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.

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.

In the third quarter of 2024, Greece's national debt was the highest in all the European Union, amounting to 158 percent of Greece's gross domestic product. In spite of Greece's total being high by EU standards, it marks a substantial decrease from the historical high point reached by the country's national debt of 207 percent of GDP in 2020. Italy, France, Spain, Belgium, and Portugal also all have government debt worth over one year's production of their economies, while the small Baltic country of Estonia has the smallest national debt when compared with GDP, at only 24 percent. In debitum incrementum?A country’s national debt, also known as government debt or public debt, is defined as all borrowings owed by the government of a country. It usually comprises internal debt – owed to other governmental departments – and external debt, which is held by the public and is owed to government bond owners. National debt can be caused by a struggling economy in general, or by low tax income, which usually leads to money being borrowed from other governments for support, which in turn cannot be paid back right away. At first glance, a high national debt is not always a sign of a struggling economy – but since increasing debt can slow down economic growth significantly, it is imperative for the respective government to seek a steady reduction in the long run.

Key information about United States Government Debt: % of GDP

• United States Government debt accounted for 120.9 % of the country's Nominal GDP in Jun 2025, compared with the ratio of 122.3 % in the previous quarter.
• US government debt to GDP ratio data is updated quarterly, available from Mar 1969 to Jun 2025.
• The data reached an all-time high of 130.3 % 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 38,040.1 USD bn in Oct 2025.
• The country's Nominal GDP reached 7,621.4 USD bn in Jun 2025.

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 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.

Government Debt Indicators (OECD)

Country-level Measurements of General Government Debt

By OECD [source]

About this dataset

This dataset provides key indicators regarding the general government debt of OECD countries. These figures reflect the fact that an unfortunate portion of a country’s annual budget is allocated to repaying debt, and suggest different levels of financial stability across nations. By examining this data, we can observe fluctuations in public debt levels over time, as well as how various countries compare in terms of their general government debt buckets. Featuring monthly measurements for multiple years, these data points provide valuable insight into how borrowing affects the overall financial landscapes of the countries captured. Additionally, a convenient flag code system separately gauges the data’s accuracy and credibility to ensure that only reliable readings are observed

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How to use the dataset

• This dataset contains indicators on general government debt for OECD members and selected non-members. The indicators included in this dataset are useful in measuring country-level financial stability and understanding the sources of government financing. This dataset is a great resource for researchers, policy makers, and data journalists who are interested in analyzing trends in public finances across countries.

• The data is organized by twelve columns, which include LOCATION, INDICATOR, SUBJECT, MEASURE, FREQUENCY (annual or quarterly), TIME (year), Value (in national currency units where applicable) and Flag Codes which denote the accuracy of a given value’s measurement. To access specific information from this dataset such as a values or locations associated with particular indicators such as “Gross Debt of General Government” one can use the filtering options available to select specific regions that they want to compare against each other. The results page will show multiple graphs where users can export individual numbers or view/download all datasets related to particular subgroups based on their selection criteria. Additionally users can choose to generate tables if they wish to compare numerical results rather than graphical ones since each entry shows details up until 2018 along with values published over various years when available.

• It is important that users take note of any flag codes pertaining these datasets as this indicates why data may have been missing from specific points series entries under certain conditions thus providing additional context that should be good practice for comparative analysis purposes between different countries' results for instance. Finally we recommend that advanced users download directly and read through raw csv files provided at the link contained within this description so as to better understand how variables were recorded upon original entry though always keep current standards corresponding filtering column filter selection into account prior making any graphical comparison output interpretations without confirmation further details from more authoritative sources including national treasuries departments themselves if possible beforehand nature needed since all fields contained were originally filled out just once during collection process associated source year indicated at time entry only after has been approved management group curation following validation our accuracy protocols chosen site lastly once all said taken care creating memorable finalized looks report visualizations done easier all via software programs compatible kaggle now let's get started analyzing!

