Public Debt (% of GDP)
Public debt, sometimes also referred to as government debt, represents the total outstanding debt (bonds and other securities) of a country’s central government. It is often expressed as a ratio of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Public debt can be raised both externally and internally, where external debt is the debt owed to lenders outside the country and internal debt represents the government’s obligations to domestic lenders. Public debt is an important source of resources for a government to finance public spending and fill holes in the budget. Public debt as a percentage of GDP is usually used as an indicator of the ability of a government to meet its future obligations.
The table below shows public debt as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by country for the last five years.
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Public Debt Data
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | 74.0 | 73.2 | 70.2 | 68.0 | 66.6 |
| Algeria | 8.7 | 20.5 | 27.1 | 38.1 | 46.3 |
| Angola | 57.1 | 75.7 | 69.3 | 89.0 | - |
| Argentina | 52.6 | 53.1 | 56.6 | 86.0 | 89.4 |
| Armenia | 44.1 | 51.9 | 53.7 | 51.3 | 50.0 |
| Australia | 37.7 | 40.5 | 41.1 | 41.5 | 45.0 |
| Austria | 84.9 | 82.9 | 78.3 | 74.0 | 70.4 |
| Azerbaijan | 35.0 | 50.7 | 53.2 | 48.4 | - |
| Bahrain | 60.4 | 71.8 | 79.5 | 80.7 | 83.0 |
| Bangladesh | 33.7 | 33.3 | 33.4 | 34.6 | 35.7 |
| Belarus | 46.9 | 47.2 | 47.2 | 45.4 | 44.8 |
| Belgium | 105 | 105 | 102 | 99.8 | 98.6 |
| Belize | 82.7 | 88.9 | 96.4 | 96.6 | 99.7 |
| Bolivia | 40.9 | 46.5 | 51.3 | 53.9 | 58.0 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 45.5 | 44.1 | 39.2 | 34.3 | - |
| Botswana | 23.2 | 21.3 | 18.1 | 18.9 | 18.7 |
| Brazil | 65.5 | 69.8 | 73.7 | 76.5 | 75.8 |
| Brunei | 3.0 | 3.0 | 2.8 | 2.6 | - |
| Bulgaria | 26.0 | 29.3 | 25.3 | 22.3 | 20.4 |
| Cambodia | 31.2 | 29.1 | 30.0 | 28.6 | - |
| Canada | 91.2 | 91.7 | 90.5 | 89.7 | - |
| Chile | 17.3 | 21.0 | 23.6 | 25.6 | 27.9 |
| China | 15.5 | 16.1 | 16.2 | 16.3 | 17.0 |
| Colombia | 42.9 | 43.8 | 44.9 | 48.2 | 47.2 |
| Costa Rica | 41.0 | 45.1 | 48.4 | 53.2 | 58.5 |
| Croatia | 84.3 | 80.8 | 77.8 | 74.7 | 73.2 |
| Cyprus | 108 | 103 | 93.9 | 101 | 95.5 |
| Czech Republic | 40.0 | 36.8 | 34.7 | 32.6 | 30.8 |
| DR Congo | - | - | - | - | - |
| Denmark | 39.8 | 37.2 | 35.8 | 33.9 | 33.2 |
| Dominican Republic | 44.7 | 46.6 | 48.9 | 50.4 | 53.6 |
| Ecuador | 33.0 | 38.2 | 44.6 | 46.0 | 50.2 |
| Egypt | 93.1 | 103 | 108 | 97.3 | 90.2 |
| El Salvador | 70.8 | 72.6 | 73.6 | 72.7 | 73.3 |
| Estonia | 10.0 | 10.2 | 9.3 | 8.4 | 8.4 |
| Ethiopia | 55.8 | 57.7 | 61.1 | 57.6 | - |
| Eurozone | 90.9 | 90.0 | 87.8 | 85.8 | 84.1 |
| Finland | 63.6 | 63.2 | 61.3 | 59.6 | 59.4 |
