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Government Debt by Country

The General Government Debt by Country ranking compares nations by their year-over-year debt change as a share of GDP, ranking those with the largest reductions higher to reflect improved fiscal responsibility and reduced economic burdens.

Ranking summary

  • Mongolia flagMongolia tops the rankings in Government Debt to GDP, recording a drop from 64.49% to 46.79%. Venezuela flagVenezuela follows with a reduction from 160.67% to 146.26%, while Portugal flagPortugal rounds out the top three, falling from 112.42% to 99.08%.
  • Across all 86 countries, the average year-over-year change was -1.16 percentage points% with a median change of -0.56 percentage points%.
  • Overall, 49 countries improved in this area while 37 worsened. Click on a country to open the full country scorecard and see how it performs across a range of key indicators.
Rank Country Most Recent Year Previous Year Change
1Mongolia flag Mongolia46.79% (2023)64.49% (2022)-17.69 pp
2Venezuela flag Venezuela146.26% (2023)160.67% (2022)-14.40 pp
3Portugal flag Portugal99.08% (2023)112.42% (2022)-13.33 pp
4Georgia flag Georgia41.62% (2022)52.51% (2021)-10.89 pp
5Greece flag Greece168.87% (2023)179.59% (2022)-10.72 pp
6Montenegro flag Montenegro61.50% (2023)70.55% (2022)-9.05 pp
7Ethiopia flag Ethiopia38.74% (2023)46.92% (2022)-8.18 pp
8Cyprus flag Cyprus77.41% (2023)85.60% (2022)-8.18 pp
9Japan flag Japan249.67% (2023)256.30% (2022)-6.63 pp
10Colombia flag Colombia54.32% (2023)60.06% (2022)-5.74 pp
11Albania flag Albania59.81% (2023)65.55% (2022)-5.73 pp
12Iceland flag Iceland62.24% (2023)67.36% (2022)-5.12 pp
13Honduras flag Honduras41.98% (2023)46.97% (2022)-4.99 pp
14Croatia flag Croatia63.02% (2023)67.78% (2022)-4.76 pp
15Serbia flag Serbia48.91% (2023)53.50% (2022)-4.58 pp
16Spain flag Spain105.03% (2023)109.40% (2022)-4.37 pp
17Saint Kitts and Nevis flag Saint Kitts and Nevis55.93% (2023)60.20% (2022)-4.27 pp
18Switzerland flag Switzerland33.32% (2023)37.19% (2022)-3.88 pp
19Mauritius flag Mauritius82.90% (2023)86.76% (2022)-3.86 pp
20Italy flag Italy134.79% (2023)138.35% (2022)-3.55 pp
21Netherlands flag Netherlands45.02% (2023)48.35% (2022)-3.33 pp
22Slovenia flag Slovenia69.22% (2023)72.48% (2022)-3.26 pp
23Nicaragua flag Nicaragua41.68% (2023)44.64% (2022)-2.96 pp
24Micronesia flag Micronesia12.42% (2023)14.57% (2022)-2.15 pp
25Hungary flag Hungary69.44% (2023)71.58% (2022)-2.14 pp
26Germany flag Germany62.66% (2023)64.79% (2022)-2.13 pp
27Kyrgyzstan flag Kyrgyzstan44.72% (2023)46.82% (2022)-2.11 pp
28Costa Rica flag Costa Rica61.60% (2023)63.50% (2022)-1.90 pp
29Slovakia flag Slovakia56.05% (2023)57.74% (2022)-1.70 pp
30Nauru flag Nauru20.11% (2023)21.72% (2022)-1.62 pp
31Kiribati flag Kiribati11.72% (2023)13.30% (2022)-1.58 pp
32Tajikistan flag Tajikistan30.93% (2023)32.50% (2022)-1.57 pp
33Türkiye flag Türkiye29.26% (2023)30.80% (2022)-1.54 pp
34France flag France110.64% (2023)111.95% (2022)-1.31 pp
35Panama flag Panama52.39% (2023)53.68% (2022)-1.29 pp
36Australia flag Australia49.01% (2023)50.26% (2022)-1.25 pp
37Malta flag Malta50.40% (2023)51.63% (2022)-1.23 pp
