Public debt

Everything owed by the state, local authorities and social security, as a share of the wealth the country produces in a year (GDP). 100% = a full year of output.

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World map: Public debt, 2024 — Map 2024. Source: FMI, Public Finances in Modern History (Mauro et al.) ; World Economic Outlook pour les pays absents.

In 2024, 164 countries have a value. Highest: Sudan (261 %), Japan (237 %), Singapore (166 %). Lowest: Brunei (2 %), Kuwait (3 %), Turkmenistan (4 %). World (GDP-weighted average): 84 %. France: 113 % (12th of 164).

Country ranking in 2024

Rank	Country	Value
1	Sudan	261 %
2	Japan	237 %
3	Singapore	166 %
4	Venezuela	164 %
5	Lebanon	164 %
6	Greece	155 %
7	Italy	135 %
8	Zambia	126 %
9	United States	122 %
10	Libya	115 %
11	Senegal	114 %
12	France its history →	113 %
13	Canada	111 %
14	Bhutan	108 %
15	Belgium	105 %
16	Spain its history →	102 %
17	United Kingdom	101 %
18	Sri Lanka	101 %
19	Laos	99 %
20	Bolivia	98 %
21	Jordan	96 %
22	Congo - Brazzaville	95 %
23	Portugal its history →	95 %
24	Mozambique	93 %
25	Egypt	91 %
26	Ukraine its history →	90 %
27	China	88 %
28	El Salvador	88 %
29	Suriname	87 %
30	Brazil	87 %
31	Malawi	87 %
32	Argentina its history →	85 %
33	Tunisia	83 %
34	Finland	83 %
35	Guinea-Bissau	82 %
36	India its history →	81 %
37	Austria	81 %
38	Fiji	79 %
39	South Africa	76 %
40	Gambia	76 %
41	Bahamas	74 %
42	Hungary its history →	74 %
43	Gabon	73 %
44	Yemen	71 %
45	Togo	71 %
46	Ghana	71 %
47	Zimbabwe	70 %
48	Malaysia	70 %
49	Pakistan	70 %
50	Jamaica	70 %
51	Uruguay	69 %
52	Namibia	68 %
53	Morocco	68 %
54	Israel	68 %
55	Rwanda	67 %
56	Slovenia	67 %
57	Kenya	66 %
58	Cyprus	65 %
59	Trinidad & Tobago	65 %
60	Germany its history →	64 %
61	Thailand	63 %
62	Angola	63 %
63	Colombia	61 %
64	Belize	61 %
65	Central African Republic	61 %
66	Lesotho	60 %
67	Costa Rica	60 %
68	Montenegro	60 %
69	Côte d’Ivoire	59 %
70	Myanmar (Burma)	59 %
71	Iceland	59 %
72	Dominican Republic	59 %
73	Mexico	58 %
74	Croatia	58 %
75	Slovakia	57 %
76	Philippines	57 %
77	Panama	57 %
78	Liberia	56 %
79	Albania	56 %
80	Poland	55 %
81	Ecuador	55 %
82	North Macedonia	55 %
83	Romania	55 %
84	Benin	54 %
85	South Sudan	54 %
86	Papua New Guinea	54 %
87	Burkina Faso	53 %
88	Uganda	52 %
89	Madagascar	50 %
90	New Zealand	50 %
91	Australia its history →	50 %
92	Tanzania	48 %
93	Armenia	48 %
94	Nepal	48 %
95	Guinea	48 %
96	Niger	47 %
97	Honduras	47 %
98	Sierra Leone	47 %
99	Latvia	47 %
100	Algeria	46 %
101	Malta	46 %
102	Iraq	46 %
103	Vanuatu	45 %
104	Mauritania	45 %
105	Paraguay	45 %
106	South Korea	45 %
107	Serbia	44 %
108	Mali	44 %
109	Cameroon	43 %
110	Czechia	43 %
111	Burundi	43 %
112	Netherlands its history →	43 %
113	Norway	43 %
114	Chile	42 %
115	Qatar	41 %
116	Ireland	41 %
117	Indonesia	40 %
118	Bangladesh	40 %
119	Nigeria	39 %
120	Nicaragua	39 %
121	Mongolia	39 %
122	Moldova	39 %
123	Belarus	39 %
124	Lithuania	38 %
125	Georgia	38 %
126	Switzerland its history →	38 %
127	Eswatini	37 %
128	Iran	37 %
129	Kyrgyzstan	37 %
130	Equatorial Guinea	36 %
131	Oman	36 %
132	Chad	34 %
133	Djibouti	33 %
134	Sweden its history →	33 %
135	Uzbekistan	33 %
136	Ethiopia	32 %
137	United Arab Emirates	32 %
138	Denmark	32 %
139	Vietnam	31 %
140	Peru	31 %
141	Botswana	31 %
142	Bosnia & Herzegovina	30 %
143	Guatemala	28 %
144	Taiwan	27 %
145	Luxembourg	26 %
146	Saudi Arabia	26 %
147	Cambodia	26 %
148	Tajikistan	25 %
149	Kazakhstan	24 %
150	Guyana	24 %
151	Bulgaria	24 %
152	Türkiye	24 %
153	Estonia	23 %
154	Congo - Kinshasa	23 %
155	Solomon Islands	22 %
156	Azerbaijan	21 %
157	Russia	20 %
158	Puerto Rico	17 %
159	Haiti	15 %
160	Timor-Leste	14 %
161	Afghanistan	9 %
162	Turkmenistan	4 %
163	Kuwait	3 %
164	Brunei	2 %

