World Bank: Developing Countries Spent Half a Trillion Dollars on External Debt Servicing

The World Bank announced today, Wednesday, that developing countries spent nearly half a trillion dollars on servicing their external debts in 2022, which drained their allocations for health, education, and combating climate change. The bank noted in its latest report on international debt that debt servicing payments, including principal and interest, rose five percent from the previous year to an unprecedented level of $443.5 billion, amid the largest increase in interest rates globally in four decades. It indicated that payments could rise by ten percent in 2023-2024. The report, which has been issued for fifty years, stated that the 75 poorest countries were the most affected, with their external debt servicing payments reaching a record level of $88.9 billion in 2022, and are expected to rise by 40 percent in 2023-2024. The report also mentioned that the interest payments on debts for these countries have quadrupled since 2012 to $23.6 billion.