Data Availability
In addition to its work on methodological standards, the TFFS endeavors to promote availability of data on external debt by redisseminating through online databases selected data produced by its member organizations on economies’ financial stocks outstanding.
The Quarterly External Debt Statistics Database
The Quarterly External Debt Statistics Database (QEDS) was launched in November 2004 initially for Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) subscribing economies. The database was expanded to a selected number of General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) economies in February 2008, mainly Low-Income Countries (LICs). For more information on the SDDS and GDDS, please refer to the following page: Data quality.
The QEDS database, jointly developed by the World Bank and the IMF, brings together detailed external debt data reported by economies that subscribe to the IMF’s SDDS and economies that participate in the IMF's GDDS. Specific country notes are also available on the website. The benefit of bringing together comparable external debt data is to facilitate macroeconomic analysis and cross-country data comparison. The database is updated quarterly within one month of the end of a quarter.
As of May 2010, 62 economies have agreed to participate in the SDDS/QEDS database and 43 GDDS economies to provide data to the GDDS/QEDS database. The IMF and the World Bank are encouraging additional GDDS countries to participate in the centralized database; they are supported in this effort by the Commonwealth Secretariat (ComSec) and the United Nations Commission on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) who have close contacts with over 115 economies in respect with their work on debt management and reporting.
The Joint External Debt Hub
The Joint External Debt Hub (was launched in March 2006. It was developed in cooperation among the IMF, the BIS, the OECD, and the World Bank. The JEDH brings together national external debt data provided by 62 subscribers to the IMF's SDDS, and 34 participants in the IMF’s GDDS; creditor/market sourced external debt and selected foreign assets data for over 200 economies; and associated metadata for the two sets of statistics. The national external debt data are sourced from the World Bank's QEDS, and the creditor/market data are sourced from the four agencies involved; the latter include data collected by the BIS from the Berne Union (a worldwide association of export credit and investment insurers) on insured export credit commitments, as well as from the Paris-Club on the external claims of its members.
The creditor/market data cover the external debt of developed, developing and transition economies, and also include statistics on selected foreign assets, including international reserves. Although the data do not provide a completely comprehensive and consistent measure of total external debt for each economy, they bring together the best international comparative data currently available in this area.
Methodological notes (metadata) available on the website explain the coverage, definitions and limitations of the data. The website also contains background information on the data series and their sources.
Additional information
Users may also find it useful to access the following websites for additional perspectives on elements presented in the JEDH:
- BIS Banking and Securities Statistics
- IMF Members' Financial Data by Country
- Amounts due to Paris Club creditor countries by foreign sovereign and other public debtors
- Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey
- Data Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity
Public Sector Debt database
With globalization of financial markets there is a growing consensus among policymakers, academics, and market participants of the importance of not only external debt but also domestic government debt data
To improve the international availability and comparability of government debt data, the World Bank is intending to launch a public sector debt database by the end of 2010 on its external website, covering both developing and emerging market economies. These economies are being invited to participate. The intention is to start collecting and disseminating quarterly data on central government debt and, where available, general government, and possibly public sector debt. The core table for the data collection is: Public Sector Debt Table. The Public Sector Debt Guide will provide the conceptual advice for the compilation of these data.
The Public Sector Debt database, developed by the World Bank will bring together detailed public debt data reported by economies that subscribe to the IMF’s Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) or participate in the General Data Dissemination System (GDDS). Central government debt is already included as a category in the SDDS on a quarterly basis, as well as in the GDDS on an annual basis, with quarterly reporting encouraged. Data on debt for general government are essential for comparison with external debt data (that cover general government) and deriving general government domestic debt as the difference between total general government debt and the corresponding external debt.