Economy · External debt · Central African Republic
Central African Republic’s external debt fell to $1bn in 2024.
$1bn
2024
Down $0.04bn from 2023.
Updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
$1bn
What it is. External debt is the total stock of money that a country's government, firms and banks owe to lenders abroad, valued in current US dollars at a single point in time. It is compiled in the World Bank's International Debt Statistics and covers public and private borrowing from foreign creditors, including loans from multilateral institutions. Because it is measured in dollars, exchange-rate movements change the figure even when borrowing stays the same. Debt that residents owe each other in local currency sits outside it.
Lower is better. A smaller stock means less foreign currency has to go to creditors and less exposure to outside lenders, so a lower figure is better. The latest figure, for 2024, is $1bn, down from $1.1bn in 2023, a fall of 3.5%. Since 2015 the stock has ranged from $0.74bn in 2015 to $1.1bn in 2021. The 2024 figure therefore sits closer to the top of that range than to the bottom, even after the latest decline.
Why it matters. For the Central African Republic, $1bn of external debt means interest and repayments in foreign currency that have to be met from limited export earnings, aid and government revenue. Much of the country's borrowing comes from official lenders, so the stock shapes how much room the state has for spending at home. A further fall from the 2021 peak of $1.1bn would ease that load, and the next annual figure will show whether the 2024 decline holds.
| Period | External debt · Central African Republic |
|---|---|
| 2015 | $0.74bn |
| 2016 | $0.74bn |
| 2017 | $0.77bn |
| 2018 | $0.84bn |
| 2019 | $0.87bn |
| 2020 | $0.91bn |
| 2021 | $1.1bn |
| 2022 | $1bn |
| 2023 | $1.1bn |
| 2024 | $1bn |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0) · Licence: CC BY 4.0
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Strata-AF™ Data, External debt, Central African Republic, 2024; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/economy/external-debt/central-african-republic
Data insights · Worked out from the published figures
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Methodology
Total external debt stocks, current US dollars (International Debt Statistics). Unit: USD bn.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (series DT.DOD.DECT.CD), retrieved through the World Bank API and published under CC BY 4.0. Updated annually; the World Bank's own source notes apply.