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

Key figures

Over five years it is down 0.4 percentage points from 1.12% in 2019. Since 2015 it is down 0.63 percentage points from 1.36% in 2015.

What the numbers say

In 2024, Iraq's short-term debt (% of total reserves) fell 0.14 percentage points on 2023 (from 0.87% to 0.72%).

Across the 8 yearly changes before that (2016 to 2023), the average change was −0.06 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.78 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 1.43 percentage points in 2016 and the biggest yearly fall was 1.31 percentage points in 2018. 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 the straight-line trend is downward, about 0.15 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 45% of the movement over 10 observed years.

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

How it compares

In 2024, Iraq had the 90th 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 Iraq in the 2024 ranking

• Algeria — 86th of 96: 2.12%
• Chad — 87th of 96: 1.91%
• Azerbaijan — 88th of 96: 1.72%
• Guatemala — 90th of 96: 0.7%
• Lesotho — 91st of 96: 0.32%
• Timor-Leste — 92nd of 96: 0.16%

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 10 values

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

• Afghanistan — 4.46% (2020)
• Algeria — 2.12% (2024)
• Djibouti — 148.57% (2024)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 69% (2024)
• Jordan — 81.58% (2024)
• Lebanon — 57.19% (2024)
• Morocco — 20.21% (2024)
• Pakistan — 52.2% (2024)
• Tunisia — 170.49% (2024)
• Yemen, Rep. — 39.9% (2022)

More economic policy & debt data for Iraq

• Total reserves, including gold (current US$) — US$98.45 billion (2025)
• Total reserves, excluding gold (current US$) — US$73.93 billion (2025)
• GDP (current US$) — US$254.37 billion (2025)
• GDP (current LCU) — 330.68 trillion (2025)
• GDP (constant 2015 US$) — US$188.32 billion (2025)
• GDP (constant LCU) — 207.34 trillion (2025)
• GDP per capita (current US$) — US$5,410 (2025)
• GDP per capita (current LCU) — 7.03 million (2025)
• GDP per capita (constant 2015 US$) — US$4,005 (2025)
• GDP per capita (constant LCU) — 4.41 million (2025)
• GNI (current US$) — US$254.8 billion (2025)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

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

0.72% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2015?

It is down 0.63 percentage points from 1.36% in 2015. The highest value was 2.78% in 2016 and the lowest 0.72% in 2024.

How does Iraq rank?

90th highest of 96 economies with data for 2024.

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

In 2024, Iraq's short-term debt (% of total reserves) fell 0.14 percentage points on 2023 (from 0.87% to 0.72%). Across the 8 yearly changes before that (2016 to 2023), the average change was −0.06 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.78 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

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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