Bangladesh's foreign debt has almost tripled in ten years to $113.44 billion at the end of 2025, equivalent to about $646 for every person in the country, according to the World Bank's International Debt Report 2026, released on 5 November.

The stock rose 8.6 per cent from a year earlier and is up from about $38.77 billion in 2015, the steepest rise in South Asia except for the Maldives. Bangladesh Bank data put gross external debt at almost $115 billion as of June 2026.

Of the total, $89.51 billion is public and publicly guaranteed debt, $9.87 billion is private non-guaranteed debt and $14.06 billion is short-term debt. Among multilateral lenders, the World Bank's International Development Association holds $22.64 billion and the Asian Development Bank $17.52 billion. Japan is the largest bilateral creditor at $12.72 billion, followed by Russia at $9.02 billion.

Debt servicing took 16 per cent of Bangladesh's export earnings in 2025, down 3.1 percentage points on the year before, and 2 per cent of gross national income. But the debt stock stands at 210 per cent of annual exports, well above India's 83 per cent and the South Asian average of 95 per cent.

Economists quoted in The Daily Star said the indicators are manageable for now but warned of trouble if borrowing keeps growing at its current pace. Former World Bank lead economist Zahid Hussain said that if foreign debt keeps growing at this pace, Bangladesh could eventually face a situation similar to Sri Lanka's, while Centre for Policy Dialogue fellow Mustafizur Rahman said Bangladesh should reduce its reliance on foreign borrowing, negotiate better terms and seek more concessional financing.

Globally, external debt in low- and middle-income countries rose 5.5 per cent to a record $9.4 trillion in 2025, the World Bank said.