How do credit ratings vary by country and by ratings agencies? Economists expect the UK to lose it's coveted AAA rating this year.

Phillip Inman has more on the story here, where he writes:

Many economists predict at least one of the three main credit ratings agencies – Moody's, Fitch or Standard & Poor's – will declare the UK a bigger lending risk in response to the chancellor's admission in the autumn statement that austerity will run for at least eight years, until 2018, rather than the original five.

Last year the UK was given a warning by Fitch when the credit rating outlook was changed to negative, becoming the second ratings agency to put the treasured AAA rating at risk after Moody's made the same move. This signalled a "slightly greater than 50% chance" that Britain would lose its AAA rating with Fitch in the next two years.

At the same time as changing the UK's outlook to 'negative', Moody's made a range of adjustments including downgrades for Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Spain.

At that time, Moody's also announced France and Austria would share the same fate as the UK with their outlooks being changed to negative.

Last October, Standard and Poors (S&P) downgraded Spain's sovereign ratings to BBB-, just one grade above junk status. S&P attached a "negative outlook" to its rating, a warning of another possible downgrade in the medium term.

Just days earlier Moody's cut its assessment of Cyprus's government bonds, downgrading them by one notch from Ba3 to B3. The ratings agency cited fragile and weakening banks as the main factor in its decision, stating:

In order to maintain appropriate domestic bank capital levels, the Cypriot government will likely need to provide financial support to the country's banks that could threaten the sustainability of the government's debt burden

So, who are the ratings agencies? The big three agencies are Fitch, Moody's and Standard & Poors. What they do is assess how likely a borrower is to be able to repay its debts and help those trading debt contracts in the secondary market.

That means for those trading debt contracts such as Treasury gilts after they have been issued, ratings agencies help assess a fair price to charge. Ratings agencies have been criticised for having too much clout in jittery markets during the financial crisis. They were widely attacked for failing to warn of the risks posed by certain securities, in particular mortgage-backed securities.

Losing your rating or being downgraded can have a fatal effect on your country's ability to borrow money on the markets.

Thanks to the three big agencies, we can bring you the ratings of countries around the world as of today. Because each agency's approach is slightly different, we have colour-coded them in three broad categories too. All the ratings have been updated today. Ratings for previous updates last year and in 2011 are in the spreadsheet, so you can see how ratings have changed over time.

Can you do something with the data?

