Benin - External debt stocks (% of GNI)

External debt stocks (% of GNI) in Benin was 33.90 as of 2020. Its highest value over the past 50 years was 88.43 in 1994, while its lowest value was 9.43 in 2006.

Definition: Total external debt stocks to gross national income. Total external debt is debt owed to nonresidents repayable in currency, goods, or services. Total external debt is the sum of public, publicly guaranteed, and private nonguaranteed long-term debt, use of IMF credit, and short-term debt. Short-term debt includes all debt having an original maturity of one year or less and interest in arrears on long-term debt. GNI (formerly GNP) is the sum of value added by all resident producers plus any product taxes (less subsidies) not included in the valuation of output plus net receipts of primary income (compensation of employees and property income) from abroad.

Source: World Bank, International Debt Statistics.

See also:

Year Value
1970 13.05
1971 15.38
1972 11.59
1973 17.94
1974 19.54
1975 17.65
1976 20.22
1977 28.32
1978 30.56
1979 38.22
1980 33.86
1981 42.18
1982 60.10
1983 73.79
1984 74.65
1985 88.14
1986 79.28
1987 81.14
1988 73.35
1989 73.09
1990 57.82
1991 58.79
1992 73.34
1993 56.86
1994 88.43
1995 65.70
1996 59.50
1997 63.04
1998 59.18
1999 40.89
2000 40.15
2001 40.49
2002 38.82
2003 27.94
2004 26.30
2005 23.78
2006 9.43
2007 11.12
2008 10.21
2009 13.66
2010 16.84
2011 17.46
2012 15.11
2013 16.05
2014 15.44
2015 19.22
2016 19.27
2017 22.25
2018 25.42
2019 27.22
2020 33.90

Development Relevance: External debt is that part of the total debt in a country that is owed to creditors outside the country. The debtors can be the government, corporations or private households. The debt includes money owed to private commercial banks, other governments, or international financial institutions. External indebtedness affects a country's creditworthiness and investor perceptions. Nonreporting countries might have outstanding debt with the World Bank, other international financial institutions, or private creditors. Total debt service is contrasted with countries' ability to obtain foreign exchange through exports of goods, services, primary income, and workers' remittances. Debt ratios are used to assess the sustainability of a country's debt service obligations, but no absolute rules determine what values are too high. Empirical analysis of developing countries' experience and debt service performance shows that debt service difficulties become increasingly likely when the present value of debt reaches 200 percent of exports. Still, what constitutes a sustainable debt burden varies by country. Countries with fast-growing economies and exports are likely to be able to sustain higher debt levels. Various indicators determine a sustainable level of external debt, including: a) debt to GDP ratio b) foreign debt to exports ratio c) government debt to current fiscal revenue ratio d) share of foreign debt e) short-term debt f) concessional debt in the total debt stock

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Data on external debt are gathered through the World Bank's Debtor Reporting System (DRS). Long term debt data are compiled using the countries report on public and publicly guaranteed borrowing on a loan-by-loan basis and private non guaranteed borrowing on an aggregate basis. These data are supplemented by information from major multilateral banks and official lending agencies in major creditor countries. Short-term debt data are gathered from the Quarterly External Debt Statistics (QEDS) database, jointly developed by the World Bank and the IMF and from creditors through the reporting systems of the Bank for International Settlements. Debt data are reported in the currency of repayment and compiled and published in U.S. dollars. End-of-period exchange rates are used for the compilation of stock figures (amount of debt outstanding), and projected debt service and annual average exchange rates are used for the flows. Exchange rates are taken from the IMF's International Financial Statistics. Debt repayable in multiple currencies, goods, or services and debt with a provision for maintenance of the value of the currency of repayment are shown at book value.

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Economic Policy & Debt Indicators

Sub-Topic: External debt