MENAP’s debt-to-GNI jump biggest among regions: World Bank

November 11, 2026 (MLN):  The external debt of the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan region rose 5.8% year-on-year to $598bn in 2025, about 80% higher than the $332bn recorded in 2015, according to the World Bank Group’s International Debt Report 2026.

The report covers 13 countries in the region, with a combined population of 741mn and gross national income of $2.04tr.

Pakistan is part of the region, and its own external debt stood at $135.1bn.

The region recorded the largest single-year increase in its external debt-to- gross national income (GNI) ratio of any region, with the ratio rising to 29.4% in 2025 from 26.7% a year earlier.

The report said this pointed to continued accumulation of debt stock, even as debt service ratios improved, with debt service to GNI easing by 0.4 percentage point to 3.1%.

Public and publicly guaranteed debt made up $425bn of the total, while private non-guaranteed debt stood at $51bn and short-term debt at $122bn.

Within public and publicly guaranteed debt, multilateral creditors held $186bn, private creditors $126bn and bilateral creditors $114bn.

Among multilateral lenders, World Bank-IBRD was owed $42bn and IMF-SDR allocations stood at $30bn, while other multilateral creditors accounted for $114bn.

On the bilateral side, China was owed $30bn and Saudi Arabia $15bn, while other bilateral creditors accounted for $69bn.

The region’s external debt stood at 107% of exports in 2025, while debt service was 11% of exports.

Official creditors extended new funds to the region at an average maturity of 20 years, a four-year grace period and an interest rate of 3.3%.

Private creditors extended funds at an average maturity of five years, a five-year grace period and an interest rate of 6.9%.

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