World rankings / DATA EXPLORER

THE GLOBAL INDEX #050

Central government debt2021

Central government debt as a percentage of GDP. This scope differs from general government debt and coverage is incomplete.

World Bank
Comparable ranking year2023Latest published year: 2024
Economies with data45 / 217No observation: 172
First-ranked country or territoryUnited Kingdom183.8 % of GDP

Top 10

% of GDP · 2021
02Singapore
147.76
03Spain
132.55
05San Marino
95.12
06Iceland
94.33
07Jordan
90.39
08Hungary
88.73
09Brazil
85.01
10Mozambique
84.16

Complete ranking

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Central government debt · 2021 · % of GDP
RankCountry / territoryValue (% of GDP)Year
01United Kingdom183.82021
02Singapore147.762021
03Spain132.552021
04United States118.282021
05San Marino95.122021
06Iceland94.332021
07Jordan90.392021
08Hungary88.732021
09Brazil85.012021
10Mozambique84.162021
11Bahamas82.542021
12Albania81.922021
13Colombia80.432021
14Vanuatu75.652021
15South Africa74.082021
16Zambia71.412021
17Australia69.842021
18Canada68.762021
19Mongolia67.572021
20El Salvador66.472021
21Malaysia63.272021
22Armenia60.082021
23Andorra58.762021
24Thailand58.532021
25Uruguay58.112021
26Kyrgyzstan56.362021
27Burkina Faso55.582021
28Georgia54.732021
29Papua New Guinea52.582021
30New Zealand51.362021
31Uganda51.32021
32Somalia47.312021
33Bosnia & Herzegovina46.972021
34South Korea45.832021
35Mexico44.862021
36Türkiye41.642021
37Nepal39.922021
38Eswatini35.722021
39Peru35.242021
40Moldova32.122021
41Cambodia28.032021
42Kazakhstan22.412021
43Russia21.032021
44Botswana19.72021
45Switzerland19.342021

How this ranking works

For annual statistics, the default is the newest year covering at least 70% of the maximum available country coverage, and at least 20 economies where possible. A ranking uses one year or report edition; missing observations are not replaced with another year. Newer years with lower coverage can be selected.

Intentional homicide rates and peace scores rank from lowest to highest; other indicators rank from highest to lowest. Ranks use original values and competition ranking for ties, for example 1, 2, 2, 4. Filtering or changing display order does not recalculate global ranks. Higher values are not necessarily better.

Statistics reflect the public source snapshot, not live measurements. Some series are modeled estimates or multi-year averages. See original metadata.

No observation (172)

Afghanistan · Algeria · American Samoa · Angola · Antigua & Barbuda · Argentina · Aruba · Austria · Azerbaijan · Bahrain · Bangladesh · Barbados · Belarus · Belgium · Belize · Benin · Bermuda · Bhutan · Bolivia · British Virgin Islands · Brunei · Bulgaria · Burundi · Cameroon · Cape Verde · Cayman Islands · Central African Republic · Chad · Channel Islands · Chile · China · Comoros · Congo - Brazzaville · Congo - Kinshasa · Costa Rica · Croatia · Cuba · Curaçao · Cyprus · Czechia · Côte d’Ivoire · Denmark · Djibouti · Dominica · Dominican Republic · Ecuador · Egypt · Equatorial Guinea · Eritrea · Estonia · Ethiopia · Faroe Islands · Fiji · Finland · France · French Polynesia · Gabon · Gambia · Germany · Ghana · Gibraltar · Greece · Greenland · Grenada · Guam · Guatemala · Guinea · Guinea-Bissau · Guyana · Haiti · Honduras · Hong Kong SAR China · India · Indonesia · Iran · Iraq · Ireland · Isle of Man · Israel · Italy · Jamaica · Japan · Kenya · Kiribati · Kosovo · Kuwait · Laos · Latvia · Lebanon · Lesotho · Liberia · Libya · Liechtenstein · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Macao SAR China · Madagascar · Malawi · Maldives · Mali · Malta · Marshall Islands · Mauritania · Mauritius · Micronesia · Monaco · Montenegro · Morocco · Myanmar (Burma) · Namibia · Nauru · Netherlands · New Caledonia · Nicaragua · Niger · Nigeria · North Korea · North Macedonia · Northern Mariana Islands · Norway · Oman · Pakistan · Palau · Palestinian Territories · Panama · Paraguay · Philippines · Poland · Portugal · Puerto Rico · Qatar · Romania · Rwanda · Samoa · Saudi Arabia · Senegal · Serbia · Seychelles · Sierra Leone · Sint Maarten · Slovakia · Slovenia · Solomon Islands · South Sudan · Sri Lanka · St. Kitts & Nevis · St. Lucia · St. Martin · St. Vincent & Grenadines · Sudan · Suriname · Sweden · Syria · São Tomé & Príncipe · Tajikistan · Tanzania · Timor-Leste · Togo · Tonga · Trinidad & Tobago · Tunisia · Turkmenistan · Turks & Caicos Islands · Tuvalu · U.S. Virgin Islands · Ukraine · United Arab Emirates · Uzbekistan · Venezuela · Vietnam · Yemen · Zimbabwe

Source & definition

Indicator definition
Central government debt as a percentage of GDP. This scope differs from general government debt and coverage is incomplete.
Unit
% of GDP
Source & definition
World Bank · GC.DOD.TOTL.GD.ZS
Open original source ↗
Original metadata
Debt is the entire stock of direct government fixed-term contractual obligations to others outstanding on a particular date. It includes domestic and foreign liabilities such as currency and money deposits, securities other than shares, and loans. It is the gross amount of government liabilities reduced by the amount of equity and financial derivatives held by the government. Because debt is a stock rather than a flow, it is measured as of a given date, usually the last day of the fiscal year. Central government is the part of general government that includes all administrative departments of the national executive, legislative, and judicial functions, other central agencies and those non-market producers controlled by the central government, whose competence extends normally over the whole economic territory. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.

{
  "id": "GC.DOD.TOTL.GD.ZS",
  "name": "Central government debt, total (% of GDP)",
  "unit": "",
  "source": {
    "id": "2",
    "value": "World Development Indicators"
  },
  "sourceNote": "Debt is the entire stock of direct government fixed-term contractual obligations to others outstanding on a particular date. It includes domestic and foreign liabilities such as currency and money deposits, securities other than shares, and loans. It is the gross amount of government liabilities reduced by the amount of equity and financial derivatives held by the government. Because debt is a stock rather than a flow, it is measured as of a given date, usually the last day of the fiscal year. Central government is the part of general government that includes all administrative departments of the national executive, legislative, and judicial functions, other central agencies and those non-market producers controlled by the central government, whose competence extends normally over the whole economic territory. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.",
  "sourceOrganization": "Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF)",
  "topics": [
    {
      "id": "3",
      "value": "Economy & Growth"
    },
    {
      "id": "13",
      "value": "Public Sector "
    }
  ]
}