International Debt Report 2023

Introduction: International Debt Statistics at 50—Past, Present, and Future

The International Debt Report 2023 is the 50th edition of the World Bank’s annual publica-
tion on external debt along with the International Debt Statistics (IDS) database,1 the most

comprehensive and transparent source of verifiable, cross-country comparable external debt
data of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Much has changed over 50 years. Yet there are many similarities between 1973, the first year
the World Bank publicly disseminated the data it collected through its Debtor Reporting System
(DRS) on the external debt obligations of its borrowers, and now. Much like this year, 1973 was
marked by a challenging global economy with multiple destabilizing forces. The Bretton Woods

international monetary system had recently been abandoned. An oil crisis began that gener-
ated inflation through higher energy and commodity prices and threw the world economy into

recession.
Total World Bank lending reached US$3.6 billion that year—higher than any previous year. It
achieved a goal set by World Bank President Robert McNamara to double World Bank–provided
assistance in 1969–73 over the previous five-year period.
Today the world is emerging from a pandemic that shook economies, disrupted international

trade, and ignited global inflation. LMICs in particular are struggling with the effects of an ongo-
ing war in Europe, rising energy prices, sharply higher interest rates, and slowing growth. World

Bank Group loans, grants, and guarantees have grown to more than US$128 billion and are as
critical as ever to the World Bank’s central mission of ending extreme poverty on a livable planet.
Fifty years on, however, one challenge remains the same: debt levels and debt servicing costs are
rising in many LMICs—fueling fears of impending debt crises.

In 1973, the World Bank stood out as an early champion of debt transparency by recogniz-
ing that public debt should be publicly disclosed and that debt statistics drawn from the DRS

constituted an important public good. The World Bank committed to an annual publication on
debt, accompanied by the dissemination of a database that provides comprehensive and timely
information on the external debt stocks and flows of LMICs.
The World Bank remains steadfast in that commitment today. In fact, the World Bank is now
better equipped to disseminate accurate, verifiable, and transparent data about external debt

held by LMICs. Over the past 50 years, its annual publication on debt has undergone numer-
ous improvements and name changes. Multiple expansions of DRS reporting requirements have

ensured that data collected have kept pace with the ever-changing landscape of international
finance for LMICs and continue to meet the evolving needs of policy makers and the broader
international community.

International Debt Report 2023

International Debt Report 2023

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