Economy · External debt service · Egypt
Egypt’s external debt service rose to 49.2% of exports in 2024.
49.2% of exports
2024
Up 18.8 pp from 2023.
Updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
49.2% of exports
What it is. External debt service adds up the interest and principal a country pays on its foreign debt in a year and sets that sum against what it earns abroad from selling goods, services and primary income such as investment returns. Comparing payments with export earnings shows how much of the foreign currency coming in is already committed to creditors. It covers debt owed to outsiders and leaves out domestic borrowing in local currency.
Lower is better. A lower share is better because more of the foreign currency Egypt earns stays available for imports, reserves and new investment. The latest figure for 2024 is 49.2% of exports, up from 30.4% of exports a year earlier, a rise of 18.8 percentage points. It is also the highest reading since 2015, when the share was 10% of exports, the lowest in that span.
Why it matters. With about half of export earnings going to creditors, the state has less foreign currency left for fuel, wheat and other imports, and it leans harder on new borrowing, deposits from partners and investment inflows to cover the gap. Firms that need imported inputs compete for the same dollars. The next annual reading will show whether the share eases from 49.2% of exports.
| Period | External debt service · Egypt |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 10% of exports |
| 2016 | 19.5% of exports |
| 2017 | 15.4% of exports |
| 2018 | 16.3% of exports |
| 2019 | 16.6% of exports |
| 2020 | 30.6% of exports |
| 2021 | 31.1% of exports |
| 2022 | 23.1% of exports |
| 2023 | 30.4% of exports |
| 2024 | 49.2% 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, Egypt, 2024; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/economy/debt-service/egypt
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.