Economy
Ethiopia’s External Debt Nears $40 Billion as Restructuring Enters Final Stretch
StockMarket.et · 3 hours ago · Read the Full Story on StockMarket.et
AI SUMMARY
According to the World Bank's International Debt Report 2026, Ethiopia's external debt climbed to $39.97 billion at the end of 2025 as the country works to finalize debt restructuring agreements.
- Ethiopia's total external debt reached $39.97 billion at the end of 2025, marking a 9.1 percent increase from the previous year.
- The 2025 debt figure is nearly double the $20.4 billion recorded in 2015.
- Public or publicly guaranteed debt accounts for $39.03 billion of the total, while short-term obligations stand at $941 million.
- Multilateral lenders hold $19.8 billion of the debt, with the World Bank's International Development Association being the single biggest creditor at $14.1 billion.
- The African Development Bank holds $2.2 billion in debt.
- Bilateral lenders are owed $12.4 billion, with China accounting for $6.1 billion of that amount.
- Private creditors, including international bondholders, hold $6.8 billion.
- An official creditor committee signed a memorandum of understanding in December 2025 covering roughly $8.4 billion in debt, with the first bilateral agreement signed with France in February 2026.
- A revised proposal for bondholder restructuring won official creditor backing in August 2026, and an agreement is expected by the end of the year.
- External debt stood at 238 percent of exports in 2025, down 13.3 percent, and debt service consumed 7 percent of export earnings.
- External debt as a share of gross national income rose 29.3 percent to 32 percent, based on a GNI of $126.1 billion and a population of 135.5 million.
- Official creditors lent to Ethiopia in 2025 at an average 31-year maturity, a six-year grace period, and a 0.7 percent interest rate, whereas private lenders averaged 12-year maturities with a 2.9 percent interest rate.
- The World Bank noted that public debt data accessibility in Ethiopia has weakened since the country defaulted on its international bond in 2023.
- Ethiopia remains classified as a low-income, IDA-eligible country with data fully reported to the Debtor Reporting System.
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