Democratic Republic of the Congo: External debt

* indicates monthly or quarterly data series
 Democratic Republic of the Congo

External debt, percent of Gross National Income

 Latest value 15.16
 Year 2022
 Measure percent
 Data availability 1994 - 2022
 Average 93.33
 Min - Max 12.70 - 283.91
 Source The World Bank
The latest value from 2022 is 15.16 percent, a decline from 17.22 percent in 2021. In comparison, the world average is 56.76 percent, based on data from 113 countries. Historically, the average for Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1994 to 2022 is 93.33 percent. The minimum value, 12.7 percent, was reached in 2018 while the maximum of 283.91 percent was recorded in 1999. See the global rankings for that indicator or use the country comparator to compare trends over time.
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* indicates monthly or quarterly data series


Recent data
Democratic Republic of the Congo - External debt - Recent values chart

Historical series
Democratic Republic of the Congo - External debt - historical chart - 1994-2022




The external debt of Democratic Republic of the Congo and other countries is reported as the total international obligations of the country as percent of its GDP. External debt of less than 60 percent of GDP is not a problem. At higher levels, paying the interest on the debt may start to become difficult.
Definition: Total external debt stocks to gross national income. Total external debt is debt owed to nonresidents repayable in currency, goods, or services. Total external debt is the sum of public, publicly guaranteed, and private nonguaranteed long-term debt, use of IMF credit, and short-term debt. Short-term debt includes all debt having an original maturity of one year or less and interest in arrears on long-term debt. GNI (formerly GNP) is the sum of value added by all resident producers plus any product taxes (less subsidies) not included in the valuation of output plus net receipts of primary income (compensation of employees and property income) from abroad.

Selected articles from our guide:

What factors determine the exchange rates

International lending and sovereign debt

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 Related indicators Latest Reference Measure
 Terms of trade 132.84 2021 percent
 Trade openness 91.26 2023 percent
 Financial openness -1.242 2021 index points
 Exports, percent of GDP 44.25 2023 percent
 Exports, billion dollars 29.37 2023 billion U.S. dollars
 Growth of exports 15.72 2023 percent
 Imports, percent of GDP 47.02 2023 percent
 Imports, billion dollars 31.21 2023 billion U.S. dollars
 Foreign Direct Investment, percent of GDP 2.51 2023 percent
 Foreign Direct Investment, billion dollars 2.38 2023 billion U.S. dollars
 Portfolio investment inflows, equities 0.43 2023 million dollars (current)
 Current account, percent of GDP -6.30 2023 percent
 Current account, in dollars -3.88 2023 billion U.S. dollars
 Trade balance, percent of GDP -2.77 2023 percent
 Trade balance, in dollars -4.03 2023 billion U.S. dollars
 Reserves 3.47 2021 billion U.S. dollars
 Remittances, percent of GDP 2.05 2023 percent
 Remittances 1,361.14 2023 million U.S. dollars
 Net errors and omissions -338.02 2023 million USD
 External debt 15.16 2022 percent
 Short-term external debt 5.44 2023 percent
 Short-term debt to reserves 11.80 2023 percent
 Foreign exchange reserves 18,267.88 7/2024 billion
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