Egypt now owes Russia more than any other government
Egypt's public external debt to foreign governments, by lending country, US$ billions, end-2025 vs end-2015.
- 1. Egypt is set to outgrow Japan in 2027, then Russia
- 2. In 2025, Suez Canal traffic was under half its record
- 3. Egypt exports more fresh oranges than any other country
- 4. Egypt is the world's biggest wheat buyer
- 5. Saudi Arabia has more desalination capacity than the entire US
- 6. Three in four UAE residents are international migrants
- 7. Only America draws more new foreign projects than the UAE
- 8. Algeria outspends all of sub-Saharan Africa on its military
- 9. Women in MENA now outpace men at university
- 10. Dubai's airport handles more international travellers than Heathrow
- 11. The UAE sold more goods abroad than France in 2025
- 12. Oil now makes less than a third of Saudi power
- 13. Egypt now owes Russia more than any other government
- 14. Two-thirds of young Jordanian women in the workforce are jobless
- 15. Baghdad's mobile internet overtook Erbil's
- 16. Morocco climbed to second in world fertiliser exports
- 17. Algiers now has North Africa's fastest home internet
- 18. Saudi imports from China now top the Group of Seven
- 19. Syria has lost more stored water than drought-famous Iran
- 20. Chicken gives Egyptians twice the calories beef does
- 21. More young Tunisian men than women neither work nor study
Egypt's debt to Russia's government at end-2025, up from zero in 2015 and $4.08bn a year earlier.
The year Russia passed Saudi Arabia ($6.37bn) and Kuwait ($5.76bn) to the top. It was third in 2024.
Russia's share of the $33.8bn Egypt owes other governments, ahead of every Gulf lender (Saudi Arabia: 19%).
the numbers & method
| End-2025 (bn) | 2015 (grey bar) (bn) | |
|---|---|---|
| Russia | 7.06 | 0.00 |
| Saudi Arabia | 6.37 | 5.01 |
| Kuwait | 5.76 | 5.00 |
| China | 4.86 | 0.35 |
| Germany | 3.31 | 2.86 |
| Japan | 2.66 | 2.11 |
| France | 1.75 | 1.06 |
| United Arab Emirates | 0.07 | 4.04 |
Claim types Fact
Series DT.DOD.BLAT.CD 'PPG, bilateral (DOD, current US$)': public and publicly guaranteed external debt stock owed to official bilateral creditors, by creditor country, end of year. Read from the World Bank API (source 6, International Debt Statistics; series last updated 5 Nov 2026): api.worldbank.org/v2/sources/6/country/EGY/series/DT.DOD.BLAT.CD/counterpart-area/all/time/YR2025. No values are published for 2026. US$ bn, end-2025 (end-2015): Russia 7.065 (0); Saudi Arabia 6.372 (5.012); Kuwait 5.764 (4.997); China 4.860 (0.350); Germany 3.314 (2.864); Japan 2.655 (2.112); France 1.752 (1.058); United Arab Emirates 0.074 (4.037). Also in 2025: Hungary 0.790, Korea 0.533, Spain 0.301, Canada 0.180, others smaller. All bilateral creditors: 33.824 (2025), 29.554 (2024), 36.655 (2020), 26.165 (2015). End-2024: Saudi Arabia 6.488, Kuwait 5.851, Russia 4.082, China 3.586, Germany 3.495. UAE end-2020: 7.322. Bilateral official debt only: multilateral lenders (IMF, World Bank, others), bondholders and private creditors are not included and are larger. Shares and ranks are progrss calculations. The publisher does not attribute the debt to specific projects. Licence: World Bank, CC BY 4.0.
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