Published on 13 Oct 2025
India's external debt increased by 10.7% yoy to $717.9 billion at the end of December 2024 according to the Finance Ministry.
External debt is the money a country owes to foreign lenders, including governments, international institutions, or private entities, and is typically repaid in foreign currency.
US dollar-denominated debt remained the largest component of India's external debt, with a share of 54.8% in end-December 2024.
It is followed by Indian Rupee (30.6%), Japanese Yen (6.1%), SDR (4.7%) and Euro (3%).
Who owes the external debt: The share of outstanding debt of non-financial corporations (like tech and manufacturing firms) in the total external debt was 36.5%, followed by deposit-taking corporations (except RBI) (27.8%), central government (22.1%) and other financial corporations (like insurance companies) (8.7%).
What kind of debt is it: Loans were the largest component of the debt, with a share of 33.6%, followed by currency and deposits (23.1%), trade credit and advances (18.8%) and debt securities (16.8%).
Debt service ratio: 6.6% of current receipts This means India is using 6.6% of its export earnings and other external income to pay interest and repay the principal on its foreign debt.
This is slightly better than the 6.7% in September 2024
India’s External Debt
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