Bangladesh's external debt increases almost threefold in decade

Bangladesh’s external borrowing reached $113 billion by the end of 2025, nearly three times its 2015 level of about $38 billion, according to the World Bank report cited by Dawn. It is the region’s third-largest debt stock, behind India at $764 billion and Pakistan at $135 billion. Bangladesh’s debt equals 210pc of annual export earnings, while its debt-to-GNI ratio is 24pc.

Debt repayments absorbed 16pc of Bangladesh’s export income in 2025, down 3.1 percentage points from the previous year. Economists cautioned that continued borrowing, especially on costlier terms and without productive use of funds, could increase repayment risks; government debt servicing is forecast to rise from $4.9 billion in the last fiscal year to $7.6 billion by 2029. Pakistan’s debt-to-export ratio, at 324pc, is higher than Bangladesh’s, according to the report.