Economy · External debt service · Zambia
Zambia’s external debt service rose to 30.5% of exports in 2024.
30.5% of exports
2024
Up 22.2 pp from 2023.
Updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
30.5% of exports
What it is. External debt service measures the share of a country's foreign earnings that goes to repaying creditors abroad. It divides principal and interest due by exports of goods, services and primary income, which are the main sources of foreign currency. Debt owed to domestic lenders sits outside the ratio. The figure can also move when export earnings change, even if repayments stay the same.
Lower is better. A lower figure is better because less of the foreign currency Zambia earns goes to creditors, leaving more for imports and reserves. The latest figure is 30.5% of exports for 2024, against 8.2% of exports a year earlier, a rise of 22.2 percentage points. Since 2015 the series has ranged from 7% of exports in 2015 to 32.8% of exports in 2019. The 2024 figure sits close to the top of that range, just below the 2019 high.
Why it matters. At 30.5% of exports, a large share of what Zambia earns abroad is committed to external creditors before it can pay for anything else. Firms that rely on imported inputs compete with repayments for the same foreign currency. The state has to find that currency to meet its obligations, which limits what is left for other spending abroad.
| Period | External debt service · Zambia |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 7% of exports |
| 2016 | 10.4% of exports |
| 2017 | 9.9% of exports |
| 2018 | 13.7% of exports |
| 2019 | 32.8% of exports |
| 2020 | 23.8% of exports |
| 2021 | 14.6% of exports |
| 2022 | 11.7% of exports |
| 2023 | 8.2% of exports |
| 2024 | 30.5% 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, Zambia, 2024; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/economy/debt-service/zambia
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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.