Private External Debt

Private External Debt is the stock of outstanding debt owed by a country's private sector to nonresidents. It covers the obligations of private corporations, financial institutions, and households — including loans, bonds, and other financial liabilities denominated in foreign or domestic currency when the creditors are abroad — and reflects the private sector's external borrowing and exposure to foreign financial risks; definitions may vary by country. This Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) indicator is part of the Latin Macro Watch, the IDB's harmonized macroeconomic database for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Coverage

Data are available for 10 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean at annual, monthly, and quarterly frequency, covering 1990–2026. Values can be viewed in millions of USD or as a share of GDP, total exports, total imports, or total external debt — including average-of-period and end-of-period variants and a fiscal-year (Q4–Q3) basis — with moving-average (MA3, MA6, MA12) and growth-rate (MoM %, QoQ %, YoY %) transformations.

Sources

Figures are compiled from official national authorities, including Banco Central do Brasil, Banco de Mexico (Banxico), Banco Central de Chile, Banco de la República de Colombia, and INDEC - Argentina, among other central banks and statistics agencies in the region.

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Format	CSV
Language	en
Country	Argentina Bahamas Trinidad & Tobago Belize Costa Rica Dominican Republic Ecuador Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia El Salvador Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Panama Uruguay Venezuela Barbados Paraguay Peru Suriname
Data notes	What does Private External Debt measure? It measures the stock of outstanding debt owed by a country's private sector — corporations, financial institutions, and households — to nonresidents, including loans, bonds, and other foreign liabilities. It reflects private-sector external borrowing and exposure to foreign financial risk. How many countries and time periods are covered? The indicator covers 10 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean, with annual, monthly, and quarterly frequencies spanning 1990 to 2026. What units and transformations are available? Values are available in millions of USD or as a share of GDP, total exports, total imports, or total external debt, including average-of-period and end-of-period variants and a fiscal-year basis, with moving averages (MA3, MA6, MA12) and growth rates (MoM %, QoQ %, YoY %). Where does the data come from? Data are compiled from official national authorities such as Banco Central do Brasil, Banco de Mexico (Banxico), Banco Central de Chile, Banco de la República de Colombia, and INDEC - Argentina, harmonized by the IDB in the Latin Macro Watch. How is this indicator typically used? Economists and analysts use it to assess private-sector external vulnerability, monitor foreign-currency exposure, and analyze the structure of a country's total external debt across Latin America and the Caribbean. How do I cite this indicator? Cite as: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Latin Macro Watch — "Private External Debt." data.iadb.org/dataset/latin-macro-watch-dataset.