Total reserves relative to total external debt is a compact way to compare the external assets controlled by monetary authorities with the stock of debt owed to non-residents. In the 113 economy-level observations supplied for World Bank indicator FI.RES.TOTL.DT.ZS, the median latest-available ratio is 37.15% and the mean is 69.86%. The gap between those two summary measures is important: a small number of very high ratios, led by Algeria at 1,203.30% and Iraq at 574.82%, pull the average far above the middle of the distribution.
The second issue is timing. Of the 113 observations, 96, or 85.0%, are from 2024. The remaining 17 are the most recent non-missing values available for those economies and come from earlier years. Iran is represented by 1982, Somalia by 1989, Turkmenistan by 1999 and Syria by 2010. For that reason, the full table is not a 2024 ranking of 113 economies. It is a latest-available comparison. When a same-year comparison matters, the 96 observations dated 2024 should be analyzed separately.
Table of Contents
What the reserve-to-external-debt ratio measures
The World Bank definition describes reserve assets as external assets that are readily available to and controlled by monetary authorities for balance-of-payments financing, exchange-market intervention and related purposes. Monetary gold is included in the reserve concept. Total external debt, by contrast, covers liabilities of residents to non-residents that require future payment of principal and/or interest. FI.RES.TOTL.DT.ZS expresses the first stock as a percentage of the second.
A ratio of 100% therefore means that total reserve assets are equal in size to total external debt under the indicator definitions. A 50% ratio means reserves are about half of external debt. Values above 100% are entirely possible because the numerator can exceed the denominator. A value of 300% means the recorded reserve stock is about three times the recorded external-debt stock. None of those statements, however, means every liability could or should be repaid immediately from reserves. Maturity, currency, institutional ownership and the actual usability of reserve assets matter.
This is also different from a debt-to-GDP ratio. Both the numerator and denominator here are financial stocks, while GDP is a flow measured over a period. The measure therefore focuses on the relationship between external reserve assets and external liabilities rather than on debt relative to economic output. Domestic liabilities owed to residents do not become external debt simply because they are large, and the ratio should not be treated as a complete measure of public, corporate or household leverage.
The global distribution is unusually wide
The latest-available values span more than three orders of magnitude. Algeria records 1,203.30%, meaning the reported reserve stock is more than twelve times total external debt. Iraq is at 574.82%. Among 2024 observations, Haiti reaches 287.30%, Timor-Leste 263.06%, Tonga 217.87%, Nepal 156.09%, Botswana 149.08% and China 142.82%. At the other end of the recent observations, Zimbabwe is at 3.37%, Mozambique 5.51% and Gabon 9.37%.
Those differences should not be converted into a simple regional scorecard. A high ratio can result from a large reserve stock, a small external-debt stock, or both. A low ratio can arise from the opposite combinations. Two economies with the same percentage may have very different absolute reserve holdings, debt maturities, export earnings, exchange-rate regimes and access to international markets. The ratio is best read as a structural comparison that identifies where further investigation may be useful.
The map uses points at country centroids rather than filling administrative polygons. A logarithmic color scale is used because Algeria and Iraq would otherwise compress most values into a narrow part of a linear scale. The map is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the table. Six observations could not be matched to a centroid in the local reference file, and those missing map points are not treated as zero. All 113 values remain part of the numerical analysis.
The highest ratios and the problem of mixed years
In the full latest-available list, Algeria ranks first at 1,203.30%, followed by Iraq at 574.82%, Syria at 391.01%, Afghanistan at 320.68% and Haiti at 287.30%. The ranking looks striking, but its years are not uniform. Syria is a 2010 observation, Afghanistan is from 2020 and Russia, which also appears high at 154.66%, is from 2022. Treating those values as though they were measured in 2024 would create a false sense of precision.
| Rank | Economy | Observation year | Total reserves / external debt |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Algeria | 2024 | 1203.30% |
| 2 | Iraq | 2024 | 574.82% |
| 3 | Syrian Arab Republic | 2010 | 391.01% |
| 4 | Afghanistan | 2020 | 320.68% |
| 5 | Haiti | 2024 | 287.30% |
| 6 | Timor-Leste | 2024 | 263.06% |
| 7 | Tonga | 2024 | 217.87% |
| 8 | Nepal | 2024 | 156.09% |
| 9 | Russian Federation | 2022 | 154.66% |
| 10 | Botswana | 2024 | 149.08% |
Restricting the data to 2024 changes the leading group to Algeria, Iraq, Haiti, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Nepal, Botswana, China, Samoa and Thailand. Fourteen of the 96 observations dated 2024 are at or above 100%. A same-year filter improves comparability, but it does not make countries identical in statistical practice or financial structure. Differences in reserve composition, external-debt coverage and institutional arrangements remain relevant even after the year is aligned.
Median 37.15% and a long right tail
Across all 113 observations, the first quartile is 20.07%, the median is 37.15% and the third quartile is 58.69%. Half of the observations therefore lie between roughly 20% and 59%. The mean of 69.86% sits much higher than the median because the distribution has a long right tail. Algeria alone is more than seventeen times the overall mean, so a simple average is not a good description of a typical economy in this dataset.
