Most of the developing nations over the world largely rely upon external debt for meeting their investment demands.
The countries such as India, China and Mexico have made huge debts for meeting investments on infrastructure.
Top ten debtor nations of the world (In 2003) are as follows:
| Sl. No. | Country | External Debt (In US $ Billions) |
| 1 | Brazil | 235.4 |
| 2 | China | 193.6 |
| 3 | Russian Federation | 175.3 |
| 4 | Mexico | 140 |
| 5 | Argentina | 166.2 |
| 6 | Indonesia | 134.4 |
| 7 | Turkey | 145.7 |
| 7 | India* | 113.5 |
| 9 | Poland | 95.2 |
| 10 | Philippines | 62.7 |
* According to World Bank Data
Source: Global Development Finance 2005, World Bank.