38Marshall Islands flag Marshall Islands18.67% (2023)19.81% (2022)-1.14 pp
39Turkmenistan flag Turkmenistan4.67% (2023)5.77% (2022)-1.11 pp
40Philippines flag Philippines56.47% (2023)57.39% (2022)-0.92 pp
41Austria flag Austria77.55% (2023)78.41% (2022)-0.86 pp
42Peru flag Peru31.17% (2023)31.85% (2022)-0.68 pp
43Belarus flag Belarus40.72% (2023)41.30% (2022)-0.58 pp
44Indonesia flag Indonesia39.60% (2023)40.14% (2022)-0.54 pp
45Vietnam flag Vietnam34.37% (2023)34.74% (2022)-0.37 pp
46Bulgaria flag Bulgaria32.92% (2023)33.11% (2022)-0.19 pp
47South Korea flag South Korea37.85% (2018)38.01% (2017)-0.16 pp
48Czech Republic flag Czech Republic42.38% (2023)42.52% (2022)-0.14 pp
49Denmark flag Denmark29.66% (2023)29.70% (2022)-0.04 pp
50Democratic Republic of the Congo flag Democratic Republic of the Congo14.37% (2023)14.35% (2022)+0.02 pp
51Canada flag Canada107.50% (2023)107.37% (2022)+0.13 pp
52Ireland flag Ireland43.27% (2023)43.14% (2022)+0.13 pp
53Kazakhstan flag Kazakhstan19.87% (2017)19.68% (2016)+0.19 pp
54Lithuania flag Lithuania38.29% (2023)38.03% (2022)+0.26 pp
55United Arab Emirates flag United Arab Emirates32.44% (2023)32.06% (2022)+0.38 pp
56Poland flag Poland49.59% (2023)49.20% (2022)+0.40 pp
57Moldova flag Moldova35.31% (2023)34.90% (2022)+0.40 pp
58Cambodia flag Cambodia25.73% (2023)25.04% (2022)+0.69 pp
59United Kingdom flag United Kingdom101.15% (2023)100.43% (2022)+0.72 pp
60Brazil flag Brazil84.68% (2023)83.94% (2022)+0.74 pp
61Belgium flag Belgium105.17% (2023)104.28% (2022)+0.89 pp
62Luxembourg flag Luxembourg25.67% (2023)24.73% (2022)+0.94 pp
63Thailand flag Thailand54.73% (2023)53.74% (2022)+0.99 pp
64Russia flag Russia19.55% (2023)18.51% (2022)+1.04 pp
65Estonia flag Estonia19.31% (2023)18.27% (2022)+1.04 pp
66Bosnia and Herzegovina flag Bosnia and Herzegovina32.22% (2023)31.01% (2022)+1.20 pp
67El Salvador flag El Salvador84.68% (2023)83.35% (2022)+1.34 pp
68India flag India83.02% (2023)81.68% (2022)+1.34 pp
69Romania flag Romania48.85% (2023)47.49% (2022)+1.36 pp
70Israel flag Israel61.94% (2023)60.49% (2022)+1.45 pp
71Chile flag Chile39.41% (2023)37.80% (2022)+1.62 pp
72Latvia flag Latvia43.57% (2023)41.78% (2022)+1.79 pp
73Uzbekistan flag Uzbekistan32.51% (2023)30.53% (2022)+1.99 pp
74Tanzania flag Tanzania46.87% (2023)44.85% (2022)+2.02 pp
75Saint Vincent and the Grenadines flag Saint Vincent and the Grenadines87.14% (2023)84.66% (2022)+2.48 pp
76United States flag United States123.01% (2023)120.44% (2022)+2.57 pp
77Sweden flag Sweden36.37% (2023)33.75% (2022)+2.62 pp
78North Macedonia flag North Macedonia54.50% (2023)51.56% (2022)+2.95 pp
79Finland flag Finland77.03% (2023)73.94% (2022)+3.08 pp
80Malaysia flag Malaysia69.76% (2023)65.50% (2022)+4.26 pp
81Ukraine flag Ukraine82.33% (2023)77.72% (2022)+4.61 pp
82Nigeria flag Nigeria46.41% (2023)39.70% (2022)+6.71 pp
83China flag China84.38% (2023)77.39% (2022)+6.99 pp
84Egypt flag Egypt95.93% (2023)88.53% (2022)+7.40 pp
85Norway flag Norway44.00% (2023)36.27% (2022)+7.73 pp
86Yemen flag Yemen81.21% (2023)65.84% (2022)+15.37 pp

Source: IMF DataMapper. Only countries with complete data (both points within the past 10 years) are shown.