Government Debt to GDP by Country: 2026 World Rankings

Government debt as a percentage of GDP measures the total stock of government borrowing relative to the size of the economy. It is the most widely used indicator of fiscal sustainability: how much a government owes compared with how much the country produces in a year. The IMF tracks general government gross debt, which includes central, state and local government obligations.

The global debt landscape has shifted dramatically since the 2008 financial crisis and especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. In advanced economies, the average debt ratio rose from about 70% of GDP before 2008 to over 100% in the 2020s. Japan's ratio is among the highest in the world and the highest of any large advanced economy, a level that would be unsustainable for most countries but is managed through Japan's high domestic savings, a current account surplus and a central bank that owns a large share of government bonds.

Whether high debt is dangerous depends on context. The United States can sustain a high debt ratio because the dollar is the world's reserve currency and Treasury securities are considered the safest asset globally. Greece, with a debt ratio of similar size, needed several bailouts because it could not print its own currency or benefit from safe-haven demand. Emerging markets face higher borrowing costs and more currency risk, so concern about their debt usually starts at much lower ratios, often around 60% of GDP. The key variables are interest rates, growth rates and the currency in which the debt is owed.