| France | 95.6 | 98.0 | 98.3 | 98.1 | 98.1 |
| Georgia | 36.8 | 40.3 | 39.9 | 39.9 | 41.2 |
| Germany | 72.1 | 69.2 | 65.3 | 61.9 | 59.8 |
| Ghana | 55.1 | 57.3 | 57.2 | 59.1 | - |
| Greece | 176 | 179 | 176 | 181 | 177 |
| Guatemala | 24.9 | 25.2 | 25.2 | 26.2 | 26.9 |
| Haiti | 30.3 | 33.7 | 31.0 | 33.3 | - |
| Hong Kong | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| Hungary | 76.2 | 75.5 | 72.9 | 70.2 | 66.3 |
| Iceland | 65.0 | 51.2 | 43.2 | 37.4 | - |
| India | 68.8 | 68.7 | 69.4 | 69.4 | 71.9 |
| Indonesia | 27.0 | 28.0 | 29.4 | 30.1 | 30.4 |
| Iran | 38.4 | 47.5 | 39.5 | 31.8 | - |
| Iraq | 56.9 | 64.3 | 58.9 | 49.3 | - |
| Ireland | 76.7 | 73.8 | 67.7 | 63.5 | 58.8 |
| Israel | 63.8 | 61.8 | 59.9 | 60.4 | 59.6 |
| Italy | 135 | 135 | 134 | 135 | 135 |
| Jamaica | 122 | 114 | 101 | 94.4 | - |
| Japan | 231 | 236 | 234 | 236 | 237 |
| Jordan | 92.4 | 93.8 | 94.3 | 94.4 | 96.6 |
| Kazakhstan | 22.8 | 28.2 | 26.3 | 26.0 | 25.2 |
| Kenya | 50.2 | 54.5 | 56.0 | 59.3 | 62.1 |
| Korea | 37.3 | 37.6 | 36.7 | 37.9 | 40.7 |
| Kosovo | 13.1 | 14.4 | 16.2 | 16.9 | 17.5 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 67.1 | 59.1 | 58.9 | 54.8 | 54.1 |
| Laos | 53.1 | 54.2 | 55.8 | 57.4 | 60.6 |
| Latvia | 37.3 | 40.9 | 39.3 | 37.2 | 36.9 |
| Lebanon | 141 | 146 | 150 | 155 | 171 |
| Lithuania | 42.6 | 39.7 | 39.1 | 33.8 | 36.3 |
| Luxembourg | 22.0 | 20.1 | 22.3 | 21.0 | 22.1 |
| Malaysia | 53.6 | 51.9 | 50.1 | 51.2 | 52.5 |
| Malta | 58.0 | 55.5 | 50.3 | 45.6 | 43.1 |
| Mexico | 45.4 | 49.4 | 46.9 | 46.8 | 47.1 |
| Moldova | 37.8 | 35.6 | 31.8 | 29.7 | 27.3 |
| Mongolia | 62.1 | 87.6 | 84.6 | 73.3 | - |
| Montenegro | 66.2 | 64.4 | 64.2 | 70.1 | 77.2 |
| Morocco | 63.7 | 64.9 | 65.1 | 65.2 | 66.2 |
| Mozambique | 94.2 | 130 | 101 | 99.8 | - |
| Myanmar | 35.8 | 37.8 | 38.3 | 36.3 | 38.2 |
| Netherlands | 64.6 | 61.9 | 56.9 | 52.4 | 48.6 |
| New Zealand | 35.1 | 33.7 | 31.8 | 30.4 | 28.1 |
| Nigeria | 20.3 | 23.4 | 25.3 | 27.2 | - |
| North Macedonia | 38.1 | 39.9 | 39.4 | 40.6 | 40.2 |
| Norway | 33.4 | 37.2 | 37.8 | 39.4 | 40.6 |
| Oman | 15.5 | 32.7 | 46.4 | 53.5 | 62.6 |
| Pakistan | 61.8 | 65.5 | 65.1 | 69.9 | 83.7 |
| Panama | 37.4 | 37.3 | 37.6 | 39.4 | 46.4 |
| Paraguay | 15.1 | 17.3 | 18.2 | 19.4 | 21.3 |
| Peru | 23.3 | 23.9 | 24.9 | 25.8 | 26.8 |
| Philippines | 42.7 | 40.2 | 40.2 | 39.9 | 39.6 |
| Poland | 51.3 | 54.3 | 50.6 | 48.8 | 46.0 |
| Portugal | 131 | 132 | 126 | 122 | 118 |
| Puerto Rico | 95.1 | 91.8 | 92.9 | - | - |
| Qatar | 35.5 | 46.7 | 49.8 | 44.6 | 52.3 |
| Romania | 37.8 | 37.3 | 35.1 | 34.7 | 35.2 |
| Russia | 13.5 | 13.2 | 14.6 | 14.9 | 15.3 |
| Saudi Arabia | 5.8 | 13.1 | 17.2 | 19.0 | 22.8 |
| Serbia | 69.5 | 67.6 | 59.3 | 53.7 | 52.0 |
| Singapore | 99.5 | 105 | 106 | 109 | 126 |
