Singapore: Interest payments (% of expense)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, Singapore's interest payments (% of expense) fell 0.01 percentage points on 2022 (from 0.45% to 0.44%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was −0.45 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.18 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 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 18.02 percentage points in 1987 and the biggest yearly fall was 16.87 percentage points in 1988. 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 upward, about 0.06 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 63% 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 2023, Singapore had the 79th highest value of the 78 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 Singapore in the 2023 ranking

• Estonia — 75th of 78: 0.96%
• Kiribati — 76th of 78: 0.75%
• Luxembourg — 77th of 78: 0.6%

What this measures

Interest payments include interest payments on government debt (including long-term bonds, long-term loans, and other debt instruments) to domestic and foreign residents. This indicator is expressed as percentage of total expenses which is any decrease in net worth resulting from a transaction.

Limitations: For most countries central government finance data have been consolidated into one account, but for others only budgetary central government accounts are available. Countries reporting budgetary data are noted in the country metadata. Because budgetary accounts may not include all central government units (such as social security funds), they usually provide an incomplete picture. In federal states the central government accounts provide an incomplete view of total public finance. Data on government revenue and expense are collected by the IMF through questionnaires to member countries and by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

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

All 52 values

Interest payments (% of expense) in nearby economies

• Australia — 2.97% (2022)
• Cambodia — 2.1% (2023)
• Fiji — 14.58% (2023)
• Kiribati — 0.75% (2023)
• Korea, Rep. — 4.43% (2023)
• Lao PDR — 16.99% (2022)
• Malaysia — 14.93% (2023)
• Marshall Islands — 0.46% (2020)
• Micronesia, Fed. Sts. — 0.6% (2020)
• Mongolia — 6.01% (2021)
• New Zealand

More public sector data for Singapore

• Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 57 million (2025)
• Military expenditure (current USD) — 17.44 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (current LCU) — 22.79 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 3.05% (2025)
• Net incurrence of liabilities, total (current LCU) — 66.75 billion (2024)
• Net incurrence of liabilities, total (% of GDP) — 8.72% (2024)
• Grants and other revenue (current LCU) — 31.9 billion (2024)
• Grants and other revenue (% of revenue) — 23.51% (2024)
• Revenue, excluding grants (current LCU) — 135.7 billion (2024)
• Revenue, excluding grants (% of GDP)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Singapore's interest payments (% of expense)?

0.44% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1972?

It is down 7.59 percentage points from 8.03% in 1972. The highest value was 30.86% in 1987 and the lowest 0.000791% in 2018.

How does Singapore rank?

79th highest of 78 economies with data for 2023.

Is the latest change in interest payments (% of expense) unusual for Singapore?

In 2023, Singapore's interest payments (% of expense) fell 0.01 percentage points on 2022 (from 0.45% to 0.44%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was −0.45 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.18 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 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 GC.XPN.INTP.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF) 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.

Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.