World’s poorest nations spend 16% of revenue on debt, the highest in 25 years

Rickshaw drivers in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where international debt has contributed to a financial crisis. Photograph: Eranga Jayawardena/AP

Low-income countries will have to sacrifice spending on public services this year as they face the highest levels of debt repayments for 25 years.

Campaign group Debt Justice published figures on Tuesday showing that 91 countries will spend, on average, 16.3% of their revenues on external debts this year, an increase of nearly 150% since 2011 when the figure was 6.6%.