Interest payments (% of expense) in Tonga
Tonga: Interest payments (% of expense) was 1.7% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Interest payments in Tonga, 2013–2023
Source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of expense.
Analysis
In 2023, interest payments in Tonga stood at 1.7%.
That represents a change of up 36.7% on the previous year and down 48.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, interest payments in Tonga peaked at 3.3% in 2013 and was at its lowest, 1.0%, in 2021.
Tonga ranks 129th of 152 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 11 years of available data.
Interest payments (% of expense) in Tonga, year by year
| Year | % of expense | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 3.3% | — |
| 2014 | 2.9% | -10.8% |
| 2015 | 2.8% | -5.1% |
| 2016 | 2.7% | -3.2% |
| 2017 | 2.5% | -5.7% |
| 2018 | 2.5% | -3.6% |
| 2019 | 2.3% | -7.4% |
| 2020 | 2.2% | -1.9% |
| 2021 | 1.0% | -56.7% |
| 2022 | 1.2% | +28.0% |
| 2023 | 1.7% | +36.7% |
Tonga compared with similar countries
- Tonga's 1.7% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 8.8%, 19% of the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Tonga's 1.7% is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 3.0%, 57% of the median. (23 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 2.7% | 2.3% | 3.3% | 7 |
| 2020s | 1.5% | 1.0% | 2.2% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Tonga
More public sector data for Tonga
- Democracy, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Chief executive of the government is elected, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Elected parliament, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Universal right to vote, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Universal right to vote in practice, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Arms imports 7.00 million SIPRI trend indicator values (2020)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), per capita 66.22 SIPRI trend indicator values per person (2020)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), per unit of GDP 0.0138 SIPRI trend indicator values per US$ of GDP (2020)
- Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values), gaps filled 7.00 million SIPRI trend indicator values (2020)
Frequently asked questions
- What is interest payments in Tonga?
- Interest payments in Tonga was 1.7% in 2023, according to Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest interest payments recorded in Tonga?
- The highest recorded value was 3.3% in 2013.
- What is the lowest interest payments recorded in Tonga?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.0% in 2021.
- How does Tonga rank for interest payments?
- Tonga ranks 129th out of 152 countries with data for 2023.
- Is interest payments rising or falling in Tonga?
- Over the last ten years it is down 48.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Tonga data come from?
- The figures come from Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Interest payments (% of expense). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Interest payments include interest payments on government debt (including long-term bonds, long-term loans, and other debt instruments) to domestic and foreign residents. This indicator is expressed as percentage of total expenses which is any decrease in net worth resulting from a transaction.