Data for 1981

External Debt Stocks (% of GNI), 1981

1981, as World Bank Group’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

External Debt Stocks (% of GNI), 1981 covers 85 countries. Guyana is highest, at 180.54; Bhutan is lowest, at 0.30. The middle country reads 36.93.

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External Debt Stocks (% of GNI) · Data for 1981

HighestGuyana

180.54

LowestBhutan

0.30

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the lowest end. A higher value is the worse result.

85countries
1measure
1981the year it describes
85distinct values15 decimals, as published
Sep 6, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of External Debt Stocks (% of GNI), 1981, as published. World Bank Group ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 85 countries · select a heading to sort

External Debt Stocks (% of GNI), 1981: every country, as published by World Bank Group.
derived
1	GuyanaGUYSouth America	180.54
2	MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia	178.68
3	SomaliaSOMEastern Africa	135.10
4	NicaraguaNICCentral America	111.66
5	EgyptEGYNorthern Africa	107.85
6	Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa	102.91
7	MaldivesMDVSouthern Asia	99.99
8	ZambiaZMBEastern Africa	92.67
9	MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa	91.08
10	LiberiaLBRWestern Africa	85.83
11	JamaicaJAMCaribbean	82.93
12	GambiaGMBWestern Africa	81.85
13	Republic of the CongoCOGMiddle Africa	79.39
14	TogoTGOWestern Africa	75.00
15	MoroccoMARNorthern Africa	61.47
16	BoliviaBOLSouth America	61.25
17	SudanSDNNorthern Africa	59.80
18	Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa	55.54
19	MaliMLIWestern Africa	55.23
20	UgandaUGAEastern Africa	53.38
21	PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia	52.00
22	Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia	51.05
23	SamoaWSMPolynesia	50.72
24	Papua New GuineaPNGMelanesia	49.13
25	JordanJORWestern Asia	48.91
26	NigerNERWestern Africa	48.76
27	KenyaKENEastern Africa	48.62
28	ArgentinaARGSouth America	46.60
29	HondurasHNDCentral America	46.51
30	MalawiMWIEastern Africa	45.61
31	MauritiusMUSEastern Africa	45.38
32	CameroonCMRMiddle Africa	44.49
33	TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa	44.44
34	TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa	43.83
35	AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa	43.38
36	BeninBENWestern Africa	42.18
37	PeruPERSouth America	42.17
38	SenegalSENWestern Africa	41.91
39	DR CongoCODMiddle Africa	41.76
40	São Tomé and PríncipeSTPMiddle Africa	40.15
41	PakistanPAKSouthern Asia	38.01
42	Guinea-BissauGNBWestern Africa	37.31
43	EcuadorECUSouth America	36.93
44	GhanaGHAWestern Africa	36.56
45	El SalvadorSLVCentral America	36.55
46	MadagascarMDGEastern Africa	34.54
47	HaitiHTICaribbean	34.10
48	Central African RepublicCAFMiddle Africa	33.43
49	Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean	32.64
50	BrazilBRASouth America	32.42
51	GabonGABMiddle Africa	32.13
52	ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia	31.64
53	MexicoMEXCentral America	30.91
54	GrenadaGRDCaribbean	30.71
55	ChadTCDMiddle Africa	29.67
56	Cabo VerdeCPVWestern Africa	28.13
57	ComorosCOMEastern Africa	27.90
58	IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia	27.60
59	TürkiyeTURWestern Asia	27.58
60	CambodiaKHMSouth-eastern Asia	25.74
61	ColombiaCOLSouth America	24.86
62	EthiopiaETHEastern Africa	24.56
63	BelizeBLZCentral America	23.27
64	FijiFJIMelanesia	22.57
65	ParaguayPRYSouth America	21.37
66	BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia	20.44
67	Burkina FasoBFAWestern Africa	18.58
68	Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesVCTCaribbean	18.56
69	BurundiBDIEastern Africa	18.49
70	ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa	17.56
71	DominicaDMACaribbean	17.47
72	GuatemalaGTMCentral America	16.06
73	GuineaGINWestern Africa	15.48
74	BotswanaBWASouthern Africa	14.36
75	RwandaRWAEastern Africa	13.88
76	Solomon IslandsSLBMelanesia	12.33
77	NepalNPLSouthern Asia	12.18
78	LesothoLSOSouthern Africa	11.65
79	IndiaINDSouthern Asia	11.62
80	Saint LuciaLCACaribbean	8.47
81	BulgariaBGREastern Europe	3.93
82	IranIRNSouthern Asia	3.91
83	VanuatuVUTMelanesia	3.09
84	ChinaCHNEastern Asia	2.96
85	BhutanBTNSouthern Asia	0.30

02In 1981

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Guyana180.54
2Myanmar178.68
3Somalia135.10
4Nicaragua111.66
5Egypt107.85

Lowest

85Bhutan0.30
84China2.96
83Vanuatu3.09
82Iran3.91
81Bulgaria3.93

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 36.93. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

03Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

The site’s method

One year of the 2026 release
Every year in this series comes from World Bank Group’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 1981.
The position is ours
World Bank Group publishes values only. The order here sorts the published values, and the page says so wherever it prints one.
Which end is better
A higher value is the worse result.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 85 countries has every column.

04The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
85 rows · 3.8 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download external-debt-1981-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
World Bank Group’s own file, on its own site.
DT.DOD.DECT.GN.ZS

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY 4.0. Share, adapt and use commercially. Credit the publisher and say if you changed anything.

Cite this edition

World Bank Group (1981). External Debt Stocks (% of GNI), 1981 [data set], describing 1981. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/external-debt/1981

0544 held

Other years

‹ The year before
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External Debt Stocks (% of GNI), 1982
85 countries
All of them
External Debt Stocks (% of GNI): every year
44 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

06Questions