Research Ideas

• Computing gender-disaggregated government debt levels to reveal systemic imbalances such as gender inequality in government spending.
• Estimating the amount of money spent on infrastructure projects by specific OECD countries over a certain period of time.
• Modeling and predicting future macroeconomic trends in terms of general government debt, for use in investment and financial planning activities

Acknowledgements

If you use this dataset in your research, please credit the original authors. Data Source

License

License: Dataset copyright by authors - You are free to: - Share - copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially. - Adapt - remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially. - You must: - **Give appropriate cr...

Key information about European Union Government Debt: % of GDP

• European Union Government debt accounted for 81.9 % of the country's Nominal GDP in Jun 2025, compared with the ratio of 81.5 % in the previous quarter.
• EU government debt to GDP ratio data is updated quarterly, available from Mar 2000 to Jun 2025.
• The data reached an all-time high of 709.6 % in Jun 2020 and a record low of -41,680.0 % in Oct 2025.

CEIC calculates quarterly Government Debt as % of Nominal GDP from quarterly Government Debt and rolling sum of quarterly Nominal GDP. Eurostat provides Government Debt in EUR and Nominal GDP in EUR. European Union stands for EU27 excluding UK.


Related information about European Union Government Debt: % of GDP

• In the latest reports, EU National Government Debt reached 17,710.7 USD bn in Jun 2025.
• The country's Nominal GDP reached 5,301.1 USD bn in Jun 2025.

In 2024, the net government debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio of Japan was estimated at about *** percent. The government debt ratio of the United States was over ** percent. Saudi Arabia, who had the lowest net debt, had a debt ratio of only **** percent.

Key information about United States Total Debt: % of GDP

• United States Total Debt accounted for 718.9 % of the country's GDP in 2025, compared with the ratio of 718.5 % in the previous quarter.
• US Total Debt: % of GDP data is updated quarterly, available from Dec 1951 to Jun 2025.
• The data reached an all-time high of 834.1 % in Mar 2021 and a record low of 309.4 % in Jun 1953.

CEIC calculates quarterly Total Debt as % of Nominal GDP from quarterly Total Debt and quarterly Nominal GDP. Total Debt is calculated as sum of Liabilities for NonFinancial Business, Federal Government, State and Local Government, Households & Nonprofit Organizations and Financial Business less Mutual Fund Shares. Federal Reserve Board provides Total Debt in local currency. Bureau of Economic Analysis provides Nominal GDP in local 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 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.

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

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.

Monthly and long-term Cambodia Public Debt data: historical series and analyst forecasts curated by FocusEconomics.

Monthly and long-term Dominican Republic Public Debt data: historical series and analyst forecasts curated by FocusEconomics.

Jordan External Public Debt: Outstanding: Central Govt: LT: Arab Countries data was reported at 386.400 JOD mn in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 393.300 JOD mn for 2016. Jordan External Public Debt: Outstanding: Central Govt: LT: Arab Countries data is updated yearly, averaging 298.550 JOD mn from Dec 1988 (Median) to 2017, with 30 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 490.320 JOD mn in 2011 and a record low of 216.900 JOD mn in 2000. Jordan External Public Debt: Outstanding: Central Govt: LT: Arab Countries data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Ministry of Finance. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Jordan – Table JO.JB011: External Public Debt: Central Government: Outstanding: Annual.

Monthly and long-term Iran Public Debt data: historical series and analyst forecasts curated by FocusEconomics.

This database compiles currrent standardized statistics on sovereign debt issuances for the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region and contains biannual data starting in 2006 through December 2023. Sovereign debt data is classified by legislation, creditor, currency, and maturity, among other areas, for 26 LAC countries. The availability of valid, comparable, and standardized public debt data is essential for the implementation of sound policies. As such, at the core of the LAC Debt Group initiative is the development of a standardized sovereign debt database to help debt managers, policymakers, and other actors of financial markets analyze the evolution and composition of public debt in the region and conduct cross-country comparisons. The data are provided by LAC public debt offices in response to a questionnaire specifically designed to allow comparability of data. The questionnaire, whose response is non-compulsory, is intended to compile current standardized statistics for objective and homogeneous definitions of public debt.