联合国贸易发展委员会-2025年的债务世界：是时候进行改革了（英）

U NI T E D NAT I O NS CO NFE R E N C E ON T R A D E A N D D E VE L OP M E N TU NI T E D NAT I O NS CO NFE R E N C E ON T R A D E A N D D E VE L OP M E N TREPORT 2025It is time for reform.A world of debtA world of debtIt is time for reform.2Contents2 Introduction .................................................................... 31. Global public debt keeps rising .............................. 42. The weight of external public debt ..................... 103. People pay the price ................................................... 144. A roadmap to finance sustainable development ......................................... 18A world of debtIt is time for reform.About UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD)UNCTAD is the UN’s leading institution dealing with trade and development. It is part of the UN Secretariat and has a membership of 195 countries, one of the largest in the UN system.UNCTAD supports developing countries to access the benefits of a globalized economy more fairly and effectively by providing economic and trade analysis, facilitating consensus-building and offering technical assistance to help developing countries use trade, investment, finance and technology for inclusive and sustainable development.A World of DebtA World of Debt was prepared by the Innovation and Research Coordination Unit at UNCTAD led by Rebeca Grynspan and coordinated by Carlos Razo. The team members include Edmund Baker, Julia Grübler, Daniel Hopp, Swati Sharma and Giovanni Valensisi.Valuable comments and suggestions were provided by Penelope Hawkins, Keith Lockwood, Daniela Magalhaes Prates, Kirstine Fitzpatrick and Dusan Zivkovic.Graphic design and desktop publishing were done by Nadège Hadjémian.For further information please contact ircu@unctad.org The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on the maps do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.A world of debtIt is time for reform.3 IntroductionPublic debt can be a powerful tool for development, enabling governments to finance critical expenditures and invest in a better future for their people. However, when public debt grows excessively or its costs outweigh its benefits, it becomes a heavy burden. This is particularly challenging for developing countries, which face an annual sustainable development financing gap of US$4.3 trillion, often while contending with high debt costs. This report highlights the surge in global public debt, aggravated by a series of cascading crises in recent years. It also underscores how the growing debt burden disproportionately impacts developing countries, where public resources are increasingly diverted from essential development needs to service debt. Recent events have further intensified this challenge. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise in global interest rates in 2022 and 2023 had already strained public budgets. These effects are now compounded by a global growth slowdown, heightened geopolitical tens