Lower middle income - External debt stocks (% of GNI)

External debt stocks (% of GNI) in Lower middle income was 32.93 as of 2020. Its highest value over the past 50 years was 53.06 in 1991, while its lowest value was 9.31 in 2011.

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 16.89
1971 19.03
1972 19.27
1973 18.86
1974 16.73
1975 18.63
1976 19.92
1977 23.42
1978 25.84
1979 25.53
1980 25.96
1981 23.61
1982 26.36
1983 29.24
1984 30.55
1985 32.88
1986 35.25
1987 42.28
1988 42.67
1989 47.75
1990 48.12
1991 53.06
1992 51.26
1993 52.26
1994 52.04
1995 47.53
1996 42.14
1997 39.85
1998 44.05
1999 39.59
2000 35.18
2001 32.10
2002 28.51
2003 24.40
2004 20.81
2005 16.38
2006 13.30
2007 11.69
2008 10.15
2009 10.45
2010 9.85
2011 9.31
2012 22.79
2013 24.45
2014 24.93
2015 26.62
2016 26.47
2017 27.65
2018 28.77
2019 29.47
2020 32.93

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