Pakistan’s External Debt Nearly Doubles to $135.1 Billion in a Decade: World Bank
Pakistan’s external debt has nearly doubled over the past decade, climbing from $68.673 billion in 2015 to $135.107 billion in 2025, an increase of approximately 97 per cent, according to the World Bank’s International Debt Report 2026.
The report shows that Pakistan’s total external debt stood at $135.107 billion at the end of 2025, comprising $107.076 billion in public and publicly guaranteed debt, $17.58 billion in private non-guaranteed debt and $10.45 billion in short-term obligations. Public and publicly guaranteed debt accounted for nearly 79 per cent of the total.
Among Pakistan’s public and publicly guaranteed creditors, multilateral institutions held $56.83 billion, bilateral lenders $42.43 billion and private creditors $7.8 billion.
China remained Pakistan’s largest individual creditor, with outstanding loans of $22.4 billion, followed by the World Bank with $19.2 billion and the Asian Development Bank with $16.83 billion.
The report also highlighted a significant difference in borrowing costs between official and private creditors. Loans from official creditors carried an average interest rate of 3.6 per cent, with a maturity period of 16 years and a four-year grace period. In comparison, private-sector borrowing carried an average interest rate of 8.6 per cent, with a repayment period of three years and a grace period of just one year.
During 2025, China extended the maturity periods of $2 billion in loans to Pakistan, providing additional relief in managing repayment obligations. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund disbursed $2.3 billion under its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) programmes to support Pakistan’s economic stability and longer-term reforms.
At the regional level, the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan (MENAP) region recorded some improvement in debt-servicing and interest-payment ratios. However, its external debt-to-gross national income ratio increased from 26.7 per cent to 29.4 per cent in 2025, marking the largest annual rise among all regions.
The World Bank report further revealed that external debt held by developing economies reached a record $9.4 trillion, highlighting growing financing and repayment challenges across emerging economies.
The findings underline Pakistan’s continued dependence on external financing, particularly from multilateral institutions and bilateral partners, with China remaining its largest individual creditor, as the country faces mounting debt-servicing obligations and continues efforts to stabilize its economy.
