Sub-Saharan Africa: Public and publicly guaranteed debt service (% of exports of goods, services and primary income)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Sub-Saharan Africa's public and publicly guaranteed debt service (% of exports of goods, services and primary income) fell 0.04 percentage points on 2023 (from 8.91% to 8.88%).

Across the 29 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2023), the average change was −0.04 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.89 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.0 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 4.45 percentage points in 2015 and the biggest yearly fall was 3.88 percentage points in 1999. 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 12% 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

Public and publicly guaranteed debt service to exports of goods, services, and income. 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. Exports of goods, services and primary income is the sum of goods (merchandise) exports, exports of (nonfactor) services and income (factor) receipts.

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

All 31 values

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

• Afghanistan — 1.67% (2020)
• Algeria — 0.19% (2024)
• Djibouti — 1.98% (2024)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 36.23% (2024)
• Iraq — 2.8% (2024)
• Jordan — 8.35% (2024)
• Lebanon — 1.58% (2023)
• Morocco

More economic policy & debt data for Sub-Saharan Africa

• Charges for the use of intellectual property, payments (BoP, current US$) — US$3.07 billion (2025)
• Portfolio equity, net inflows (BoP, current US$) — −US$459.34 million (2025)
• GDP (current US$) — US$2.21 trillion (2025)
• GDP (constant 2015 US$) — US$2.13 trillion (2025)
• GDP per capita (current US$) — US$1,673 (2025)
• GDP per capita (constant 2015 US$) — US$1,615 (2025)
• GDP (annual % growth) — 4.14% (2025)
• GDP per capita (annual % growth) — 1.64% (2025)
• Charges for the use of intellectual property, receipts (BoP, current US$) — US$473.66 million (2025)

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Questions people ask

What is Sub-Saharan Africa's public and publicly guaranteed debt service (% of exports of goods, services and primary income)?

8.88% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1994?

It is down 1.18 percentage points from 10.06% in 1994. The highest value was 11.82% in 1996 and the lowest 2.38% in 2011.

Is the latest change in public and publicly guaranteed debt service (% of exports of goods, services and primary income) unusual for Sub-Saharan Africa?

In 2024, Sub-Saharan Africa's public and publicly guaranteed debt service (% of exports of goods, services and primary income) fell 0.04 percentage points on 2023 (from 8.91% to 8.88%). Across the 29 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2023), the average change was −0.04 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.89 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.0 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.TDS.DPPG.XP.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: International Debt Statistics, World Bank (WB), uri: https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/debt-statistics 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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