Global debt

Global debt refers to the total amount of money owed by all sectors, including governments, businesses, and households worldwide.

, global debt was the equivalent of 305 trillion USD. This includes debt by both public and private debtors. The total external debt owed by public and private debtors to creditors in other countries amounted to $76 trillion in 2019. The global debt continues to grow. Between 2015 and 2019 global debt increased by approximately 6% per year. According to the International Monetary Fund in September 2025 total global debt was equivalent to 235 percent of global gross domestic product, of which 93% was government debt and 143% was private debt made up of Household debt and non-financial Corporate debt.

Debt by country and region Region Country Public debt % of GDP Private debt % of GDP External debt, billion $ GDP, billion $ Total debt, billion $ Money supply, billion $ Northern Africa Algeria 51.3 5.2 193.6 186.8 Northern Africa Egypt 89.84 131.6 435.6 365.9 Northern Africa Libya 48.8 83.5 Northern Africa Morocco 76.4 65.7 133.1 181.4 Northern Africa Sudan 270.4 23.0 31.5 10.0 Northern Africa Tunisia 82.9 41.0 45.6 35.6 Sub-Saharan Africa Angola 136.8 67.3 124.9 46.8 Sub-Saharan Africa Botswana 19 1.6 18.4 9.7 Sub-Saharan Africa Burkina Faso 46.5 4.5 19.6 9.1 Sub-Saharan Africa Burundi 66 0.6 3.4 1.5 Sub-Saharan Africa Cameroon 44.9 13.9 45.7 9.8 Sub-Saharan Africa Central African Rep. 0.9 2.6 0.8 Sub-Saharan Africa Chad 52.1 3.7 12.9 2.2 Sub-Saharan Africa Congo, dem rep. 15.16 6.1 64.8 8.0 Sub-Saharan Africa Congo, rep. 110.1 5.3 16.0 3.6 Sub-Saharan Africa Côte d'Ivoire 47 25.1 73.0 27.0 Sub-Saharan Africa Djibouti 41 2.7 3.8 3.1 Sub-Saharan Africa Eritrea 182.2 0.8 2.6 4.5 Sub-Saharan Africa Ethiopia 55.42 30.4 105.3 35.8 Sub-Saharan Africa Gabon 77.3 7.6 22.5 5.1 Sub-Saharan Africa Gambia 85 0.8 2.2 1.1 Sub-Saharan Africa Ghana 78.3 31.3 73.9 22.8 Sub-Saharan Africa Guinea 44 4.2 21.0 5.6 Sub-Saharan Africa Guinea-Bissau 79.4 0.8 1.7 0.8 Sub-Saharan Africa Kenya 67.6 38.2 114.7 47.2 Sub-Saharan Africa Lesotho 54.2 1.1 2.6 1.0 Sub-Saharan Africa Liberia 58.3 1.5 3.8 0.8 Sub-Saharan Africa Madagascar 49 4.9 14.6 4.1 Sub-Saharan Africa Malawi 54.8 2.9 12.0 2.8 Sub-Saharan Africa Mali 47.3 6.1 19.3 7.0 Sub-Saharan Africa Mauritania 59.2 5.7 9.3 2.6 Sub-Saharan Africa Mauritius 99.91 18.5 11.3 18.4 Sub-Saharan Africa Mozambique 119 20.9 18.1 10.7 Sub-Saharan Africa Namibia 66.7 8.0 13.0 9.3 Sub-Saharan Africa Niger 45 4.6 15.6 3.0 Sub-Saharan Africa Nigeria 35 70.6 510.6 128.7 Sub-Saharan Africa Rwanda 64.6 8.2 12.1 3.2 Sub-Saharan Africa Senegal 69.2 17.2 28.4 12.9 Sub-Saharan Africa Sierra Leone 76.3 2.1 4.3 1.3 Sub-Saharan Africa Somalia 4.7 8.5 2.4 Sub-Saharan Africa South Africa 69.4 170.8 426.2 317.9 Sub-Saharan Africa Tanzania 39.15 25.5 77.5 16.2 Sub-Saharan Africa Uganda 46.4 17.2 46.4 10.5 Sub-Saharan Africa Zambia 140.2 30.0 26.7 8.3 Sub-Saharan Africa Zimbabwe 102.6 12.7 36.4 6.4 Caribbean Cuba 30.1 107.4 Caribbean Dominican rep. 71.5 44.5 109.1 46.7 Caribbean Haiti 53.9 2.3 20.2 5.5 Caribbean Jamaica 108.1 18.0 15.7 11.3 Caribbean Puerto Rico 50.2 56.8 116.8 Northern America Canada 117.46 303.91 2124.9 2221.2 9359.5 2723.2 Northern America United States of Am. 133.92 242.97 20276.0 25346.8 95529.6 28261.7 Northern America Mexico 61.03 118 467.5 1322.7 593.9 Central America Costa Rica 67.98 31.3 65.3 36.0 Central America El Salvador 89.17 18.3 30.7 21.6 Central America Guatemala 31.5 25.1 91.0 57.2 Central America Honduras 50.96 11.0 30.1 23.2 Central America Nicaragua 65.71 12.1 15.8 6.3 Central America Panama 66.28 108.9 70.5 54.9 South America Argentina 102.8 253.8 564.3 160.3 South America Bolivia 78.1 15.4 41.0 43.5 South America Brazil 98.09 549.2 1833.3 2038.6 South America Chile 32.54 220.13 193.3 317.6 802.5 298.2 South America Colombia 30.02 155.2 351.3 204.8 South America Ecuador 60.9 56.2 115.5 56.5 South America Guyana 51.1 1.5 13.5 7.6 South America Paraguay 36.65 19.8 41.9 23.1 South America Peru 32.48 73.5 240.3 118.0 South America Uruguay 68.06 43.7 64.3 38.0 South America Venezuela 304.13 189.3 49.1 26.0 Central Asia Kazakhstan 26.33 163.0 193.6 68.3 Central Asia Kyrgyz rep. 68.04 8.7 9.0 4.3 Central Asia Tajikistan 51.31 6.8 7.8 2.4 Central Asia Turkmenistan 32.25 