Testing.

In 2023, frontier market (FM) accumulated some $20 billion of new debt, bringing the total to $3.5 trillion. For the first time since 2020, the FM debt-to-GDP ratio increased, as growth and inflation subsided.

After reaching an all-time high of $3.5 trillion in Q1 2023, total debt in frontier markets (FM) saw a slight decline in Q2 2023.

Some $120 billion was added to the debt pile of frontier markets in 2022, bringing it to an all-time high of $3.6 trillion.

As borrowing slowed, frontier market debt dipped to $3.5 trillion in Q2 2022 still $480 billion above pre-pandemic levels. Helped by economic recovery in an inflationary environment, the FM debt-to-GDP ratio edged down to 103% in Q2 2022.

Total debt in frontier markets surged to a new record high of $3.5 trillion in 2021-some $500 billion above pre-pandemic levels. However, after reaching an all-time high in 2020, FM debt declined to 108% of GDP in 2021-helped by recovery and inflation.

Total debt in frontier markets increased by $126 billion to a fresh record high of $3.4 trillion in H1 2021. With higher commodity prices supporting recovery, debt/GDP ratios remained broadly stable at around 110% of GDP in H1 2021.

Total debt in frontier markets (FM) reached a record high of nearly 110% of GDP in 2020, up from less than 100% in 2019. We have added 15 new countries to our FM debt database.

Total frontier market debt hit a new record of over 120% of GDP in Q2 2020, up 6 percentage points from end-2019. The COVID-19 pandemic has placed a spotlight on rising global debt levels and sovereign debt vulnerabilities.

Driven mainly by government borrowing, the debt to GDP ratio in frontier markets hit a fresh all-time high of 114% in Q3 2019, with total debt nearing $3.2 trillion, up by nearly $75 billion in the first three quarters of 2019.

Frontier market debt hit $3.2 trillion in Q2 2019, up by over $630 billion since Q2 2016. While this marks the slowest quarterly growth in debt since 2015, it also puts total frontier debt/GDP at a record high of over 115%. We have added Republic of Congo, Gambia, and Mozambique to our frontier market debt monitor database.

Frontier market debt rose by over $250 billion in 2018, reaching $3.2 trillion for the 26 countries in our sample. Zambia, Vietnam, and Tunisia saw the largest rise in debt ratios.