ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s total external debt nearly doubled over the decade ending in 2025, rising from $68.673 billion in 2015 to $135.107 billion, according to the World Bank’s International Debt Report 2026.
The total included $107.076 billion in public and publicly guaranteed debt, $17.58 billion in private non-guaranteed debt and $10.45 billion in short-term debt. China was Pakistan’s largest individual creditor at $22.4 billion, followed by the World Bank at $19.2 billion and the Asian Development Bank at $16.83 billion.
Official creditors’ loans carried an average maturity of 16 years with a four-year grace period and a 3.6% average interest rate, while private credit carried an 8.6% average rate with a three-year repayment period and a one-year grace period.
The Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan region saw its external debt-to-gross national income ratio rise from 26.7% to 29.4% in 2025 — the largest single-year increase of any region.
In 2025, China extended maturities on $2 billion in loans to Pakistan, and the International Monetary Fund disbursed $2.3 billion under its Extended Fund Facility and Resilience and Sustainability Facility arrangements.
Globally, borrowing by low- and middle-income countries surged, with external debt climbing 5.5% to a record $9.4 trillion as bond issues rebounded and the weakening dollar amplified the increase. Debt service payments rose for a fifth consecutive year to $1.4 trillion, driven by a 13.7% rise in payments to bondholders.
