Debt Service - Ranking 1976
In 1976, Lesotho (0.32%), Nepal (1.11%), and Eswatini (1.16%) ranked highest in debt service among all countries. Jamaica ranked lowest at 70.34%.
Data & analysis
- El Salvador — 85.33
- Haiti — 52.95
- Mozambique — 52.62
- Papua New Guinea — 46.41
- Kazakhstan — 44.06
The 2025 World Bank data on debt service as a percentage of exports reveals a stark divide in fiscal strain. El Salvador, ranking first at 85.3%, and Haiti, at 52.9%, are bound by a combination of low export diversification and heavy external borrowing, forcing them to allocate an outsized share of export earnings to debt repayment. Mozambique and Papua New Guinea, similarly positioned, face parallel pressures from commodity dependence and post-disaster reconstruction costs. At the bottom, negative values for Somalia and Lebanon do not indicate surplus but rather severe debt distress, where arrears and restructuring have halted scheduled payments, effectively suspending the service obligation. This structural default explains their lagging position. As global interest rates and commodity prices shift in the coming years, the leaderboard could be reshuffled by debt relief initiatives or a sustained rise in export revenues for the most leveraged economies.
| Rank | Country | Value | YoY % |
|---|---|---|---|