5.6 76.6 Central Asia Uzbekistan 36.44 32.2 73.1 13.1 Eastern Asia China 61.4 2349.4 19911.6 42192.7 Eastern Asia Hong Kong 1 1648.4 369.5 1680.4 Eastern Asia Japan 254.13 221.94 4254.3 4912.1 23385.3 13813.0 Eastern Asia Korea, North 5.0 28.5 Eastern Asia Korea, South 47.88 271.55 457.7 1804.7 5764.7 2986.7 Eastern Asia Mongolia 91.3 33.2 18.1 11.7 Eastern Asia Taiwan 32.65 189.7 841.2 South-eastern Asia Cambodia 34.24 17.6 28.0 36.1 South-eastern Asia Indonesia 79.29 417.5 1289.3 576.3 South-eastern Asia Laos 82.6 17.2 17.3 6.3 South-eastern Asia Malaysia 67.43 0.3 439.4 604.6 South-eastern Asia Myanmar 39.3 13.3 69.3 45.9 South-eastern Asia Philippines 51.68 98.5 412.0 372.8 South-eastern Asia Singapore 152 1557.6 424.4 637.9 South-eastern Asia Thailand 51.83 204.1 522.0 644.2 South-eastern Asia Vietnam 46.3 125.0 408.9 580.7 Southern Asia Afghanistan 7.4 3.0 20.1 7.5 Southern Asia Bangladesh 39.5 67.7 396.5 229.2 Southern Asia Bhutan 131.2 2.9 2.7 2.7 Southern Asia India 89.61 564.2 3534.7 3107.0 Southern Asia Iran 45.6 5.5 1739.0 1434.7 Southern Asia Nepal 42.2 7.9 36.3 42.7 Southern Asia Pakistan 79.6 116.5 346.3 188.8 Southern Asia Sri Lanka 101.2 56.3 81.9 51.7 Western Asia Armenia 63.5 13.1 14.0 7.6 Western Asia Azerbaijan 21.3 15.8 73.4 29.5 Western Asia Bahrain 129.7 50.3 44.2 38.0 Western Asia Cyprus 119.14 371.78 213.2 27.7 136.1 Western Asia Georgia 63.77 20.1 20.9 12.9 Western Asia Iraq 84.2 297.3 162.3 Western Asia Israel 71.67 132.5 520.7 553.5 Western Asia Jordan 88 38.0 47.7 54.7 Western Asia Kuwait 11.7 47.2 186.6 225.1 Western Asia Lebanon 135 68.9 18.1 47.1 Western Asia Oman 71.4 46.3 110.1 56.9 Western Asia Qatar 72.6 167.8 225.7 257.5 Western Asia Saudi Arabia 32.4 205.1 1040.2 729.2 Western Asia Syria 4.8 21.4 12.4 Western Asia Turkey 39.77 172.96 435.9 692.4 1472.9 467.4 Western Asia United Arab Emirates 39.36 237.6 501.4 562.5 Western Asia Yemen 84.17 7.1 28.1 9.8 Eastern Europe Belarus 48.05 42.5 59.4 20.1 Eastern Europe Bulgaria 33.08 205.68 43.3 89.5 213.8 84.8 Central Europe Czech Rep. 37.81 142.41 191.9 296.2 533.9 273.4 Central Europe Hungary 78.46 139.83 123.3 197.8 431.8 137.5 Eastern Europe Moldova 34.78 8.5 13.8 7.2 Central Europe Poland 57.47 122.33 351.8 699.6 1257.8 547.8 Eastern Europe Romania 47.36 121.9 142.4 286.5 484.9 131.8 Eastern Europe Russia 19.28 215.46 475.5 1829.1 4293.5 1284.0 Central Europe Slovakia 60.27 139.81 115.9 118.4 237.0 Eastern Europe Ukraine 60.78 129.9 200.1 87.6 Northern Europe Denmark 42.13 280.16 504.8 399.1 1286.3 271.4 Northern Europe Estonia 18.46 179.67 23.9 37.2 73.7 Northern Europe Finland 69.55 238.56 631.5 297.6 917.0 Northern Europe Iceland 77.08 264.24 19.4 27.9 95.1 20.0 Northern Europe Ireland 58.52 343.73 2829.3 516.1 2076.2 Northern Europe Latvia 43.46 110.74 40.2 40.3 62.1 Northern Europe Lithuania 47.13 111.28 37.9 69.8 110.5 Northern Europe Norway 41.4 316.07 651.0 541.9 1937.3 418.9 Northern Europe Sweden 121.13 279.79 911.3 621.2 2490.7 550.4 Northern Europe United Kingdom 130.3 209.82 8721.6 3376.0 11482.5 5411.7 Southern Europe Albania 77.57 10.9 17.9 15.9 Southern Europe Bosnia Herzegovina 36.72 14.3 23.4 19.3 Southern Europe Croatia 88.74 214.78 48.3 69.5 210.8 60.2 Southern Europe Greece 211.21 139.13 484.9 222.8 780.5 Southern Europe Italy 155.82 180.17 2463.2 2058.3 6915.8 Southern Europe Kosovo 24.1 3.1 9.7 5.6 Southern Europe Malta 53.3 334.76 98.2 17.3 66.9 Southern Europe Montenegro 107.15 9.7 6.0 3.6 Southern Europe North Macedonia 60.22 10.6 14.2 9.4 Southern Europe Portugal 135.19 258.73 462.4 251.9 992.3 Southern Europe Serbia 58.37 38.5 65.0 39.4 Southern Europe Slovenia 79.77 117.78 48.7 63.6 125.7 Southern Europe Spain 119.92 209.96 2338.9 1435.6 4735.6 Central Europe Austria 83.16 174.73 688.4 479.8 1237.4 Western Europe Belgium 114.14 273.51 1317.5 609.9 2364.2 Western Europe France 115.08 294.66 6356.5 2936.7 12032.8 Central Europe Germany 69.05 180.47 5671.5 4256.5 10620.9 Western Europe Luxembourg 24.82 472.55 4266.8 86.9 432.2 Western Europe Netherlands 52.49 283.63 4345.4 1013.6 3406.9 Western Europe Switzerland 42.38 270.98 1909.4 842.0 2638.4 1538.3 Oceania Papua New Guinea 46.4 18.0 29.9 8.0 Oceania Australia 57.33 3115.9 1748.3 2402.2 Oceania New Zealand 43.1 190.6 257.2 288.1 World Total 76560.0 96100.1 246000.0 137903.6

