Lao PDR: Short-term debt (% of total reserves)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Lao PDR's short-term debt (% of total reserves) rose 41.65 percentage points on 2023 (from 7.92% to 49.57%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +0.26 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 16.84 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.5 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 69.44 percentage points in 2013 and the biggest yearly fall was 39.69 percentage points in 2023. 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 4.38 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 49% 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, Lao PDR had the 26th 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 Lao PDR in the 2024 ranking

• Lebanon — 22nd of 96: 57.19%
• Nigeria — 23rd of 96: 55.01%
• Pakistan — 24th of 96: 52.2%
• Cabo Verde — 26th of 96: 49.56%
• Viet Nam — 27th of 96: 44.64%
• Kazakhstan — 28th of 96: 42.78%

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 37 values

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

• Cambodia — 19.09% (2024)
• China — 37.79% (2024)
• Fiji — 65.85% (2024)
• Indonesia — 41.82% (2024)
• Mongolia — 42.63% (2024)
• Myanmar — 0.48% (2023)
• Papua New Guinea — 3.27% (2024)
• Philippines — 19.72% (2024)
• Samoa — 13.5% (2024)
• Solomon Islands — 4.26% (2024)
• Thailand

More economic policy & debt data for Lao PDR

• Grants, excluding technical cooperation (BoP, current US$) — US$347.91 million (2023)
• Technical cooperation grants (BoP, current US$) — US$90.18 million (2023)
• Net bilateral aid flows from DAC donors, Japan (current US$) — US$41.74 million (2023)
• Net bilateral aid flows from DAC donors, Total (current US$) — US$435.39 million (2023)
• Net official development assistance and official aid received (current US$) — US$514.84 million (2023)
• Net official development assistance and official aid received (constant 2023 US$) — US$514.84 million (2023)
• Net official development assistance received (current US$) — US$514.84 million (2023)
• Net official development assistance received (constant 2023 US$)

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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Questions people ask

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

49.57% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1988?

It is up 21.83 percentage points from 27.74% in 1988. The highest value was 78.82% in 2016 and the lowest 0% in 1992.

How does Lao PDR rank?

26th highest of 96 economies with data for 2024.

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

In 2024, Lao PDR's short-term debt (% of total reserves) rose 41.65 percentage points on 2023 (from 7.92% to 49.57%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +0.26 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 16.84 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.5 standard deviations above 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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