Short-term debt (% of total external debt) in Lower middle income
Lower middle income: Short-term debt (% of total external debt) was 16.1% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Short-term debt in Lower middle income, 1970–2025
Source: International Debt Statistics, World Bank (WB). Measured in % of total external debt.
Analysis
Lower middle income recorded 16.1% for short-term debt in 2025.
The figure is up 1.5% on the previous year and up 15.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, short-term debt in Lower middle income peaked at 17.9% in 2012 and was at its lowest, 6.9%, in 2003.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 56 years of available data.
Short-term debt (% of total external debt) in Lower middle income, year by year
| Year | % of total external debt | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 7.9% | — |
| 1971 | 7.9% | -0.4% |
| 1972 | 8.2% | +4.2% |
| 1973 | 9.0% | +8.8% |
| 1974 | 8.9% | -1.0% |
| 1975 | 9.4% | +6.5% |
| 1976 | 9.8% | +4.1% |
| 1977 | 17.1% | +73.8% |
| 1978 | 15.5% | -9.3% |
| 1979 | 14.7% | -5.4% |
| 1980 | 14.9% | +1.7% |
| 1981 | 14.5% | -2.8% |
| 1982 | 13.2% | -8.6% |
| 1983 | 14.1% | +6.3% |
| 1984 | 14.9% | +5.5% |
| 1985 | 14.7% | -0.9% |
| 1986 | 11.7% | -20.5% |
| 1987 | 10.2% | -13.3% |
| 1988 | 10.2% | +0.4% |
| 1989 | 10.5% | +3.3% |
| 1990 | 10.6% | +0.8% |
| 1991 | 9.6% | -9.9% |
| 1992 | 10.2% | +6.3% |
| 1993 | 8.9% | -12.5% |
| 1994 | 8.3% | -7.2% |
| 1995 | 9.1% | +10.3% |
| 1996 | 10.1% | +10.7% |
| 1997 | 9.8% | -3.1% |
| 1998 | 9.2% | -6.0% |
| 1999 | 9.2% | -0.1% |
| 2000 | 7.2% | -22.0% |
| 2001 | 7.2% | +0.1% |
| 2002 | 7.1% | -1.3% |
| 2003 | 6.9% | -2.0% |
| 2004 | 7.4% | +6.2% |
| 2005 | 8.5% | +15.2% |
| 2006 | 13.2% | +55.0% |
| 2007 | 14.8% | +12.3% |
| 2008 | 14.2% | -3.7% |
| 2009 | 13.0% | -8.3% |
| 2010 | 15.3% | +17.3% |
| 2011 | 16.5% | +8.0% |
| 2012 | 17.9% | +8.6% |
| 2013 | 17.3% | -3.4% |
| 2014 | 15.4% | -11.1% |
| 2015 | 14.0% | -9.2% |
| 2016 | 14.5% | +3.7% |
| 2017 | 15.0% | +3.3% |
| 2018 | 14.1% | -6.2% |
| 2019 | 14.2% | +1.2% |
| 2020 | 13.5% | -5.0% |
| 2021 | 14.4% | +6.5% |
| 2022 | 16.5% | +14.4% |
| 2023 | 15.6% | -5.6% |
| 2024 | 15.9% | +2.2% |
| 2025 | 16.1% | +1.5% |
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Short-term debt (% of total external debt) in Lower middle income changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | +73.8% | 9.8% | 17.1% |
| 2006 | +55.0% | 8.5% | 13.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 10.8% | 7.9% | 17.1% | 10 |
| 1980s | 12.9% | 10.2% | 14.9% | 10 |
| 1990s | 9.5% | 8.3% | 10.6% | 10 |
| 2000s | 9.9% | 6.9% | 14.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 15.4% | 14.0% | 17.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 15.3% | 13.5% | 16.5% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Lower middle income
More external debt data for Lower middle income
- Net financial flows, IBRD 2.65 billion NFL, current US$ (2025)
- IFC, private nonguaranteed (NFL, US$), per capita 1.04 NFL, US$ per person (2024)
- IFC, private nonguaranteed (NFL, US$), per unit of GDP 0.0004 NFL, US$ per US$ of GDP (2024)
- IFC, private nonguaranteed (NFL, US$), per square kilometre 48.04 NFL, US$ per square kilometre (2023)
- Net financial flows, IDA (NFL, current US$), per capita 3.1 NFL, current US$ per person (2024)
- Net financial flows, IDA (NFL, current US$), per unit of GDP 0.0013 NFL, current US$ per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Net financial flows, IDA (NFL, current US$), per square kilometre 482.72 NFL, current US$ per square kilometre (2023)
- Use of IMF credit 114.26 billion DOD, current US$ (2025)
- External debt stocks, public and publicly guaranteed (PPG) 1.13 trillion DOD, current US$ (2025)
- External debt stocks, long-term 1.68 trillion DOD, current US$ (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is short-term debt in Lower middle income?
- Short-term debt in Lower middle income was 16.1% in 2025, according to International Debt Statistics, World Bank (WB).
- What is the highest short-term debt recorded in Lower middle income?
- The highest recorded value was 17.9% in 2012.
- What is the lowest short-term debt recorded in Lower middle income?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.9% in 2003.
- How does Lower middle income rank for short-term debt?
- Lower middle income ranks 8th out of 13 groups with data for 2025.
- Is short-term debt rising or falling in Lower middle income?
- Over the last ten years it is up 15.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Lower middle 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.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 56 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
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.