14 countries or territories have no value that year.

Continent averages

World (GDP-weighted average)	84 %
Europe (average)	68 %
Africa (average)	66 %
Americas (average)	106 %
Asia (average)	83 %
Oceania (average)	50 %

Understanding this map

What this figure measures

Public debt adds up government borrowing: government bonds, treasury bills, loans. It is compared with GDP to compare countries of different sizes and to set it against what the country can produce. A debt of 100% of GDP does not have to be repaid within a year: the state repays maturing loans by taking out new ones. What matters most is the cost of interest and lenders' confidence.

The great waves

Wars make debts explode: the United Kingdom reaches 260% of GDP after the Napoleonic wars (1819) and 270% in 1946, France 237% in 1921 according to the IMF (historians give between 150% and over 200%: GDP at the time is itself an estimate). After 1945, fast growth and inflation melt them away: under 30% in the UK by 1990. Since the 1980s they have risen again in rich countries, in steps at each crisis (2008, Covid in 2020).

The world curve

The 1946 peak (about 110% of GDP) is real: countries at war financed the military effort by borrowing, and the average is driven by the United States (nearly a third of the covered countries' GDP, debt of 121%) and the United Kingdom (270%). Then rapid post-war growth, inflation and low interest rates melt debts down to a trough in 1974 (about 30%). They rise again after the oil shocks: slower growth, unemployment, then very high interest rates in the 1980s. Note that this “world” is only the countries available: the USSR (1914 to 1991) and China (before 1984) are missing, and the curve breaks in 1939-1941, when too few countries are covered.

How can Japan owe 237% of its GDP?

The level alone does not say whether a debt is dangerous. Japan's is in yen and overwhelmingly held by residents, nearly half by the Bank of Japan itself: the country cannot run short of foreign currency to pay it. Conversely, a poor country borrowing in dollars from foreign creditors can default with a much smaller debt: Argentina in 2001 with less than 50% of GDP, Ecuador in 2008 with 25%. The interest rate, the currency of the debt and who holds it matter as much as its size.

Limits

This is gross debt: it does not subtract what the state owns. Norway's debt is about 40% of GDP, but it has a sovereign wealth fund worth more than three times its GDP. Depending on the country, figures cover all of government or only the central state, and older series are historians' reconstructions. Before 1950 few countries are covered: the world average is only shown in years when the available countries make up at least 60% of world GDP (from 1929), and likewise for each continent. For countries missing from the IMF historical database, the series starts in 1980 (World Economic Outlook).

Sources : FMI, Public Finances in Modern History (Mauro et al.) ; World Economic Outlook pour les pays absents

In the same theme : Public finances

Taxes Total revenue Top tax rate Total Military Education Health Social protection Research Deficit / surplus Rate − growth (r − g)% of GDP per person in years of taxes held abroad interest interest / taxes borrowing rate

All maps

Electoral democracy index Women's right to vote Life expectancy at birth Children dying before age 5 Children per woman GDP per capita Economic freedom index Median income per person per month Income inequality (Gini index)Income share of the richest 10%Extreme poverty (under $2.15 a day)Tax revenue Public debt Public debt per person Public spending Military spending Public spending on education Public spending on health Public social spending Research and development spending Share of public debt held abroad Interest paid on public debt Share of taxes eaten up by interest on debt Public debt in years of taxes Total government revenue Top marginal income tax rate Budget balance: deficit or surplus Interest-growth gap (r − g)10-year government borrowing rate Household electricity prices Gender gap in hourly wages CO₂ emissions per person — on the territory Share of electricity from low-carbon (renewables + nuclear) sources Population and density Share of people aged 65 and over Immigrants as a share of the population Share of people with no religion Largest religion Countries accessible without a visa

Page updated on 2026-11-03.