Low income: Total reserves (% of total external debt)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, Low income's total reserves (% of total external debt) rose 0.76 percentage points on 2022 (from 12.97% to 13.73%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was +0.34 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 7.45 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations above 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 25.78 percentage points in 2008 and the biggest yearly fall was 26.29 percentage points in 2011. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2014 to 2023 the straight-line trend is downward, about 0.98 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 60% 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.

What this measures

Reserve assets are external assets, including monetary gold, that are readily available to and controlled by monetary authorities for meeting balance of payments financing needs, for intervention in exchange markets to affect the currency exchange rate, and for other related purposes (such as maintaining confidence in the currency and the economy, and serving as a basis for foreign borrowing). Reserve assets must be denominated and settled in foreign currency. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of total external debt which are all liabilities that require payment(s) of interest and/or principal by the debtor at some point(s) in the future and that are owed to non-residents by residents of an economy.

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

All 53 values

Total reserves (% of total external debt) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 320.68% (2020)
• Algeria — 1,203% (2024)
• Djibouti — 10.09% (2024)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 28.8% (2024)
• Iraq — 574.82% (2024)
• Jordan — 46.71% (2024)
• Lebanon — 49.42% (2024)
• Morocco — 54.61% (2024)
• Pakistan — 14.19% (2024)
• Tunisia — 23.09% (2024)

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 reserves (% of total external debt)?

13.73% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1971?

It is down 8.39 percentage points from 22.12% in 1971. The highest value was 60.71% in 2010 and the lowest 2.71% in 1993.

Is the latest change in total reserves (% of total external debt) unusual for Low income?

In 2023, Low income's total reserves (% of total external debt) rose 0.76 percentage points on 2022 (from 12.97% to 13.73%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was +0.34 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 7.45 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: International Debt Statistics, World Bank (WB).

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator FI.RES.TOTL.DT.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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