Short-term debt (% of total external debt) in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)
Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income): Short-term debt (% of total external debt) was 11.9% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Short-term debt in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income), 1970–2025
Source: International Debt Statistics, World Bank (WB). Measured in % of total external debt.
Analysis
Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) recorded 11.9% for short-term debt in 2025.
That represents a change of up 2.6% on the previous year and down 4.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, short-term debt in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) peaked at 26.0% in 1981 and was at its lowest, 8.3%, in 1986.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 56 years of available data.
Short-term debt (% of total external debt) in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income), year by year
| Year | % of total external debt | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 13.5% | — |
| 1971 | 13.5% | +0.2% |
| 1972 | 13.4% | -1.0% |
| 1973 | 13.4% | +0.1% |
| 1974 | 13.3% | -0.7% |
| 1975 | 13.2% | -0.3% |
| 1976 | 13.3% | +0.5% |
| 1977 | 18.6% | +39.5% |
| 1978 | 16.9% | -8.8% |
| 1979 | 19.4% | +14.5% |
| 1980 | 25.0% | +28.8% |
| 1981 | 26.0% | +3.9% |
| 1982 | 25.6% | -1.3% |
| 1983 | 14.2% | -44.5% |
| 1984 | 11.9% | -15.9% |
| 1985 | 9.6% | -19.2% |
| 1986 | 8.3% | -13.5% |
| 1987 | 8.9% | +7.3% |
| 1988 | 10.0% | +11.5% |
| 1989 | 13.3% | +33.6% |
| 1990 | 17.1% | +28.0% |
| 1991 | 19.0% | +11.5% |
| 1992 | 19.5% | +2.5% |
| 1993 | 21.6% | +10.8% |
| 1994 | 20.9% | -3.1% |
| 1995 | 20.8% | -0.7% |
| 1996 | 19.3% | -7.0% |
| 1997 | 19.4% | +0.4% |
| 1998 | 16.0% | -17.6% |
| 1999 | 14.0% | -12.3% |
| 2000 | 13.4% | -4.3% |
| 2001 | 11.0% | -18.1% |
| 2002 | 11.1% | +1.1% |
| 2003 | 11.9% | +6.6% |
| 2004 | 12.3% | +3.3% |
| 2005 | 14.7% | +19.8% |
| 2006 | 13.8% | -6.4% |
| 2007 | 14.2% | +3.5% |
| 2008 | 12.6% | -11.6% |
| 2009 | 11.9% | -5.1% |
| 2010 | 17.5% | +46.3% |
| 2011 | 15.3% | -12.6% |
| 2012 | 14.7% | -3.9% |
| 2013 | 14.5% | -1.2% |
| 2014 | 13.6% | -6.6% |
| 2015 | 12.4% | -8.2% |
| 2016 | 10.4% | -16.1% |
| 2017 | 10.4% | -0.5% |
| 2018 | 11.7% | +12.1% |
| 2019 | 11.8% | +1.5% |
| 2020 | 9.4% | -20.3% |
| 2021 | 10.0% | +6.6% |
| 2022 | 10.4% | +3.3% |
| 2023 | 11.4% | +9.9% |
| 2024 | 11.6% | +1.4% |
| 2025 | 11.9% | +2.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 14.8% | 13.2% | 19.4% | 10 |
| 1980s | 15.3% | 8.3% | 26.0% | 10 |
| 1990s | 18.8% | 14.0% | 21.6% | 10 |
| 2000s | 12.7% | 11.0% | 14.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 13.2% | 10.4% | 17.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 10.8% | 9.4% | 11.9% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)
More external debt data for Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)
- Net financial flows, IBRD 3.32 billion NFL, current US$ (2025)
- IFC, private nonguaranteed (NFL, US$), per capita 1.47 NFL, US$ per person (2024)
- IFC, private nonguaranteed (NFL, US$), per unit of GDP 0.0001 NFL, US$ per US$ of GDP (2024)
- IFC, private nonguaranteed (NFL, US$), per square kilometre 79.15 NFL, US$ per square kilometre (2023)
- Net financial flows, IDA (NFL, current US$), per capita 0.5396 NFL, current US$ per person (2024)
- Net financial flows, IDA (NFL, current US$), per unit of GDP 0.0001 NFL, current US$ per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Net financial flows, IDA (NFL, current US$), per square kilometre 7.99 NFL, current US$ per square kilometre (2023)
- Use of IMF credit 124.50 billion DOD, current US$ (2025)
- External debt stocks, public and publicly guaranteed (PPG) 1.02 trillion DOD, current US$ (2025)
- External debt stocks, long-term 1.83 trillion DOD, current US$ (2025)
All data for Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) →
Frequently asked questions
- What is short-term debt in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)?
- Short-term debt in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) was 11.9% in 2025, according to International Debt Statistics, World Bank (WB).
- What is the highest short-term debt recorded in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)?
- The highest recorded value was 26.0% in 1981.
- What is the lowest short-term debt recorded in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)?
- The lowest recorded value was 8.3% in 1986.
- How does Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) rank for short-term debt?
- Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) ranks 10th out of 13 groups with data for 2025.
- Is short-term debt rising or falling in Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income)?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) data come from?
- The figures come from International Debt Statistics, World Bank (WB), published as part of Short-term debt (% of total external debt). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Short-term debt includes all debt having an original maturity of one year or less and interest in arrears on long-term debt. 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.