2. How big is the debt of poor countries?
The poorest 48 countries have debts totalling US $168 billion, whilst for the poorest 128 countries, it is over US $3.7 trillion.The total external debt of the very poorest countries (the 'low income countries' which have an annual average income of less than $975 per person) was US $168 billion in 2008. During 2008, these countries paid over $8.3 billion to the rich world in debt service (payments of interest and principal) – that is over $23 million a day. If you include India and Pakistan, where many of the world's poorest people live, the figure would be closer to $116 million.
For all ‘developing’ countries, total external debt owed in 2008 was $3.7 trillion and over the course of that year they paid $602 billion servicing these debts.
The latest figures available are for 2008. There has been some debt cancellation in 2009, but new debts have also been taken on, particularly in response to the global financial crisis. When the new data comes out it is likely that debt will have increased dramatically.