The frequency bins make that structure clearer. Six economies are below 10%, 32 are from 10% to under 25%, 38 are from 25% to under 50%, 20 are from 50% to under 100%, 11 are from 100% to under 250%, and six are at 250% or more. Seventeen of 113 exceed 100%, yet the largest single cluster is the 25% to 50% band. Looking only at the extreme leaders would therefore give a misleading picture of the overall distribution.
Low ratios are not the same as missing data
The lowest latest-available values are Sudan at 0.81%, Somalia at 1.14%, Zimbabwe at 3.37%, Mozambique at 5.51% and Burundi at 8.74%. The first two illustrate the year problem again: Sudan is dated 2017 and Somalia 1989. Among observations actually dated 2024, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Gabon, Djibouti and Ethiopia form the low end. A low ratio says that recorded reserves are small relative to total external debt; it does not by itself prove an immediate liquidity crisis or insolvency.
| Rank | Economy | Observation year | Total reserves / external debt |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sudan | 2017 | 0.81% |
| 2 | Somalia, Fed. Rep. | 1989 | 1.14% |
| 3 | Zimbabwe | 2024 | 3.37% |
| 4 | Mozambique | 2024 | 5.51% |
| 5 | Burundi | 2023 | 8.74% |
| 6 | Gabon | 2024 | 9.37% |
| 7 | Djibouti | 2024 | 10.09% |
| 8 | Ethiopia | 2024 | 10.35% |
| 9 | Sri Lanka | 2024 | 10.72% |
| 10 | Congo, Rep. | 2024 | 11.27% |
Total external debt can include liabilities with very different maturities. A country may have a low ratio but little debt falling due soon, or a higher ratio while facing a concentrated short-term repayment schedule. That is why reserve adequacy is often examined together with short-term external debt, imports, debt-service payments, current-account flows and foreign-currency obligations. The present indicator answers one useful question, but it does not answer all questions about external vulnerability.
Why the observation-year mix matters
The year distribution is 96 observations in 2024, four in 2023, three in 2022, one in 2021, two in 2020, and one each in 2019, 2018, 2017, 2010, 1999, 1989 and 1982. The recent majority means the dataset is useful for a broad current snapshot, but the 17 older observations should remain visible in any careful comparison. The oldest values are not reasonable proxies for present conditions unless the source is explicitly being used as a historical reference.
For the 96 economies measured in 2024, the median is 37.07% and the mean is 67.74%. Those figures are close to the full-sample values, but that similarity is specific to this dataset and should not be assumed in other indicators. If one old observation happens to be very high or very low, it can materially affect ranks and averages. Labelling a dataset as “latest available” is therefore more than a technical note; it changes what conclusions are justified.
What a high or low ratio can—and cannot—tell you
A high ratio can indicate a large stock of reserve assets compared with external debt, which may provide a larger balance-sheet cushion. But the ratio does not identify whether reserves are freely usable, how much debt is public versus private, which currencies are involved, or when payments come due. A very high ratio may also result from an unusually small external-debt denominator rather than from extraordinary reserve accumulation. Without the numerator and denominator separately, the cause of the ratio cannot be inferred.
A low ratio likewise does not automatically mean an economy is unable to service its obligations. Export receipts, remittances, market access, exchange-rate flexibility, foreign assets outside official reserves, and the maturity profile of external debt can all matter. For short-term liquidity analysis, reserves relative to short-term external debt is often a more targeted comparison. For broader sustainability, debt service, current-account balances and the international investment position add information that this single percentage does not contain.
A practical way to compare the data
Start with the observation year. If the purpose is cross-country benchmarking, compare the 2024 subset before mixing in older values. Next, use the median and quartiles to understand the middle of the distribution, then examine the extreme observations. Third, separate the numerator and denominator if the raw series are available. A rising ratio can be caused by rising reserves, falling external debt, or both; a falling ratio can occur even when reserves increase if external debt rises faster.
For trend analysis, a single latest observation per economy is not enough. A proper time-series comparison needs the same indicator over multiple years and should account for breaks in coverage, revisions, changes in debt composition and major macroeconomic events. The present package is designed as a cross-sectional map and ranking aid. It supports questions such as “which economies currently have high or low latest-available ratios?” but not “which economy improved fastest?” without additional historical data.
Source and calculation method
The underlying series is the World Bank indicator FI.RES.TOTL.DT.ZS, Total reserves (% of total external debt). The verified dataset in this package contains one most-recent non-missing observation for each of 113 real economies. The official World Bank API route is the source endpoint recorded with the dataset.
The mean, median, quartiles, range bands and rankings on this page were calculated directly from those 113 rows. Missing values were never replaced with zero. The point map contains 107 successfully geolocated observations and uses a logarithmic color scale because the data span from 0.81% to 1,203.30%. The six observations without a map point are still retained in every statistical calculation and table. Unless a section explicitly says “2024 only,” ranks refer to the latest-available observation for each economy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can total reserves exceed 100% of total external debt?
Yes. The ratio can exceed 100% when the recorded reserve stock is larger than total external debt. Seventeen of the 113 latest-available observations are at or above 100%.
Does a high ratio mean external-debt risk is low?
Not by itself. Maturity, currency, debt ownership, reserve usability and other external-flow indicators are needed for a fuller assessment.
Are all 113 observations from 2024?
No. Ninety-six are dated 2024 and 17 are earlier latest-available values. Use the 2024 subset for a strict same-year comparison.
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