Pakistan currently holds the top position in terms of being the most debt-ridden country to China. As of 2022, Pakistan’s total external debt to China amounts to $26.60 billion. Following Pakistan, Angola, a Southwestern African country, ranks second on the list of countries that owe the most debt to China, with a total debt of $20.98 billion.
The rising external debt levels in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) is a cause for concern as it has been increasing at a faster pace than their economic growth over the past decade. According to the World Bank’s International Debt Report, external debt stocks for LMICs saw a slight decrease of 3.4% from $9.3 trillion in 2021 to $9.0 trillion in 2022. However, for International Development Association (IDA) eligible countries, it increased by 2.7% and reached an all-time high of $1.1 trillion in the same year.
China’s economy has been expanding at a rapid pace, with an average annual gross national income growth of over 13% over the past two decades. However, China is also one of the largest borrowers among LMICs while being the largest bilateral creditor. Between 2012 to 2022, approximately 40% of the total net financial inflows to LMICs went to China. The total financial net inflows from external creditors to China during this period amounted to $4 trillion, with 32% of this amount being debt-creating flows and the remaining 68% as equity inflows, including portfolio equity and foreign direct investment.
Despite being a borrower, China is also the largest creditor to LMICs, with the combined public and publicly guaranteed external debt to China amounting to $180 billion in 2022. China is one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia and one of the top creditors to low and middle-income regions. With this context, we will now take a closer look at the countries that owe the most debt to China.
Countries Most in Debt to China, 2024
| Country | Total external debt to China ($Million) |
|---|---|
| Pakistan | 26,599 |
| Angola | 20,978 |
| Sri Lanka | 8,842 |
| Ethiopia | 6,822 |
| Kenya | 6,686 |
| Zambia | 6,078 |
| Bangladesh | 6,053 |
| Lao PDR | 5,246 |
| Egypt | 5,214 |
| Nigeria | 4,292 |
| Ecuador | 4,145 |
| Cambodia | 4,008 |
| Belarus | 3,919 |
| Cote d'Ivoire | 3,848 |
| Cameroon | 3,785 |
| South Africa | 3,429 |
| Congo, Rep. | 3,425 |
| Brazil | 3,384 |
| Mongolia | 3,017 |
| Argentina | 2,856 |
| Uganda | 2,705 |
| Congo, Dem. Rep. | 2,551 |
| Myanmar | 2,457 |
| Serbia | 2,321 |
| Uzbekistan | 2,230 |
| Zimbabwe | 2,095 |
| Ghana | 2,062 |
| Kyrgyz Republic | 1,782 |
| Turkiye | 1,729 |
| Kazakhstan | 1,709 |
| Mozambique | 1,704 |
| Tanzania | 1,688 |
| Guinea | 1,663 |
| Indonesia | 1,468 |
| Bolivia | 1,457 |
| Djibouti | 1,450 |
| Maldives | 1,263 |
| Senegal | 1,250 |
| Papua New Guinea | 1,171 |
| Sudan | 1,147 |
| Gabon | 1,012 |
| Tajikistan | 986 |
| Viet Nam | 966 |
| Montenegro | 864 |
| Ukraine | 845 |
| Iraq | 646 |
| Jamaica | 614 |
| Suriname | 549 |
| Mali | 532 |
| Guyana | 520 |
| North Macedonia | 518 |
| Togo | 444 |
| Honduras | 369 |
| Morocco | 366 |
| Rwanda | 333 |
| Mauritania | 327 |
| Madagascar | 314 |
| Benin | 314 |
| Chad | 281 |
| Nepal | 261 |
| Philippines | 248 |
| Malawi | 228 |
| Niger | 225 |
| Mauritius | 204 |
| Eswatini | 182 |
| Vanuatu | 179 |
| Fiji | 178 |
| Yemen, Rep. | 166 |
| Lesotho | 163 |
| Samoa | 131 |
| Burkina Faso | 120 |
| Turkmenistan | 119 |
| Comoros | 103 |
| Tonga | 97 |
| Costa Rica | 84 |
| Syrian Arab Republic | 74 |
| Sierra Leone | 68 |
| Algeria | 66 |
| Liberia | 54 |
| Jordan | 49 |
| Guatemala | 48 |
| Central African Republic | 47 |
| Burundi | 43 |
| Tunisia | 41 |
| Cabo Verde | 28 |
| Gambia, The | 25 |
| Dominica | 24 |
| Grenada | 24 |
| Armenia | 19 |
| Nicaragua | 18 |
| Eritrea | 13 |
| Lebanon | 7 |
| Iran, Islamic Rep. | 6 |
| Albania | 2 |
| Dominican Republic | 1 |
To compile the list of countries most in debt to China, we used the World Bank’s Databank and the International Debt Statistics data to obtain the total external debt stock values (DOD, current US$) of each country owed to China. External debt stocks refer to the total external debt of a country to its counterpart, which in this case is China. The latest data available was for 2022, and the list is ranked in ascending order based on each country’s total external debt to China.
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