Economy · External debt service · Senegal
Senegal’s external debt service rose to 41.8% of exports in 2024.
41.8% of exports
2024
Up 11.6 pp from 2023.
Updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
41.8% of exports
What it is. External debt service compares what a country pays lenders in principal and interest with what it earns abroad from goods, services and primary income such as investment returns. Setting payments against export earnings shows how much of a country's foreign income is committed to creditors before anything else is bought. Because it is a ratio, it rises when repayments grow and also when export earnings fall. It leaves out the timing of individual repayments and the mix of lenders.
Lower is better. A lower share is better because more of the foreign income from exports stays available for imports, public services and investment. Senegal's latest figure is 41.8% of exports in 2024, up from 30.2% a year earlier, a rise of 11.6 percentage points. Since 2015 the lowest reading was 9.5% of exports in 2016. The 2024 figure is also the highest in that span, so the ratio now sits at the top of its own range.
Why it matters. At 42% of exports, a large part of what Senegal earns abroad goes to creditors before it can be used for anything else. That leaves the state less room in the budget for spending at home and less foreign currency for imports such as fuel and food. Firms and households can feel this through tighter public finances and higher costs for imported goods.
| Period | External debt service · Senegal |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 23.2% of exports |
| 2016 | 9.5% of exports |
| 2017 | 12.4% of exports |
| 2018 | 14% of exports |
| 2019 | 19.8% of exports |
| 2020 | 23.4% of exports |
| 2021 | 20.7% of exports |
| 2022 | 18.1% of exports |
| 2023 | 30.2% of exports |
| 2024 | 41.8% 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, Senegal, 2024; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/economy/debt-service/senegal
Data insights · Worked 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.