Bangladesh external debt reaches $113.44 billion, above South Asia per-capita average

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Bangladesh external debt 2025

Highlights

Bangladesh's outstanding external debt climbs 8.6% year-on-year to $113.44 billion by end-2025, with $89.51 billion in public and publicly guaranteed liabilities.
Per-capita external debt in Bangladesh surpasses the South Asian average at over $564 in 2025, higher than India and Nepal but below Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and the Maldives.
Bangladesh's external debt stands at 210% of exports and 24% of GNI in 2025, while debt service as a share of exports drops to 16%.

World Bank data and debt composition

As reported by The Business Standard, citing the World Bank in its International Debt Report 2026, Bangladesh's outstanding external debt rises 8.6% from a year earlier by the end of 2025. The report, released on November 5, shows the country's external liabilities have climbed from $38.77 billion in 2015, underscoring a decade-long buildup in foreign borrowing.

Of the total debt stock, $89.51 billion consists of public and publicly guaranteed debt, $9.87 billion is private nonguaranteed debt and $14.06 billion is short-term debt. Within the public and publicly guaranteed category, multilateral creditors hold $51.14 billion, bilateral creditors hold $32.65 billion and private creditors account for $5.72 billion.

Among multilateral lenders, the World Bank's International Development Association holds $22.64 billion, followed by the Asian Development Bank at $17.52 billion and other multilateral creditors at $10.99 billion. Japan is the largest bilateral creditor with $12.72 billion, ahead of Russia at $9.02 billion and other bilateral lenders at $10.90 billion.

Regional comparison and debt-service trends

Bangladesh's per-capita external debt is higher than the South Asian average of about $564 in 2025, based on the region's combined external debt of $955 billion and population of 1.692 billion. Within the six-country regional grouping covered by the World Bank, Bangladesh's per-capita figure is above India at about $522 and Nepal at $401, but below Sri Lanka at about $2,645, Bhutan at $4,218 and the Maldives at nearly $8,957.

Debt indicators in the report show Bangladesh's external debt stands at 210% of exports in 2025, up 6.7% from 2015, while the debt-to-GNI ratio rises 5.9% to 24%. Debt service declines relative to both exports and national income over the same period, with debt service as a share of exports falling 3.1% to 16% and as a share of GNI dropping 3.8% to 2%.

Latest Bangladesh Bank data separately show gross external debt stands at almost $115 billion as of June 2026. Across low- and middle-income countries globally, the World Bank says external debt rises 5.5% to a record $9.4 trillion in 2025, while total principal and interest payments reach $1.4 trillion, marking a fifth straight annual increase in debt-service payments.

Our earlier coverage on sovereign borrowing risks in a higher-rate environment examined how prolonged geopolitical tensions and elevated fiscal spending are tightening financing conditions for governments. It highlighted that emerging and frontier markets are especially exposed because debt-service costs can rise faster than budget revenues, while persistent shocks such as energy and food price spikes can further strain public finances and credit outlooks.

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