Developing Countries’ Debt Outflows Hit 50-Year High – World Bank

The World Bank, in its new report, says developing countries paid out $741 billion more in principal and interest on their external debt than they received in new financing between 2022 and 2024.

The report, entiled: International Debt Report (IDR), is a longstanding annual publication of the World Bank featuring external debt statistics and analysis for the low- and middle-income countries that report to the World Bank Debtor Reporting System (DRS).

The International Debt Report, released this week, featured the latest data on debt trends in low- and middle-income countries.

According to World Bank, for five decades the IDR, along with the associated International Debt Statistics (IDS) database, has helped shape policies in development finance by sharing timely and comprehensive external debt data and analysis with the international community.

It stated that drawing on data collected through the World Bank’s Debtor Reporting System, the IDR has tracked evolving borrowing patterns and new lending instruments over the years, measured the impact of initiatives to relieve debt burdens, and promoted best practices in debt recording and reporting.

The newly published IDR 2025 includes an analysis of end-2024 external debt flows and debt stock positions as well as the macroeconomic and debt outlook for 2025 and beyond, and updates on the debt transparency agenda.

In addition, the IDS-DSSI database includes the actual debt service deferred from by each bilateral creditor and the projected monthly debt-service payments owed to all bilateral creditors.

The World Bank stated that these archives contain Excel spreadsheets and range in size from 6-80Mb (compressed), and include databases from the period prior to 2012 when the report was named Global Development Finance. Archives from July, 2010 to October, 2012 also include data from the World Development Indicators.

“Archives prior to February, 2010 also include data in text and MS Access formats,” it said, noting that the Year column refers to the calendar year in which the database and its corresponding report were originally published.

About The Author

Dele Fashomi

Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.

Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.

He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.

Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).

He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.

He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.

Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled:  Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.

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