[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"question:109:en-US":3},{"metadata":4,"sys":15,"fields":35},{"tags":5,"concepts":14},[6,11],{"sys":7},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":10},"Link","Tag","global",{"sys":12},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":13},"partnership",[],{"space":16,"id":20,"type":21,"createdAt":22,"updatedAt":23,"environment":24,"publishedVersion":28,"revision":29,"contentType":30,"locale":34},{"sys":17},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"Space","ghhpjogyw4x7","1d86bb9c2371d1980f85c78c922e25f1","Entry","2022-01-05T09:52:14.972Z","2026-01-13T09:07:12.105Z",{"sys":25},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},"master","Environment",88,19,{"sys":31},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":33},"ContentType","question","en-US",{"globalId":36,"answers":37,"answersAsImages":58,"wrongPercentage":28,"name":94,"questionText":95,"statistics":96,"veryWrongStatistics":98,"correctSentence":100,"youWereWrong":101,"youWereRight":102,"dataSourceShortText":103,"dataSourceLinkLongText":104,"extendedAnswerText":105,"headingVeryWrong":106,"youWereVeryWrong":107,"headingWrong":106},"109",[38,60,77],{"metadata":39,"sys":42,"fields":55},{"tags":40,"concepts":41},[],[],{"space":43,"id":45,"type":21,"createdAt":46,"updatedAt":47,"environment":48,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":52,"locale":34},{"sys":44},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"b598c053ce6811219eb255398b416072","2022-01-07T15:28:56.749Z","2023-10-19T13:17:11.383Z",{"sys":49},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},13,9,{"sys":53},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},"answer",{"globalId":56,"correctAnswer":57,"isVeryWrong":58,"answerText":59},"109-a1",true,false,"Around 4%",{"metadata":61,"sys":64,"fields":74},{"tags":62,"concepts":63},[],[],{"space":65,"id":67,"type":21,"createdAt":68,"updatedAt":69,"environment":70,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":72,"locale":34},{"sys":66},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"c7fd1e64e30fa8f8d25c2af5c25bfb9f","2022-01-07T15:28:56.783Z","2023-10-19T13:17:11.340Z",{"sys":71},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},{"sys":73},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},{"globalId":75,"correctAnswer":58,"isVeryWrong":58,"answerText":76},"109-a2","Around 8%",{"metadata":78,"sys":81,"fields":91},{"tags":79,"concepts":80},[],[],{"space":82,"id":84,"type":21,"createdAt":85,"updatedAt":86,"environment":87,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":89,"locale":34},{"sys":83},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"c61842ccbd78ba0fa83eeabe1e86952e","2022-01-07T15:28:56.816Z","2023-10-19T13:17:11.304Z",{"sys":88},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},{"sys":90},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},{"globalId":92,"correctAnswer":58,"isVeryWrong":57,"answerText":93},"109-a3","Around 12%","LIC MIC loan spending","In 2000, low- and middle-income countries on average spent almost 6% of their annual income on their government's loans. What was this number in 2024?",[97],"uk 0.88",[99],"uk 0.52","Low- and middle-income countries spend around 4% of their income making repayments on money their governments have borrowed.","Low- and middle-income countries have had to spend less of their income paying back interest on debts to richer countries, since 2000.","They missed that since 2000, low- and middle-income countries have had to spend less of their income paying back interest on debts to richer countries.","Source: World Bank","This data[1] comes from the World Bank International debt statistics[2] which reported the average debt service as a percentage of national income for low- and middle-income countries as 3.7% in 2023. \n\nIt was defined in the following way:\n“Total debt service is the sum of principal repayments and interest actually paid in currency, goods, or services on long-term debt, interest paid on short-term debt, and repayments (repurchases and charges) to the IMF.”[1]\n\nThe underlying data comes from the World Bank’s External Debt Reporting System[3] that aims to capture detailed information at loan level for external borrowing of the reporting countries. \n\n[1]  [World Bank, International Debt Statistics - Total debt service (% of GNI)](https:\u002F\u002Fdata.worldbank.org\u002Findicator\u002FDT.TDS.DECT.GN.ZS?locations=XO)  \n[2]  [International Debt Statistics report 2021](https:\u002F\u002Fopenknowledge.worldbank.org\u002Fbitstream\u002Fhandle\u002F10986\u002F34588\u002F9781464816109.pdf)  \n[3]  [World Bank - What is the External Debt Reporting System (DRS)?](https:\u002F\u002Fdatahelpdesk.worldbank.org\u002Fknowledgebase\u002Farticles\u002F381934-what-is-the-external-debt-reporting-system-drs)  ","At the turn of the century, low- and middle-income countries were paying an all-time high share of their income to pay interest on loans from richer countries. The cruel thing for many of these countries was that the loans had been taken by dictators no longer in power. \n\nSince 2000, through various efforts from organizations like the World Bank and the IMF, these countries have been able to pay a smaller share of their income in debt service payments, which means they have more to spend on things like the healthcare and education of their citizens. \n\nDespite this progress, over the last 5 or so years the share of income these countries have had to pay back has started to rise again, and half of the poorest countries were in or at high-risk of being in debt distress in 2019, before [debt service was suspended due to Covid-19](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.worldbank.org\u002Fen\u002Fnews\u002Ffactsheet\u002F2020\u002F05\u002F11\u002Fdebt-relief-and-covid-19-coronavirus).\n\n### Why are people wrong about this?\nPeople probably exaggerate the share of income that low- and middle-income countries are paying in debt service payments because they are unaware of the agreements that were made through the efforts of international organizations to lighten the burden on the world’s poorest countries.\n\n### Why is it a problem that people are wrong about this?\nIf they didn’t realize that things got better because there was an actual coordinated effort to do so, they might think it would never be possible for poor countries to escape the stranglehold of debt repayments. Knowing this means people can push for these debts to be reduced or even canceled so these poorer countries can focus on providing services to their citizens.\n\n### Do all low- and middle-income countries pay a similar share of debt service?\nNo, they don’t. On average, in 2024, middle-income countries paid a 4% share of their income in debt service and low-income countries paid 3%, on average. \nEven among the low-income countries, there were large differences, Mozambique paid 22% of its national income in debt service, whereas the share for Somalia was 0.1%. \nAmong middle-income countries, Kazakhstan spent 19% of its income on loan repayments, while the shares paid by Algeria and Iran were 0.2% and 0.1% respectively.\n\n### Can I trust this data?\nYes, you can. It is important to realize that although this data was recommended by experts we spoke to, the underlying data is reported by the debtors themselves so it is difficult to assess whether all of the figures are completely accurate.\n\nIt is also good to remember that this is an average of low- and middle-countries and the individual share changes from country to country. \n\n### Where can I learn more?\n[In Gapminder tools]( https:\u002F\u002Fgapm.io\u002Ftds), you can see the shares of countries' incomes spent on debt payments.\n","Lower repayments","You missed that since 2000, low- and middle-income countries have had to spend less of their income paying back interest on debts to richer countries."]