2. How big is the debt of poor countries?

The poorest 49 countries have debts totalling US $375 billion, whilst for the poorest 144 countries, it is over US $2.9 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 $375 billion in 2006. During 2006, these countries paid over $34 billion to the rich world in debt service (payments of interest and principal) – that is $94 million a day.

For all ‘developing’ countries, total external debt owed in 2006 was $2.9 trillion, and over the course of that year they paid $573 billion servicing these debts.

These are the latest figures available - there has been some debt cancellation in 2007 and 2008, but there also have been new debts taken on. The overall figures are unlikely to have changed hugely.

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