Present value of external debt (current US$) - Country Ranking - Africa

Definition: Present value of debt is the sum of short-term external debt plus the discounted sum of total debt service payments due on public, publicly guaranteed, and private nonguaranteed long-term external debt over the life of existing loans. Data are in current U.S. dollars.

Source: World Bank, International Debt Statistics.

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 Egypt 93,000,000,000.00 2020
2 South Africa 61,000,000,000.00 2020
3 Angola 44,000,000,000.00 2020
4 Morocco 42,000,000,000.00 2020
5 Kenya 33,000,000,000.00 2020
6 Nigeria 31,000,000,000.00 2020
7 Ethiopia 26,000,000,000.00 2020
8 Tunisia 25,000,000,000.00 2020
9 Ghana 23,000,000,000.00 2020
10 Côte d'Ivoire 19,000,000,000.00 2020
11 Tanzania 15,000,000,000.00 2020
11 Senegal 15,000,000,000.00 2020
13 Zambia 12,000,000,000.00 2020
14 Cameroon 11,000,000,000.00 2020
15 Uganda 10,000,000,000.00 2020
16 Mozambique 9,300,000,000.00 2020
17 Gabon 6,900,000,000.00 2020
18 Sudan 6,400,000,000.00 2020
19 Mali 5,000,000,000.00 2020
20 Dem. Rep. Congo 4,800,000,000.00 2020
21 Congo 4,500,000,000.00 2020
21 Benin 4,500,000,000.00 2020
23 Rwanda 4,400,000,000.00 2020
24 Niger 4,100,000,000.00 2020
24 Mauritania 4,100,000,000.00 2020
26 Burkina Faso 3,800,000,000.00 2020
27 Guinea 3,600,000,000.00 2020
27 Madagascar 3,600,000,000.00 2020
29 Chad 3,300,000,000.00 2020
30 Malawi 2,400,000,000.00 2020
31 Djibouti 2,300,000,000.00 2020
32 Zimbabwe 2,200,000,000.00 2020
33 Togo 1,900,000,000.00 2020
34 Mauritius 1,800,000,000.00 2020
34 Cabo Verde 1,800,000,000.00 2020
36 Somalia 1,700,000,000.00 2020
37 Sierra Leone 1,400,000,000.00 2020
38 Botswana 1,200,000,000.00 2020
39 Algeria 1,100,000,000.00 2020
39 Liberia 1,100,000,000.00 2020
41 Lesotho 932,633,000.00 2020
42 Guinea-Bissau 644,280,000.00 2020
43 Eswatini 624,332,000.00 2020
44 The Gambia 616,530,000.00 2020
45 Eritrea 615,364,000.00 2020
46 Central African Republic 570,378,000.00 2020
47 Burundi 439,194,000.00 2020
48 Comoros 251,589,000.00 2020
49 São Tomé and Principe 194,847,000.00 2020

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Development Relevance: 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.

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: Sum

Periodicity: Annual