Economy · External debt service · Niger
Niger’s external debt service rose to 19% of exports in 2024.
19% of exports
2024
Up 4.9 pp from 2023.
Updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
19% of exports
What it is. This measure compares the payments a country owes on its debt with the money it earns from selling goods, services and primary income abroad. It is built by dividing total debt service by those export earnings, so it shows how heavy the repayment burden is relative to the foreign income available to meet it. It leaves out the size of the debt stock and the terms on which the money was borrowed.
Lower is better. Lower is better because a smaller share of export earnings going to creditors leaves more foreign currency for imports and other spending. Niger's latest figure is 19% of exports in 2024, up from 14.1% of exports in 2023, a rise of 4.9 percentage points. That is the highest level since 2015, when the series stood at its low of 6.2% of exports.
Why it matters. With 19% of exports committed to debt service, the state has less foreign currency left over for imports and for public spending that depends on it. Firms that buy goods from abroad compete with the government for the same pool of foreign exchange. If export earnings do not grow, the 2024 level would leave less room to absorb any further rise in repayments.
| Period | External debt service · Niger |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 6.2% of exports |
| 2016 | 8.3% of exports |
| 2017 | 8.7% of exports |
| 2018 | 8% of exports |
| 2019 | 9.4% of exports |
| 2020 | 13.3% of exports |
| 2021 | 13.6% of exports |
| 2022 | 18.2% of exports |
| 2023 | 14.1% of exports |
| 2024 | 19% 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, Niger, 2024; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/economy/debt-service/niger
Data insights · Worked out from the published figures
What this means
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.