Economy · External debt service · Burundi
Burundi’s external debt service was 11% of exports in 2023.
11% of exports
2023
Up 1.8 pp from 2022.
Stale — last updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
11% of exports
What it is. External debt service adds up the principal and interest a country pays on its foreign debt and sets it against what it earns abroad from exports of goods, services and primary income. Dividing by export earnings shows how much of the incoming foreign currency is committed to lenders. The figure covers external obligations only, so the size of the debt stock and any domestic borrowing sit outside it.
Lower is better. A lower share is better because more of the foreign currency Burundi earns stays available for imports such as fuel, medicine and machinery. The latest figure, for 2023, is 11% of exports, up from 9.2% of exports a year earlier, a rise of 1.8 percentage points. Since 2014 the range runs from a low of 9.1% of exports in 2018 to a high of 16% of exports in 2016. The current reading sits in the lower part of that range, close to the best level of the period, although it has moved away from that level over the last year.
Why it matters. At 11% of exports, a visible share of what Burundi earns abroad goes to external creditors before it can pay for imports. The rise from 9.2% of exports a year earlier leaves the government and firms with somewhat less foreign currency to spend at home. If export earnings stay flat, higher repayments would take a larger share still, so the next annual reading is the figure to check.
| Period | External debt service · Burundi |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 12.3% of exports |
| 2015 | 13.9% of exports |
| 2016 | 16% of exports |
| 2017 | 9.6% of exports |
| 2018 | 9.1% of exports |
| 2019 | 11.8% of exports |
| 2020 | 12.2% of exports |
| 2021 | 9.1% of exports |
| 2022 | 9.2% of exports |
| 2023 | 11% of exports |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0) · Licence: CC BY 4.0
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Strata-AF™ Data, External debt service, Burundi, 2023; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/economy/debt-service/burundi
Data insights · Worked out from the published figures
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Working this out from the published figures…
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Methodology
Total debt service as a share of exports of goods, services and primary income. Unit: % of exports.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (series DT.TDS.DECT.EX.ZS), retrieved through the World Bank API and published under CC BY 4.0. Updated annually; the World Bank's own source notes apply.