Ghana: Short-term debt (% of total reserves)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Ghana's short-term debt (% of total reserves) fell 49.59 percentage points on 2023 (from 86.39% to 36.81%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was −0.18 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 22.63 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 120.8 percentage points in 1977 and the biggest yearly fall was 61.5 percentage points in 1979. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2015 to 2024 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 10% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2024, Ghana had the 38th highest value of the 96 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Ghana in the 2024 ranking

• Sierra Leone — 35th of 96: 40.14%
• China — 36th of 96: 37.79%
• Paraguay — 37th of 96: 37.2%
• Bosnia and Herzegovina — 39th of 96: 32.63%
• Bolivia — 40th of 96: 32.14%
• Mozambique — 41st of 96: 31.53%

What this measures

Short-term debt includes all debt having an original maturity of one year or less and interest in arrears on long-term debt. Total reserves includes gold.

Limitations: The DRS encourages debtor countries to voluntarily provide information on their short-term external obligations. By its nature, short-term external debt is difficult to monitor: loan-by-loan registration is normally impractical, and monitoring systems typically rely on information requested periodically by the central bank from the banking sector. The World Bank regards the debtor country as the authoritative source of information on its short-term debt. Where such information is not available from the debtor country, data are derived from BIS data on international bank lending based on time remaining to original maturity.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 55 values

Short-term debt (% of total reserves) in nearby economies

• Angola — 40.78% (2024)
• Botswana — 4.19% (2024)
• Burundi — 0.33% (2023)
• Cabo Verde — 49.56% (2024)
• Cameroon — 18.79% (2024)
• Central African Republic — 25.85% (2024)
• Chad — 1.91% (2024)
• Comoros — 0% (2024)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 11.25% (2023)
• Congo, Rep. — 86.58% (2024)
• Eritrea

More economic policy & debt data for Ghana

• Total reserves, including gold (current US$) — US$12.13 billion (2025)
• Total reserves, excluding gold (current US$) — US$9.51 billion (2025)
• Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$) — US$24.3 billion (2025)
• Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current LCU) — 305.12 billion (2025)
• Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (% of GDP) — 21.28% (2025)
• GDP (current US$) — US$114.21 billion (2025)
• GDP (current LCU) — 1.43 trillion (2025)
• GDP (constant 2015 US$) — US$79.27 billion (2025)
• GDP (constant LCU) — 209.64 billion (2025)
• GDP per capita (current US$)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Ghana's short-term debt (% of total reserves)?

36.81% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1970?

It is up 24.86 percentage points from 11.94% in 1970. The highest value was 171.48% in 2000 and the lowest 2.71% in 1976.

How does Ghana rank?

38th highest of 96 economies with data for 2024.

Is the latest change in short-term debt (% of total reserves) unusual for Ghana?

In 2024, Ghana's short-term debt (% of total reserves) fell 49.59 percentage points on 2023 (from 86.39% to 36.81%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was −0.18 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 22.63 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator DT.DOD.DSTC.IR.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Development Indicators, World Bank (WB); International Monetary Fund (IMF), type: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files; World Bank (WB), type: GDP estimates; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), type: GDP estimates Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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