Explanation of the table:

Public debt % of GDP: This is the total domestic and external debt of the government and its institutions as percent of the gross domestic product of the country.

Private debt % of GDP: This is the total domestic and external debt of the citizens and private companies as percent of the gross domestic product of the country.

External debt: This is the total debt of public and private debtors to foreign country banks and other foreign creditors. The amounts are in billion US $, calculated by the official exchange rate (a billion is defined here as a thousand millions, or 109).

GDP: Gross domestic product, billion US $.

Total debt, billion $: This is the sum of all debt, domestic and external, owed by public and private debtors in the country. The amounts are in billion US $, calculated by the official exchange rate.

Money supply, billion $: This is the supply of broad money, or money in circulation, of the country in its own currency. The amounts are in billion US $, calculated by the official exchange rate.

Disclaimer: Most values are from 2020 or 2021. Some values are a few years older. Values from different sources may not have been calculated in the same way. You cannot expect the table to be updated every year because some information is difficult to find and nobody has volunteered to keep the table up to date.

Data sources:

Public debt: IMF global debt database. Data for 2020.

Private debt: IMF global debt database. Data for 2020.

External debt: Data for Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Rep., Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, North and South Korea, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, USA, Uruguay, European Union, and World are from the CIA world factbook with data from 2019. All other data are from the World bank with data for 2020.

GDP: Most data are from IMF World Economic Outlook Database, 2022. Data for Afghanistan, Cuba, Lebanon, Pakistan, Syria, Ukraine, and World are from the World bank with data for 2020 or 2021. The data for North Korea are copied from Economy of North Korea.

The money supply data are from the World bank with data for 2020.

Consequences of high debt

There is more debt in the world than there is money in circulation. The ratio of total debt to money supply ranges from 1.7 in Japan and Switzerland to 4.7 in Denmark and Iceland. The ratio for the world total is 1.8, according to the above table. A high ratio of public debt to money cannot be sustained, according to some models. Economists prefer to look at the ratio of debt to the GDP. This ratio ranges from 1.5 in Latvia to 5.0 in Luxembourg. The world total is 3.5, according to the Institute of International Finance.