Sierra Leone: Short-term debt (% of total reserves)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Sierra Leone's short-term debt (% of total reserves) rose 8.14 percentage points on 2023 (from 31.99% to 40.14%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was −16.49 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 91.63 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 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 1,803.26 percentage points in 1989 and the biggest yearly fall was 1,414.4 percentage points in 1992. 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 14% 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, Sierra Leone had the 35th 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 Sierra Leone in the 2024 ranking

• Indonesia — 32nd of 96: 41.82%
• Angola — 33rd of 96: 40.78%
• Moldova — 34th of 96: 40.75%
• China — 36th of 96: 37.79%
• Paraguay — 37th of 96: 37.2%
• Ghana — 38th of 96: 36.81%

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 Sierra Leone

• GDP (current US$) — US$7.46 billion (2025)
• GDP (current LCU) — 169.12 billion (2025)
• GDP (constant 2015 US$) — US$10.28 billion (2025)
• GDP (constant LCU) — 67.92 billion (2025)
• GDP per capita (current US$) — US$846.3 (2025)
• GDP per capita (current LCU) — 19,175 (2025)
• GDP per capita (constant 2015 US$) — US$1,166 (2025)
• GDP per capita (constant LCU) — 7,701 (2025)
• Total reserves, including gold (current US$) — US$433.27 million (2024)
• Total reserves, excluding gold (current US$) — US$433.27 million (2024)

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 Sierra Leone's short-term debt (% of total reserves)?

40.14% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1970?

It is up 40.14 percentage points from 0% in 1970. The highest value was 2,734% in 1990 and the lowest 0% in 1970.

How does Sierra Leone rank?

35th highest of 96 economies with data for 2024.

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

In 2024, Sierra Leone's short-term debt (% of total reserves) rose 8.14 percentage points on 2023 (from 31.99% to 40.14%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was −16.49 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 91.63 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 standard deviations above 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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