Facts About Third World Debt

Africa spends four times as much money repaying interest on its loans as on health care.

For every £1 given in aid by rich countries, poor countries pay back nearly £4 in debt repayments.

Over 500,000 children die each year because of cutbacks to health services.

Zambia was once one of the richest countries in Africa. Now its debt is equivalent to £565 per citizen, more than three times the average annual salary.

It would cost creditors £4.5 billion to cancel the unpayable debt of the 20 most affected countries, less than the cost of one Stealth bomber.