South Asia: Multilateral debt service (% of public and publicly guaranteed debt service)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, South Asia's multilateral debt service (% of public and publicly guaranteed debt service) fell 0.65 percentage points on 2023 (from 41.86% to 41.21%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +0.6 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 9.23 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations below 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 22.09 percentage points in 2002 and the biggest yearly fall was 17.05 percentage points in 2005. 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 upward, about 1.9 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 58% 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

Multilateral debt service is the repayment of principal and interest to the World Bank, regional development banks, and other multilateral agencies. public and publicly guaranteed debt service is the sum of principal repayments and interest actually paid in currency, goods, or services on long-term obligations of public debtors and long-term private obligations guaranteed by a public entity.

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

All 55 values

Multilateral debt service (% of public and publicly guaranteed debt service) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 100% (2024)
• Algeria — 75.81% (2024)
• Djibouti — 47.23% (2024)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 32.29% (2024)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 14.12% (2024)
• Iraq — 17.44% (2024)
• Jordan — 38.33% (2024)
• Lebanon — 99.97% (2024)

More economic policy & debt data for South Asia

• General government final consumption expenditure (current US$) — US$465.69 billion (2025)
• General government final consumption expenditure (constant 2015 US$) — US$375.66 billion (2025)
• General government final consumption expenditure (% of GDP) — 10.17% (2025)
• Households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure (current US$) — US$2.69 trillion (2025)
• Households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure (constant 2015 US$) — US$2.54 trillion (2025)
• Households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure per capita (constant 2015 US$) — US$1,504 (2025)
• Households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure (% of GDP) — 58.74% (2025)
• Final consumption expenditure (current US$)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is South Asia's multilateral debt service (% of public and publicly guaranteed debt service)?

41.21% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1970?

It is up 28.37 percentage points from 12.84% in 1970. The highest value was 49.42% in 2002 and the lowest 12.27% in 2005.

Is the latest change in multilateral debt service (% of public and publicly guaranteed debt service) unusual for South Asia?

In 2024, South Asia's multilateral debt service (% of public and publicly guaranteed debt service) fell 0.65 percentage points on 2023 (from 41.86% to 41.21%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +0.6 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 9.23 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations below 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.TDS.MLAT.PG.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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