Data for 1988

External Debt Stocks (% of GNI), 1988

1988, as World Bank Group’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

External Debt Stocks (% of GNI), 1988 covers 87 countries. Guyana is highest, at 593.58; Iran is lowest, at 4.75. The middle country reads 61.80. Against 1987, 87 values changed (32 up, 55 down), the same countries are covered.

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External Debt Stocks (% of GNI) · Data for 1988

HighestGuyana

593.58

LowestIran

4.75

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

87countries
1measure
1988the year it describes
87distinct values14 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), 1988, 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 87 countries · select a heading to sort

External Debt Stocks (% of GNI), 1988: every country, as published by World Bank Group.
derived
1	GuyanaGUYSouth America	593.58
2	NicaraguaNICCentral America	389.24
3	MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia	318.77
4	LaosLAOSouth-eastern Asia	221.73
5	Republic of the CongoCOGMiddle Africa	212.44
6	ZambiaZMBEastern Africa	201.74
7	SomaliaSOMEastern Africa	185.81
8	LiberiaLBRWestern Africa	182.67
9	MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa	152.41
10	Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa	143.43
11	Guinea-BissauGNBWestern Africa	139.63
12	EgyptEGYNorthern Africa	132.72
13	JamaicaJAMCaribbean	132.63
14	PeruPERSouth America	131.35
15	MadagascarMDGEastern Africa	122.37
16	GambiaGMBWestern Africa	119.58
17	São Tomé and PríncipeSTPMiddle Africa	118.67
18	BoliviaBOLSouth America	115.34
19	DR CongoCODMiddle Africa	105.45
20	Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa	103.85
21	JordanJORWestern Asia	99.13
22	MaliMLIWestern Africa	94.26
23	EcuadorECUSouth America	91.46
24	MoroccoMARNorthern Africa	85.20
25	SudanSDNNorthern Africa	83.40
26	TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa	83.16
27	Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean	80.60
28	GabonGABMiddle Africa	79.99
29	NigerNERWestern Africa	76.09
30	BurundiBDIEastern Africa	75.58
31	Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia	74.84
32	BeninBENWestern Africa	73.35
33	KenyaKENEastern Africa	72.33
34	TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa	70.85
35	EthiopiaETHEastern Africa	69.42
36	PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia	68.98
37	MalawiMWIEastern Africa	67.68
38	GuineaGINWestern Africa	67.60
39	IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia	67.40
40	TogoTGOWestern Africa	64.39
41	Papua New GuineaPNGMelanesia	64.00
42	SenegalSENWestern Africa	62.79
43	ParaguayPRYSouth America	61.82
44	GhanaGHAWestern Africa	61.80
45	Solomon IslandsSLBMelanesia	61.72
46	HondurasHNDCentral America	60.56
47	MexicoMEXCentral America	57.01
48	ComorosCOMEastern Africa	56.40
49	Central African RepublicCAFMiddle Africa	54.05
50	El SalvadorSLVCentral America	51.58
51	ArgentinaARGSouth America	48.62
52	Cabo VerdeCPVWestern Africa	46.92
53	SamoaWSMPolynesia	46.46
54	TürkiyeTURWestern Asia	46.39
55	AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa	46.12
56	ColombiaCOLSouth America	45.94
57	PakistanPAKSouthern Asia	45.34
58	DominicaDMACaribbean	45.22
59	MaldivesMDVSouthern Asia	45.12
60	ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa	43.56
61	BulgariaBGREastern Europe	40.41
62	CameroonCMRMiddle Africa	39.47
63	GrenadaGRDCaribbean	39.44
64	MauritiusMUSEastern Africa	38.89
65	BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia	37.80
66	BrazilBRASouth America	37.27
67	ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia	35.86
68	LesothoLSOSouthern Africa	35.44
69	GuatemalaGTMCentral America	35.33
70	HaitiHTICaribbean	33.91
71	FijiFJIMelanesia	33.88
72	NepalNPLSouthern Asia	33.45
73	TongaTONPolynesia	32.95
74	Burkina FasoBFAWestern Africa	32.47
75	BelizeBLZCentral America	31.85
76	UgandaUGAEastern Africa	30.08
77	RwandaRWAEastern Africa	27.44
78	BhutanBTNSouthern Asia	27.26
79	ChadTCDMiddle Africa	26.93
80	Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesVCTCaribbean	25.48
81	BotswanaBWASouthern Africa	21.58
82	IndiaINDSouthern Asia	20.20
83	VanuatuVUTMelanesia	19.03
84	CambodiaKHMSouth-eastern Asia	14.59
85	Saint LuciaLCACaribbean	14.25
86	ChinaCHNEastern Asia	13.57
87	IranIRNSouthern Asia	4.75

02In 1988

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Guyana593.58
2Nicaragua389.24
3Myanmar318.77
4Laos221.73
5Republic of the Congo212.44

Lowest

87Iran4.75
86China13.57
85Saint Lucia14.25
84Cambodia14.59
83Vanuatu19.03

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 61.80. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031987 → 1988

Since 1987

What changed between 1987 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
87values changed, of 87 in both
32 · 55rose · fell
0unchanged

Rose most

Nicaragua211.24 → 389.24+177.99
Laos107.06 → 221.73+114.67
Peru50.79 → 131.35+80.56
São Tomé and Príncipe88.77 → 118.67+29.90
Republic of the Congo183.32 → 212.44+29.12

Fell most

Zambia337.28 → 201.74−135.54
Guyana672.80 → 593.58−79.22
Sierra Leone164.22 → 103.85−60.37
Bolivia146.68 → 115.34−31.34
Jamaica162.07 → 132.63−29.45

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

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 1988.
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 87 countries has every column.

05The 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
87 rows · 3.9 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download external-debt-1988-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 (1988). External Debt Stocks (% of GNI), 1988 [data set], describing 1988. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/external-debt/1988

0644 held

Other years

‹ The year before
External Debt Stocks (% of GNI), 1987
87 countries
The year after ›
External Debt Stocks (% of GNI), 1989
90 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

07Questions