The statistic shows the 20 countries with the lowest national debt in 2024 in relation to the gross domestic product (GDP). The data refer to the debts of the entire state, including the central government, the provinces, municipalities, local authorities and social insurance. In 2024, Russia's estimated level of national debt reached about 20.3 percent of the GDP, ranking 16th of the countries with the lowest national debt. National debt and GDP The debt-to-GDP ratio is an indicator of a country’s ability to produce and sell goods in order to pay back any present debts, however these countries should not retain newer debts in the process. Many economists believe that if a country is able to produce more without impairing its own economical growth, it can be considered more stable, particularly for the future. However, the listed countries, with the exception of Russia and Saudi Arabia, are not necessarily economic first-world powers. Additionally, economically powerful countries such as the United States and France maintain one of the highest debt-to-GDP ratios, signifying that occurring debt does not necessarily damage the state of the economy and is sometimes necessary in order to help develop it. Saudi Arabia has maintained one of the lowest debt-to-GDP ratios due to its high export rates, which primarily consist of petroleum and petroleum goods. Given the significance of oil in today’s world, Saudi Arabia produces enough oil and earns enough revenue to maintain a high GDP and additionally refrain from incurring debt.

In 2024, Sudan ranked had the highest public debt level in relation to its GDP, with an estimated debt almost three times larger than its GDP. The countries with the highest public debt often have a high level of economic instability, however there are also many more developed economies on this list, such as five of the G7 countries, who feature due to their high levels of national borrowing and public spending. Venezuela's public debt

This dataset provides values for GOVERNMENT DEBT TO GDP reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

In 2024, Japan had the highest level of total non-financial debt among advanced economies, reaching 394 percent of the country's GDP. Total non-financial debt includes government debt, as well as private and business debt. Debt of the financial sector is not included in the figures.

This dataset provides values for GOVERNMENT DEBT TO GDP reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

This dataset provides values for PRIVATE DEBT TO GDP reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

Graph and download economic data for Central government debt, total (% of GDP) for High Income Countries (GCDODTOTLGDZSHIC) from 1990 to 2022 about debt, government, income, and GDP.

This dataset provides values for HOUSEHOLDS DEBT TO INCOME reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

Worldwide, the ************* has, by far, the highest public debt, more than twice as high as ***** in second. ***** followed in third.

This dataset provides values for EXTERNAL DEBT reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

This dataset provides values for EXTERNAL DEBT reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

Russia Public External Debt: Countries not in Paris Club data was reported at 209.628 USD mn in 2024. This stayed constant from the previous number of 209.628 USD mn for 2023. Russia Public External Debt: Countries not in Paris Club data is updated yearly, averaging 845.900 USD mn from Dec 2005 (Median) to 2024, with 20 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3.500 USD bn in 2005 and a record low of 209.600 USD mn in 2022. Russia Public External Debt: Countries not in Paris Club data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Russian Federation – Table RU.FH002: Public External Debt: Annual.

Venezuela was the most indebted country in Latin America and the Caribbean based on total government debt as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP). The lowest general government debt to GDP ratio in the region was found in Haiti, where the total public debt accounted for only **** percent of the country's GDP as of 2024.

The average for 2023 based on 27 countries was 49.58 percent. The highest value was in Mongolia: 189.66 percent and the lowest value was in Iran: 2.45 percent. The indicator is available from 1970 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

This dataset provides values for PRIVATE DEBT TO GDP reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

Key information about United States Government Debt: % of GDP

• United States Government debt accounted for 124.0 % of the country's Nominal GDP in Dec 2024, compared with the ratio of 123.1 % in the previous quarter.
• US government debt to GDP ratio data is updated quarterly, available from Mar 1969 to Dec 2024.
• The data reached an all-time high of 130.4 % in Mar 2021 and a record low of 31.8 % in Sep 1974.

CEIC calculates quarterly Government Debt as % of Nominal GDP from monthly Government Debt and rolling sum of quarterly Nominal GDP. The Bureau of the Fiscal Service provides Government Debt in USD. The Bureau of Economic Analysis provides Nominal GDP in USD. Government Debt covers Central Government only.


Related information about United States Government Debt: % of GDP

• In the latest reports, US National Government Debt reached 36,220.2 USD bn in Jan 2025.
• The country's Nominal GDP reached 6,632.4 USD bn in Mar 2023.

This dataset provides values for GOVERNMENT DEBT reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

Graph and download economic data for Central government debt, total (% of GDP) for High Income OECD Countries (GCDODTOTLGDZSOEC) from 1994 to 2013 about OECD Economies, debt, government, income, and GDP.

Context

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to countries of the world for capital projects. The World Bank's stated goal is the reduction of poverty. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Bank

Content

This dataset contains both national and regional debt statistics captured by over 200 economic indicators. Time series data is available for those indicators from 1970 to 2015 for reporting countries.

For more information, see the World Bank website.

Fork this kernel to get started with this dataset.

Acknowledgements

https://bigquery.cloud.google.com/dataset/bigquery-public-data:world_bank_intl_debt

https://cloud.google.com/bigquery/public-data/world-bank-international-debt

Citation: The World Bank: International Debt Statistics

Dataset Source: World Bank. This dataset is publicly available for anyone to use under the following terms provided by the Dataset Source - http://www.data.gov/privacy-policy#data_policy - and is provided "AS IS" without any warranty, express or implied, from Google. Google disclaims all liability for any damages, direct or indirect, resulting from the use of the dataset.

Banner Photo by @till_indeman from Unplash.

Inspiration

What countries have the largest outstanding debt?

https://cloud.google.com/bigquery/images/outstanding-debt.png" alt="enter image description here"> https://cloud.google.com/bigquery/images/outstanding-debt.png