Abstract

The International Debt Report (IDR) is a longstanding annual publication of the World Bank featuring external debt statistics and analysis for the 122 countries that report to the World Bank Debtor Reporting System. IDR 2023 is the 50th annual edition and includes (1) analyses of external debt stocks and flows as of end-2022 for these countries; (2) the macroeconomic and debt outlook for 2023 and beyond; (3) a focus on improved public debt transparency and the quality of debt reporting; (4) a discussion of the need for innovative approaches to debt management; (5) a commentary on how the International Debt Statistics database serves as an indispensable resource for researchers and policy makers; and (6) a one-page snapshot of relevant debt indicators and summary of debt stocks and flows for six years (2010 and 2018–22) for each country, plus global income group and regional aggregates. Unique in its coverage of the important trends and issues fundamental to the financing of low- and middle-income countries, IDR 2023 is an indispensable resource for governments, economists, investors, financial consultants, academics, bankers, and the entire development community. For more information on IDR 2023 and related products, please visit the World Bank's Debt Statistics website at www.worldbank.org/debtstatistics.

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Introduction: International Debt Statistics at 50—Past, Present, and Future

The International Debt Report 2023 is the 50th edition of the World Bank’s annual publication on external debt along with the International Debt Statistics (IDS) database,1 the most comprehensive and transparent source of verifiable, cross-country comparable external debt data of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Much has changed over 50 years. Yet there are many similarities between 1973, the first year the World Bank publicly disseminated the data it collected through its Debtor Reporting System (DRS) on the external debt obligations of its borrowers, and now. Much like this year, 1973 was marked by a challenging global economy with multiple destabilizing forces. The Bretton Woods international monetary system had recently been abandoned. An oil crisis began that generated inflation through higher energy and commodity prices and threw the world economy into recession.

Total World Bank lending reached US$3.6 billion that year—higher than any previous year. It achieved a goal set by World Bank President Robert McNamara to double World Bank–provided assistance in 1969–73 over the previous five-year period.

Today the world is emerging from a pandemic that shook economies, disrupted international trade, and ignited global inflation. LMICs in particular are struggling with the effects of an ongoing war in Europe, rising energy prices, sharply higher interest rates, and slowing growth. World Bank Group loans, grants, and guarantees have grown to more than US$128 billion and are as critical as ever to the World Bank’s central mission of ending extreme poverty on a livable planet. Fifty years on, however, one challenge remains the same: debt levels and debt servicing costs are rising in many LMICs—fueling fears of impending debt crises.

In 1973, the World Bank stood out as an early champion of debt transparency by recognizing that public debt should be publicly disclosed and that debt statistics drawn from the DRS constituted an important public good. The World Bank committed to an annual publication on debt, accompanied by the dissemination of a database that provides comprehensive and timely information on the external debt stocks and flows of LMICs.

The World Bank remains steadfast in that commitment today. In fact, the World Bank is now better equipped to disseminate accurate, verifiable, and transparent data about external debt held by LMICs. Over the past 50 years, its annual publication on debt has undergone numerous improvements and name changes. Multiple expansions of DRS reporting requirements have ensured that data collected have kept pace with the ever-changing landscape of international finance for LMICs and continue to meet the evolving needs of policy makers and the broader international community.

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