Top 10 countries with the highest debt service burden
Countries by government interest payments as a share of revenue
This ranking measures how much government revenue is absorbed by interest payments on public debt. The metric is Interest payments (% of revenue), expressed as a percentage of government revenue. A higher value means interest costs take a larger share of the public revenue base, leaving less fiscal room for services, investment, transfers and shock response.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The table uses the World Bank World Development Indicators series GC.XPN.INTP.RV.ZS, sourced from the IMF Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files. It is a 2026 snapshot based on the latest available official country observations on the World Bank public indicator page, not a 2026 fiscal-year dataset. Years differ by country because government finance reporting has uneven lags.
Coverage in this page: Top 20 confirmed country entries; unit: % of revenue; direction: higher means heavier debt-service burden; status mix: 20 official_value rows, 0 official_forecast rows, 0 modeled_projection rows. The table is a compiled research dataset based on 3 source references, with row-level source and method notes shown in the ranking table.
Executive summary
Latest available official WDI observation: 2023. It is far above the rest of the confirmed Top 20.
The Dominican Republic is the lowest value in the confirmed Top 20. The Bahamas and Mexico are tied at 20.0% after rounding and appear just above it.
Aggregated regions, income groups and non-country aggregates are excluded from the public ranking table.
No forecast or modeled projection row is included. Years range from 2015 to 2024 because latest official reporting differs by country.
Overview
The upper part of the ranking is not simply a list of the largest public debts. It shows where the interest bill is large relative to the revenue collected by government. That can happen because the debt stock is high, borrowing rates are high, maturities roll over quickly, currency depreciation raises foreign-currency interest costs, or the revenue base is too narrow to absorb the interest bill.
In this confirmed Top 20, South Asia includes the highest value, while Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America & Caribbean account for most rows. The United States also appears in the Top 20 because the indicator is revenue-based: a large advanced economy can rank high when interest costs rise relative to federal revenue.
Top 10 countries by interest payments as % of government revenue
The first ten entries range from Sri Lanka at 79.9% to Kenya at 24.3%. Older observations are kept only where they are the latest available official WDI value for that country; the source year is shown in every row.
| Rank | Country | Value | Source note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sri Lanka | 79.9% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; latest available year 2023; country-level value. |
| 2 | India | 34.0% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; latest available year 2022; country-level value. |
| 3 | Egypt, Arab Rep. | 33.3% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; latest available year 2015; country-level value. |
| 4 | Bahrain | 31.9% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; latest available year 2020; country-level value. |
| 5 | Brazil | 30.1% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; latest available year 2024; country-level value. |
| 6 | Malawi | 29.9% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; latest available year 2022; country-level value. |
| 7 | Zambia | 27.4% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; latest available year 2021; country-level value. |
| 8 | Barbados | 25.6% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; latest available year 2016; country-level value. |
| 9 | Angola | 25.2% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; latest available year 2024; country-level value. |
| 10 | Kenya | 24.3% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; latest available year 2023; country-level value. |
Rank direction: descending by numeric value. Rounded ties are displayed as consecutive rows and are not averaged.
Chart: Top 20 confirmed entries
The HTML/CSS bar chart compares the confirmed Top 20 using the same value that drives the table ranking. The longest bar is Sri Lanka at 79.9%; all other bars are scaled to that value.
Methodology
The ranking metric is Interest payments (% of revenue). The formula is: interest payments on government debt divided by government revenue, multiplied by 100. Interest payments cover interest on government debt instruments paid to domestic and foreign residents. Revenue covers transactions that increase the economic value of the government sector, as defined in the World Bank metadata for this WDI series.
Metric, unit and direction
The unit is percent of government revenue. Countries are ranked from highest to lowest because a higher share means a larger part of revenue is absorbed by interest costs.
Target year and source years
The page is a 2026 snapshot based on latest available official WDI observations. The target snapshot is 2026, while the row-level data years range from 2015 to 2024. Each table row shows its own source year.
Source hierarchy
The country values come from World Bank WDI series GC.XPN.INTP.RV.ZS. The World Bank metadata and the IMF Government Finance Statistics framework are used to interpret definitions, fiscal-sector coverage and comparability limits.
Inclusion and exclusion
Only country entries with numeric latest available values are included. Aggregates such as World, OECD members, income groups and regional totals are excluded from the public ranking.
Missing values and conflicts
Countries without a numeric latest available value are not included. No conflicting source values are averaged; the official WDI display is treated as the controlling source for this page.
Official, forecast and projection rows
All 20 rows are marked official_value. No official_forecast or modeled_projection row is used, so there is no base year, projection formula or modeled growth assumption in the table.
Rounding
Values are displayed to one decimal place, matching the public World Bank country table display used for this snapshot. Rounded ties are shown as consecutive rows.
What the metric does not measure
It does not measure total public debt, default probability, total debt service including principal repayments, household debt, private-sector debt, or the quality of public spending.
Comparability limits matter. World Bank metadata notes that government finance coverage may differ across countries: some data represent consolidated central government, while others may represent budgetary central government only. Federal states can also have central-government data that do not capture the full public-sector picture. For that reason, this ranking should be read as a fiscal stress screen, not as a complete sovereign-risk model.
