutions and Economy & Innovation and Money & Public Finance, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Governance & InstitutionsEconomy & InnovationMoney & Public FinanceWhich statistics vote, and why
Moves with
Where external debt service is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Interest Payments on External DebtWorld Bank Group · 103 countries in commonρ 0.62
- External Debt Stocks (% of GNI)World Bank Group · 103 countries in commonρ 0.40
Moves against
Where external debt service is higher, these tend to be lower.
No statistic lines up this closely.
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 306 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
10Keep reading
Explore further
More from World Bank Group
11Questions
External debt service: questions and answers
Which country has the lowest external debt service?
Iran, at 0.285%, among the 109 countries compared in 2024.
Which country has the highest external debt service?
El Salvador, at 96.199%, among the 109 countries compared in 2024.
How many countries does the Debt Service on External Debt cover?
109 in 2024, and 121 at least once across all editions. The number measured varies from 81 to 117 between editions.
What is the world average external debt service?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 109 compared in 2024, the figure was 12.925%.
Is this World Bank Group’s own ranking?
No. World Bank Group publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.
How often is the Debt Service on External Debt published?
This site holds 43 reference years, 1982–2024, all recalculated in World Bank Group’s 2026 report on one method — not 43 separate publications.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From World Bank Group, under CC BY 4.0. From the World Bank’s International Debt Statistics, served through its indicator API (DT.TDS.DECT.EX.ZS). Years before 1982 report fewer than 80 countries and are not imported. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
12Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Debt Service on External Debt — World Bank Group
From the World Bank’s International Debt Statistics, served through its indicator API (DT.TDS.DECT.EX.ZS). Years before 1982 report fewer than 80 countries and are not imported.
Newest edition
Report year 2024Data year 2024
Cite the source as: World Bank. International Debt Statistics. Washington, DC: World Bank Group.
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-09-10.
How this page reads the numbers
- World Bank Group ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Photographs
The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Iran — User:Gire 3pich2005 , derived: User:Nastoshka, CC0
- Somalia — AMISOM, CC0
- Algeria — Daggett.fr derivative work: JamesA, CC BY-SA 2.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). External debt service by country: Debt Service on External Debt, data from World Bank Group. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/debt-service