finance · macro
External debt: what countries owe abroad, and what servicing it costs
External debt stocks in dollars and against national income, the publicly guaranteed share, short-term debt, and total debt service as a share of exports — the ratio that decides whether a debt is affordable.
External debt stocks, total (DOD, current US$)
External debt stocks (% of GNI)
External debt stocks, public and...
External debt stocks, short-term (DOD,...
Total debt service (% of exports of...
External debt stocks, short-term (DOD, current US$)
Definitions and method
From the World Bank's Debtor Reporting System, which covers low- and middle-income borrowers and rests on what those countries report. That is the limitation worth stating: debt arranged outside the traditional creditor system, notably some bilateral lending, is not necessarily captured, and the gap between what is reported and what is owed is exactly what the sovereign debt literature argues about.
| Indicator | Code | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| External debt stocks, total (DOD, current US$) | DT.DOD.DECT.CD | — |
| External debt stocks (% of GNI) | DT.DOD.DECT.GN.ZS | — |
| External debt stocks, public and publicly guaranteed (PPG) (DOD, current US$) | DT.DOD.DPPG.CD | — |
| External debt stocks, short-term (DOD, current US$) | DT.DOD.DSTC.CD | — |
| Total debt service (% of exports of goods, services and primary income) | DT.TDS.DECT.EX.ZS | — |