2. How big is the debt of poor countries?

The poorest 48 countries have debts totalling US $222 billion, whilst for the poorest 128 countries, it is over US $3.4 trillion.

The total external debt of the very poorest countries (the 'low income countries' which have an annual average income of less than $935 per person) was US $222 billion in 2007. During 2007, these countries paid over $12.4 billion to the rich world in debt service (payments of interest and principal) – that is $34 million a day.

For all ‘developing’ countries, total external debt owed in 2007 was $3.4 trillion, and over the course of that year they paid $540 billion servicing these debts.

These are the latest figures available - there has been some debt cancellation in 2008 and 2009, but there also have been new debts taken on, particularly in response to the global financial crisis. If anything, the latest figures are likely to be higher than this.

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