FinObservatory

Chinese overseas lending / KIR

Kiribati: debt owed to China

In 2021, Kiribati is estimated to have owed China $54m, equal to 19.0% of its GDP, which ranks it 110 of 126 borrowers in the panel by dollars owed. The estimated stock peaked at $54m in 2021.

$54m
Estimated total, 2021
rank 110 of 126
19.0%
Percent of GDP
2021
$0
Public and publicly guaranteed
2021
$54m
Private non-guaranteed
100.0% of external

The estimated stock, 2000 to 2021

The largest single-year move in the estimated stock is 2021, when it rose by $20m.

Public and publicly guaranteedPrivate non-guaranteedPBoC swap drawings

Source: Horn, Reinhart and Trebesch, China’s Overseas Lending. Selection: estimated stock owed to China by Kiribati, by year and instrument, 2000 to 2021. Zeros are estimated zeros (no known loans outstanding), not missing values. Methodology

Against what Kiribati reports owing to all creditors

No comparison is possible. Kiribati has no row in the World Bank International Debt Statistics table. There is no reported all-creditor stock to measure the China estimate against, so the ratio is n/a, not zero and not a hundred percent. This is a difference in the scope of the two datasets, not evidence of anything hidden. The two-sources page lists every borrower in this position.