Debt is an important source of financing for development, but it needs to be sustainable. African debt has been growing significantly over the past decade.
Explore how much external debt African countries hold, who it is owed to, and how much debt servicing costs countries each year. Data is from the World Bank’s International Debt Statistics.
Key numbers
- 20 low-income countries in Africa are in, or at risk of, debt distress (57% of assessed countries)
- African countries owe US685.5 billion to external creditors as of 2023
- African countries will pay US88.7 billion in external debt service in 2025
- External debt owed by African countries is equivalent to 24.5% of their combined GDP in 2023
How much do African countries owe?
Africa’s debt is at its highest level in over a decade. As a result of COVID-19, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and soaring inflation, African countries have had to take on even more debt, and now 20 low income African countries are either bankrupt or at high risk of debt distress.
Africa’s debt stocks have more than doubled in the past decade.
This chart shows how much is owed to each creditor type and how it has changed over time. It is based on public and publicly guaranteed long-term external debt outstanding and disbursed in USD billion (current prices).
The chart is based on the latest International Debt Statistics data (December 2024) and does not reflect any rescheduling or restructuring that may have taken place in 2024.
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Africa’s external debt is 24.5% of countries’ GDP (as of 2025 for countries with available data). Yet many individual countries have rates far higher.
This chart includes data on public and publicly guaranteed long-term external debt outstanding and disbursed as a percentage of a countries’ gross domestic product (GDP).
Type a country in the search bar to select several countries to view at once. Hover over the graph for more details.
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Who owns African debt?
The composition of African debt has changed significantly. Previously, the majority of African external debt was owed to official creditors – high-income countries and multilateral lenders like the World Bank and IMF. Now, China and private creditors make up a large proportion of debt stocks, meaning more debt is non-concessional.
This chart shows the main creditors for each grouping of public debt – private, multilateral, or bilateral. More than 43% of African external debt is owed to private creditors, 23% to bilateral creditors, and 34% to multilateral creditors.
Select a country to view and hover over the chart for more details.
China has become Africa’s biggest bilateral lender. It’s public lenders hold almost $62 billion of Africa’s external debt in 2023, and it’s private lenders nearly $23 billion of Africa’s external debt.
Select a country to view and hover over the chart for more details.
African debt service
African external debt service payments have increased substantially in the past decade, in part due to higher interest payments on private loans.
African countries are set to pay record amounts in debt service in the coming years
This chart shows yearly external debt service owed to bilateral, multilateral, and private creditors.
Debt service is interest plus principal payments on public and publicly guaranteed (PPG) debt, in USD million (current prices).
The chart does not reflect any rescheduling or restructuring that may have taken place since December 2023.
Debt service as a share of government spending
Even before the pandemic, more than 30 African countries spent more on debt service than on healthcare.
This chart shows yearly external debt service owed to bilateral, multilateral, and private creditors as a percentage of total government expenditure. Debt service is interest plus principal payments on public and publicly guaranteed (PPG) debt.
Government expenditure refers to general government expense, net of acquisition of non financial assets. Data for recent years are IMF estimates from the World Economic Outlook.
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