Democratic Republic of the Congo: External debt

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

External debt, percent of GDP

 Latest value 16.41
 Year 2023
 Measure percent
 Data availability 1990 - 2023
 Average 46.54
 Min - Max 12.15 - 160.26
 Source The World Bank
 Available for Data download
The latest value from 2023 is 16.41 percent, an increase from 14.68 percent in 2022. In comparison, the world average is 114.96 percent, based on data from 167 countries. Historically, the average for Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1990 to 2023 is 46.54 percent. The minimum value, 12.15 percent, was reached in 2018 while the maximum of 160.26 percent was recorded in 2001. See the global rankings for that indicator or use the country comparator to compare trends over time.
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 Recent values Democratic Republic of the Congo: External debt
 2023 16.41
 2022 14.68
 2021 15.88
 2020 13.68
 2019 12.78
 2018 12.15
 2017 14.75
 2016 14.94




Definition: The total debt of public and private borrowers held by non-residents as percent of GDP. Source: Kose, M. Ayhan, Sergio Kurlat, Franziska Ohnsorge, and Naotaka Sugawara. 2022. "A Cross-Country Database of Fiscal Space." Journal of International Money and Finance 128 (November): 102682.

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 Related indicators Latest Reference Measure
 Terms of trade 142.40 2024 percent
 Trade openness 87.33 2025 percent
 Financial openness -1.248 2022 index points
 Exports, percent of GDP 43.42 2025 percent
 Exports, billion dollars 39.52 2025 billion U.S. dollars
 Growth of exports 7.39 2025 percent
 Imports, percent of GDP 43.92 2025 percent
 Imports, billion dollars 39.98 2025 billion U.S. dollars
 Foreign Direct Investment, percent of GDP 2.05 2025 percent
 Foreign Direct Investment, billion dollars 2.92 2024 billion U.S. dollars
 Portfolio investment inflows, equities 0.18 2024 million dollars (current)
 Current account, percent of GDP -4.33 2025 percent
 Current account, in dollars -3.94 2025 billion U.S. dollars
 Trade balance, percent of GDP -0.50 2025 percent
 Trade balance, in dollars -1.89 2024 billion U.S. dollars
 Reserves 5.10 2023 billion U.S. dollars
 Remittances, percent of GDP 2.82 2024 percent
 Remittances 3,318.27 2025 million U.S. dollars
 Net errors and omissions 778.40 2025 million USD
 External debt 16.41 2023 percent
 Short-term external debt 5.44 2023 percent
 Short-term debt to reserves 11.80 2023 percent
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