External debt — all countries

External debt — Sub-Saharan Africa

External debt in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2024 — 903,049,057,336 US$. Since 1970, the indicator has risen by 12,962.3%.

2024 903B US$ +3.43% vs 2023
World rank
Period maximum 903B US$2024
Period minimum 6.91B US$1970

Trend over time

1970–2024 · US$

External debt — Sub-Saharan Africa, 1970–20240250B500B750B1T19701976198219881994200020062012201820241970: 6,913,395,534 US$1971: 8,715,434,764 US$1972: 10,036,960,332 US$1973: 13,103,097,181 US$1974: 16,364,066,243 US$1975: 19,569,740,450 US$1976: 22,475,931,933 US$1977: 31,338,339,493 US$1978: 40,849,196,952 US$1979: 48,346,398,687 US$1980: 60,334,374,190 US$1981: 68,895,730,053 US$1982: 75,931,574,458 US$1983: 85,441,179,523 US$1984: 89,265,292,578 US$1985: 103,816,856,530 US$1986: 116,979,900,789 US$1987: 142,067,178,323 US$1988: 143,825,143,335 US$1989: 156,643,737,456 US$1990: 176,417,179,718 US$1991: 182,700,118,048 US$1992: 182,069,510,712 US$1993: 188,397,978,930 US$1994: 222,024,767,766 US$1995: 236,639,175,237 US$1996: 232,217,414,327 US$1997: 226,819,455,512 US$1998: 230,587,085,473 US$1999: 218,718,493,890 US$2000: 216,623,752,956 US$2001: 209,719,248,212 US$2002: 231,182,071,295 US$2003: 254,178,102,666 US$2004: 268,579,003,570 US$2005: 249,064,727,405 US$2006: 214,146,843,358 US$2007: 248,036,436,929 US$2008: 256,711,711,367 US$2009: 292,955,806,759 US$2010: 341,660,376,312 US$2011: 379,966,324,816 US$2012: 430,132,422,094 US$2013: 472,596,550,949 US$2014: 512,721,101,014 US$2015: 517,179,104,385 US$2016: 563,207,121,340 US$2017: 658,421,926,631 US$2018: 702,732,776,637 US$2019: 753,661,316,808 US$2020: 795,395,209,624 US$2021: 838,108,145,897 US$2022: 852,094,495,810 US$2023: 873,106,539,440 US$2024: 903,049,057,336 US$
Change over the period: +896B (+12,962.31%) Average annual rate: 9.44 %
External debt — Sub-Saharan Africa, by year Sub-Saharan Africa All countries CSV XLSX
Year US$ Change Change, %
2024 903B +29.94B +3.43%
2023 873B +21.01B +2.47%
2022 852B +13.99B +1.67%
2021 838B +42.71B +5.37%
2020 795B +41.73B +5.54%
2019 754B +50.93B +7.25%
2018 703B +44.31B +6.73%
2017 658B +95.21B +16.91%
2016 563B +46.03B +8.9%
2015 517B +4.46B +0.87%
2014 513B +40.12B +8.49%
2013 473B +42.46B +9.87%
2012 430B +50.17B +13.2%
2011 380B +38.31B +11.21%
2010 342B +48.7B +16.63%
2009 293B +36.24B +14.12%
2008 257B +8.68B +3.5%
2007 248B +33.89B +15.83%
2006 214B −34.92B −14.02%
2005 249B −19.51B −7.27%
2004 269B +14.4B +5.67%
2003 254B +23B +9.95%
2002 231B +21.46B +10.23%
2001 210B −6.9B −3.19%
2000 217B −2.09B −0.96%
1999 219B −11.87B −5.15%
1998 231B +3.77B +1.66%
1997 227B −5.4B −2.32%
1996 232B −4.42B −1.87%
1995 237B +14.61B +6.58%
1994 222B +33.63B +17.85%
1993 188B +6.33B +3.48%
1992 182B −631M −0.35%
1991 183B +6.28B +3.56%
1990 176B +19.77B +12.62%
1989 157B +12.82B +8.91%
1988 144B +1.76B +1.24%
1987 142B +25.09B +21.45%
1986 117B +13.16B +12.68%
1985 104B +14.55B +16.3%
1984 89.27B +3.82B +4.48%
1983 85.44B +9.51B +12.52%
1982 75.93B +7.04B +10.21%
1981 68.9B +8.56B +14.19%
1980 60.33B +11.99B +24.8%
1979 48.35B +7.5B +18.35%
1978 40.85B +9.51B +30.35%
1977 31.34B +8.86B +39.43%
1976 22.48B +2.91B +14.85%
1975 19.57B +3.21B +19.59%
1974 16.36B +3.26B +24.89%
1973 13.1B +3.07B +30.55%
1972 10.04B +1.32B +15.16%
1971 8.72B +1.8B +26.07%
1970 6.91B

About the indicator

Total external debt: the liabilities of a country's residents to non-residents in foreign and in national currency, covering public, publicly guaranteed and private debt. It differs from government debt fundamentally — it includes the borrowing of banks and corporations that the government does not guarantee but that turns out to be its problem in a crisis all the same.

Important: Only middle- and low-income countries report to the World Bank Debtor Reporting System, so the table holds about 130 of them. Aggregates for country groups are not computed: the sum over those present is the debt of developing countries, not of the world.

Source: World Development Indicators (World Bank), license CC BY 4.0.