Low income: Total debt service (% of exports of goods, services and primary income)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Low income's total debt service (% of exports of goods, services and primary income) fell 2.07 percentage points on 2023 (from 11.4% to 9.33%).

Across the 18 yearly changes before that (2006 to 2023), the average change was +0.21 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.15 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 4.78 percentage points in 2021 and the biggest yearly fall was 5.2 percentage points in 2022. 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 5% 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.

What this measures

Total debt service to exports of goods, services and primary income. Total debt service is the sum of principal repayments and interest actually paid in currency, goods, or services on long-term debt, interest paid on short-term debt, and repayments (repurchases and charges) to the IMF.

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

All 20 values

Total debt service (% of exports of goods, services and primary income) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 2.67% (2020)
• Algeria — 0.8% (2024)
• Djibouti — 2.53% (2024)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 49.23% (2024)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 0.28% (2024)
• Iraq — 2.96% (2024)
• Jordan — 18.15% (2024)
• Lebanon — 21.05% (2024)
• Morocco

More economic policy & debt data for Low income

• GDP (current US$) — US$642.67 billion (2025)
• GDP per capita (current US$) — US$837.36 (2025)
• GNI (current US$) — US$627.91 billion (2025)
• Net bilateral aid flows from DAC donors, Austria (current US$) — US$57.58 million (2023)
• Net bilateral aid flows from DAC donors, Belgium (current US$) — US$350.05 million (2023)
• Net bilateral aid flows from DAC donors, Canada (current US$) — US$677.23 million (2023)
• Net bilateral aid flows from DAC donors, European Union institutions (current US$) — US$3.08 billion (2023)
• Net bilateral aid flows from DAC donors, Switzerland (current US$) — US$483.76 million (2023)
• Net bilateral aid flows from DAC donors, Germany (current US$)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Low income's total debt service (% of exports of goods, services and primary income)?

9.33% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2005?

It is up 1.68 percentage points from 7.65% in 2005. The highest value was 17.55% in 2021 and the lowest 4.34% in 2012.

Is the latest change in total debt service (% of exports of goods, services and primary income) unusual for Low income?

In 2024, Low income's total debt service (% of exports of goods, services and primary income) fell 2.07 percentage points on 2023 (from 11.4% to 9.33%). Across the 18 yearly changes before that (2006 to 2023), the average change was +0.21 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.15 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator DT.TDS.DECT.EX.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: International Debt Statistics, World Bank (WB) 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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