Pakistan’s total external debt stock reached $135.1 billion at the end of 2025, rising from $129.9 billion in 2024 and nearly doubling from $68.7 billion in 2015, according to the World Bank’s latest International Debt Statistics database. The increase from 2024 to 2025 was about $5.2 billion.
The figure covers more than borrowing by Pakistan’s government. The World Bank’s total includes public and publicly guaranteed debt, private-sector debt without a public guarantee, short-term external debt, and the use of IMF credit and Special Drawing Rights allocations. In 2025, the database recorded $92.9 billion in public and publicly guaranteed external debt, $17.6 billion in private non-guaranteed debt, $10.5 billion in short-term debt and $14.2 billion in IMF credit and SDR allocations.
That distinction matters: the $135.1 billion total should not be described as government loans alone. The World Bank also notes that its public and publicly guaranteed debt measure does not include IMF credit and SDR allocations, which are reported separately within the overall external-debt stock.
Debt ratios present a mixed picture
Pakistan’s debt burden did not move uniformly across the World Bank’s indicators. External debt fell to 33.9% of gross national income in 2025 from 35.8% in 2024. Debt service also declined to 32.8% of exports from 39.1% a year earlier. Those changes suggest some improvement in the relationship between debt payments, national income and export earnings.
However, the stock of external debt increased relative to exports, rising to 323.9% in 2025 from 314.5% in 2024. The higher ratio indicates that the country’s outstanding foreign obligations grew faster than the export base used to measure its capacity to earn foreign currency.
What the figures mean
The data does not, by itself, determine whether Pakistan’s external debt is sustainable or unsustainable. That assessment also depends on refinancing conditions, foreign-exchange reserves, interest costs, repayment schedules, export growth, economic expansion and access to new financing.
The World Bank’s 2025 figures show a larger headline debt stock alongside lower debt-to-GNI and debt-service ratios but a higher debt-to-exports ratio. For policymakers, the central challenge remains strengthening foreign-exchange earnings and maintaining dependable financing while meeting external obligations and preserving room for domestic investment.
