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The pandemic had a significant impact on foreign direct investment (FDI) flows. Lockdowns around the world slowed existing investment projects, and the prospect of a global recession deterred investors and led multinational entities to reassess the viability of new projects. Developed countries suffered the largest contraction, but the downturn was global. FDI inflows to low- and middle-income countries combined fell, on average, 14 percent in 2020 to $435 billion, the lowest level in a decade. For low- and middle-income countries, excluding China, FDI fell 23 percent in 2020. Investors in portfolio equity continued to favor China and India in 2020, but overall portfolio equity inflows fell 19 percent from the 2019 level. International Debt Statistics is the World Bank’s flagship publication on external debt data instituted in response to the first global oil crisis of 1973 and now in its 48th consecutive year of publication. This edition provides disaggregated information on public and publicly guaranteed debt stocks and flows by creditor country, including official bilateral creditors and multilateral institution entities. The World Bank has long played a lead role in the compilation and dissemination of external debt statistics and the enhancement and expansion of debt data coverage to meet institutional needs, and the needs of policy makers, analysts, and the broader international community. The task of managing COVID-19related debt vulnerabilities and crises gave rise to new demands for more granular data regarding the volume and terms of amounts borrowed and lent. For this reason, the DSSI, launched by the G-20 in April 2020 and implemented with the assistance of the World Bank and the IMF, set a standard for greater debt data transparency by member countries of the World Bank and the IMF, as borrowers and as lenders. This year’s publication raises the bar on debt transparency. The 2020 dataset has been expanded to provide more detailed and disaggregated data on external debt than ever before. It now includes information on average lending terms by creditor country (commitment amounts, maturity, grace period, interest rate, and grant element) and the currency composition of debt stock. For DSSI-eligible countries the dataset has expanded to include debt service deferred in 2020 by each bilateral creditor and the projected monthly debt-service payments owed to bilateral
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creditors in 2021. The borrower classification now shows Central Bank debt, including new debt instruments. A new debt statistics website has also been launched to provide a user-friendly one-stop shop, with enhanced data query capabilities for access to the IDS dataset and other debt statistics. International Debt Statistics 2022 presents comprehensive stock and flow data for 123 lowand middle-income countries that report to the World Bank Debtor Reporting System (DRS) and a summary overview of the key elements driving outcomes in 2020 debt stocks and financial flows. The headline numbers mask divergent trends because of the dominance of the largest economies. This is particularly so for China, where the volumes of financial flows and external debt stock are not large relative to the size of the domestic economy but are significant in relation to those of other low- and middle-income countries. To assist in the interpretation of the data, the overview looks behind the headline numbers and analyzes recent developments and trends at the regional and country level as well as for the subgroup of DSSI-eligible countries.
Key Messages of the 2020 Data Are as Follows: •
Net financial (debt and equity) flows to lowand middle-income countries fell for the second consecutive year in 2020 to $909 million. Net debt inflows rose 9 percent to $435 billion ($400 in 2019), but net equity inflows fell 15 percent to $473 billion ($554 billion in 2019). FDI inflows fell 14 percent to $435 billion, the lowest level in a decade, and portfolio equity inflows fell 19 percent to $39 billion. ○ Over half of net financial flows (debt and equity) to low- and middle-income countries in 2020 were accounted for by China, the largest recipient. Net financial flows to China rose 33 percent in 2020 to $466 billion. Net debt inflows to China rose 62 percent to $233 billion ($144 billion in 2019), and net equity inflows rose 12 percent to $233 billion ($207 billion in 2019).