Main ranking table
Use the controls to compare countries by region, source year or value. The ranking remains based on the official WDI value shown in each row.
| Rank | Country | Value | Source / method note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sri Lanka | 79.9% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; year 2023; latest available country observation; rank uses interest payments divided by government revenue. |
| 2 | India | 34.0% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; year 2022; latest available country observation; rank uses interest payments divided by government revenue. |
| 3 | Egypt, Arab Rep. | 33.3% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; year 2015; latest available country observation; older source year shown to avoid false recency. |
| 4 | Bahrain | 31.9% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; year 2020; latest available country observation; rank uses interest payments divided by government revenue. |
| 5 | Brazil | 30.1% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; year 2024; latest available country observation; rank uses interest payments divided by government revenue. |
| 6 | Malawi | 29.9% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; year 2022; latest available country observation; rank uses interest payments divided by government revenue. |
| 7 | Zambia | 27.4% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; year 2021; latest available country observation; rank uses interest payments divided by government revenue. |
| 8 | Barbados | 25.6% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; year 2016; latest available country observation; older source year shown to avoid false recency. |
| 9 | Angola | 25.2% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; year 2024; latest available country observation; rank uses interest payments divided by government revenue. |
| 10 | Kenya | 24.3% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; year 2023; latest available country observation; rank uses interest payments divided by government revenue. |
| 11 | Jamaica | 22.4% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; year 2020; latest available country observation; rank uses interest payments divided by government revenue. |
| 12 | Ghana | 21.6% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; year 2023; latest available country observation; rank uses interest payments divided by government revenue. |
| 13 | Guinea-Bissau | 21.0% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; year 2024; latest available country observation; rounded value ties are kept as separate rows. |
| 14 | Uganda | 21.0% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; year 2024; latest available country observation; rounded value ties are kept as separate rows. |
| 15 | Bangladesh | 20.8% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; year 2021; latest available country observation; rank uses interest payments divided by government revenue. |
| 16 | Panama | 20.4% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; year 2021; latest available country observation; rank uses interest payments divided by government revenue. |
| 17 | United States | 20.3% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; year 2024; latest available country observation; rank uses interest payments divided by government revenue. |
| 18 | Bahamas, The | 20.0% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; year 2024; latest available country observation; rounded value ties are kept as separate rows. |
| 19 | Mexico | 20.0% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; year 2024; latest available country observation; rounded value ties are kept as separate rows. |
| 20 | Dominican Republic | 19.3% | official_value; World Bank WDI / IMF GFS; year 2024; latest available country observation; rank uses interest payments divided by government revenue. |
Showing 20 confirmed rows. Source snapshot: World Bank WDI series GC.XPN.INTP.RV.ZS, latest available country observations displayed on the public data page.
Insights from the ranking
Key insight
Sri Lanka is the clear outlier in this latest-available snapshot: its 79.9% value is more than double the second listed country after rounding.
Notable pattern
The upper table contains many countries where revenue capacity, borrowing costs and refinancing needs can interact sharply. The ratio is about budget pressure, not only about the absolute size of debt.
Regional concentration
Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America & Caribbean each account for seven rows in the Top 20. South Asia contributes three rows, including the highest value.
Outlier to interpret carefully
Egypt and Barbados remain in the Top 20 because their latest available WDI observations are older than most rows. They are valid official_value entries, but the table deliberately shows the year so the reader does not mistake them for 2024 values.
What it means
A high interest-to-revenue ratio means the government must use a large share of its revenue just to pay interest. For citizens, the pressure can appear as tighter spending, slower public investment, higher taxes, subsidy cuts or reduced budget flexibility during crises.
For investors and analysts, the metric is a fast screen for debt-service stress. It should be read together with debt-to-GDP, primary balance, maturity profile, currency composition, inflation, exchange-rate risk and the government’s ability to raise stable revenue.
For policy interpretation, the difference between official values and projections matters. This page includes only official_value rows. It does not claim that the same countries will remain in the same order in 2026, because interest costs and revenue can change quickly when rates, exchange rates or tax receipts move.
FAQ
What does interest payments as % of revenue measure?
It measures the share of government revenue used to pay interest on public debt. If the value is 20%, one-fifth of the measured revenue base is absorbed by interest costs before considering other spending priorities.
Why are the source years different across countries?
Government finance data are reported with different lags. This page uses the latest available official WDI observation for each country and shows the year in the row note to avoid mixing it up with a single-year 2024 or 2026 dataset.
Does a high value mean the country will default?
No. It is a fiscal stress indicator, not a default prediction. Market access, debt maturity, currency mix, foreign reserves, growth, inflation and fiscal credibility all affect sovereign risk.
Why can a large economy such as the United States appear in this table?
The ranking is revenue-based. A country can have deep markets and strong institutions but still show a high interest-to-revenue ratio when interest costs rise relative to government revenue.
Is this the same as total debt service?
No. This metric covers interest payments as a share of revenue. It does not include principal repayments and therefore differs from broader debt-service concepts used in external-debt or financing-need analysis.
Why not rank by interest payments as % of expenditure?
Interest as % of expenditure is a related but different denominator. This page ranks by revenue because it directly shows how much of the government revenue base is absorbed by interest. Mixing both indicators in one rank would make the table less comparable.
Can the ranking change quickly?
Yes. The ratio can move when interest rates reset, debt is refinanced, revenues weaken, inflation changes nominal revenue growth, or currency depreciation raises the local-currency cost of foreign-currency debt.
Sources
Primary data page used for the country values, latest available years and the public country table. Used for row-level values and source years.
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GC.XPN.INTP.RV.ZSUsed for the definition of interest payments, unit of measure, source, periodicity, methodology and comparability limitations.
https://databank.worldbank.org/metadataglossary/world-development-indicators/series/GC.XPN.INTP.RV.ZSOriginal statistical framework behind the WDI source note; used to interpret government finance reporting concepts and fiscal-sector coverage.
https://www.imf.org/en/Data/Statistics/GFS