| Slovakia | 51.9 | 52.0 | 51.3 | 49.4 | 48.0 |
| Slovenia | 82.6 | 78.7 | 74.1 | 70.4 | 66.1 |
| South Africa | 49.3 | 51.5 | 53.0 | 56.7 | 62.2 |
| Spain | 99.3 | 99.2 | 98.6 | 97.6 | 95.5 |
| Sri Lanka | 77.7 | 79.0 | 77.9 | 83.7 | 86.8 |
| Sweden | 43.9 | 42.2 | 40.8 | 38.8 | 35.1 |
| Switzerland | 30.0 | 28.9 | 29.3 | - | - |
| Taiwan | 36.6 | 36.2 | 35.5 | 35.1 | - |
| Tajikistan | 34.7 | 42.1 | 50.4 | 47.9 | 44.6 |
| Tanzania | 37.1 | 37.0 | 37.7 | 38.6 | - |
| Thailand | 43.7 | 41.0 | 41.1 | 41.8 | 41.2 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 53.9 | 58.3 | 61.8 | 60.1 | 63.2 |
| Tunisia | 55.4 | 62.4 | 70.2 | 77.9 | 72.2 |
| Turkey | 27.5 | 28.2 | 28.2 | 30.4 | 33.1 |
| Turkmenistan | 21.8 | 24.1 | 28.8 | 29.1 | - |
| USA | 104 | 107 | 105 | 107 | 108 |
| Uganda | 34.3 | 37.1 | 39.7 | 41.4 | - |
| Ukraine | 79.1 | 80.9 | 71.8 | 60.9 | 50.3 |
| United Arab Emirates | 18.7 | 20.2 | 20.0 | 19.1 | - |
| United Kingdom | 86.9 | 86.8 | 86.2 | 85.7 | 85.4 |
| Uruguay | 62.9 | 61.4 | 60.7 | 63.5 | 66.3 |
| Uzbekistan | 7.1 | 8.6 | 20.2 | 20.4 | 29.3 |
| Venezuela | 74.7 | 92.3 | 120 | - | - |
| Vietnam | 61.0 | 63.7 | 61.4 | 58.4 | - |
| Yemen | 65.5 | 79.6 | 84.3 | 64.8 | - |
| Zambia | 62.3 | 60.7 | 61.9 | 78.1 | - |
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Public Debt Economic News
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Japan: Japanese government unveils JPY 29.1 trillion (USD 200 billion) supplementary budget in November
November 22, 2022
On 8 November, the Japanese government unveiled a JPY 29.1 trillion (USD 200 billion) supplementary budget—worth around 5% of GDP. Around 25% of it will be spent on shielding businesses and households from rising inflation via electricity and fuel subsidies, and measures to boost wages. Additional funds will be spent on initiatives to boost wealth equality, disaster resilience and national security. Impact on inflation: The Japanese government has claimed that the budget will bring down inflation by 1.2 percentage points between January and September next year.
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United Kingdom: Chancellor announces fresh fiscal support in Spring Statement, but insufficient to offset cost of living squeeze
March 23, 2022
On 23 March, Chancellor Rishi Sunak presented his Spring Statement—a kind of mini-budget—and unveiled some tax cuts to support consumers.
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India: 2022–2023 budget seeks to support growth, while reining in the deficit marginally
March 1, 2022
On 1 February, the government unveiled its Union Budget for fiscal year 2022, which runs from April 2022 to March 2023.
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