Data summary

Credit ratings by agency and country - Updated 3rd January 2013 Click heading to sort table. Download this data Country S&P Rating S&P Outlook Moody's rating Moody's Outlook Fitch Rating Fitch Outlook Albania B1 STA B1 STA Andorra A- NEG Angola BB- STA Ba3 POS BB- POS Argentina B- NEG B3 NEG CC Armenia Ba2 NEG BB- STA Aruba A- NEG BBB STA Australia AAA STA Aaa STA AAA STA Austria AA+ NEG Aaa NEG AAA STA Azerbaijan BBB- STA Baa3 STA BBB- STA Bahamas BBB NEG Baa1 NEG Bahrain BBB NEG Baa1 NEG BBB STA Bangladesh BB- STA Ba3 STA Barbados BB+ STA Baa3 NEG Belarus B- STA B3 NEG Belgium AA NEG Aa3 NEG AA NEG Belize SD Ca NEG Benin B NEG Bermuda AA- STA Aa2 STA AA STA Bolivia BB- STA Ba3 STA BB- STA Bosnia and Herzegovina B STA B3 STA Botswana A- STA A2 STA Brazil BBB STA Baa2 POS BBB STA Bulgaria BBB STA Baa2 STA BBB- STA Burkina Faso B STA Cambodia B STA B2 STA Cameroon B STA B STA Canada AAA STA Aaa STA AAA STA Cape Verde B+ STA B+ STA Cayman Islands Aa3 STA Chile AA- STA Aa3 STA A+ STA China AA- STA Aa3 POS A+ STA Colombia BBB- POS Baa3 STA BBB- STA Cook Islands B+ STA Costa Rica BB STA Baa3 STA BB+ STA Croatia BB+ STA Baa3 NEG BBB- NEG Cuba Caa1 STA Cyprus CCC+ NEG B3 RUR- BB- NEG Czech Republic AA- STA A1 STA A+ STA Denmark AAA STA Aaa STA AAA STA Dominican Republic B+ STA B1 STA B STA Ecuador B STA Caa1 STA B- POS Egypt B- NEG B2 NEG B+ NEG El Salvador BB- NEG Ba3 STA BB NEG Estonia AA- STA A1 STA A+ STA Fiji B STA B1 Finland AAA NEG Aaa STA AAA STA France AA+ NEG Aa1 NEG AAA NEG Gabon BB- NEG BB- POS Georgia BB- STA Ba3 STA BB- STA Germany AAA STA Aaa NEG AAA STA Ghana B STA B+ STA Greece B- STA C - CCC Grenada CCC+ NEG Guatemala BB STA Ba1 STA BB+ STA Guernsey AA+ STA Honduras B+ STA B2 STA Hong Kong AAA STA Aa1 POS AA+ STA Hungary BB STA Ba1 NEG BB+ STA Iceland BBB- STA Baa3 NEG BBB- STA India BBB- NEG Baa3 STA BBB- NEG Indonesia BB+ POS Baa3 STA BBB- STA Ireland BBB+ NEG Ba1 NEG BBB+ STA Isle of Man AA+ STA Aaa STA Israel A+ STA A1 STA A STA Italy BBB+ NEG Baa2 NEG A- NEG Jamaica B- NEG B3 STA B- STA Japan AA- NEG Aa3 STA A+ NEG Jordan BB NEG Ba2 NEG Kazakhstan BBB+ STA Baa2 STA BBB+ STA Kenya B+ STA B1 STA B+ STA Korea A+ STA Aa3 STA Kuwait AA STA Aa2 STA AA STA Latvia BBB POS Baa3 POS BBB POS Lebanon B NEG B1 STA B STA Libya NR Liechtenstein AAA STA Lithuania BBB STA Baa1 STA BBB STA Luxembourg AAA NEG Aaa NEG AAA STA Macedonia BB STA BB+ STA Macao Aa3 STA Malaysia A- STA A3 STA A- STA Mali NR Malta A- NEG A3 NEG A+ STA Mauritius Baa1 STA Mexico BBB STA Baa1 STA BBB STA Moldova B3 STA Mongolia BB- STA B1 STA B+ STA Montenegro BB- STA Ba3 STA Montserrat BBB- STA Morocco BBB- NEG Ba1 STA BBB- STA Mozambique B+ STA B POS Namibia Baa3 STA Netherlands AAA NEG Aaa NEG AAA STA New Zealand AA STA Aaa STA AA STA Nicaragua B3 STA Nigeria BB- STA Ba3 STA BB- STA Norway AAA STA Aaa STA AAA STA Oman A STA A1 STA Pakistan B- STA Caa1 NEG Panama BBB STA Baa2 STA BBB STA Papua New Guinea B+ STA B1 STA Paraguay BB- STA B1 STA Peru BBB POS Baa2 POS BBB STA Philippines BB+ POS Ba1 STA BB+ STA Poland A- STA A2 STA A- STA Portugal BB NEG Ba3 NEG BB+ NEG Qatar AA STA Aa2 STA Romania BB+ STA Baa3 NEG BBB- STA Russia BBB STA Baa1 STA BBB STA Rwanda B STA B STA Saudi Arabia AA- STA Aa3 STA AA- STA Senegal B+ NEG B1 STA Serbia BB- NEG BB- NEG Seychelles NR B STA Singapore AAA STA Aaa STA AAA STA Slovakia A STA A2 NEG A+ STA Slovenia A CreditWatch NEG Baa2 NEG A- NEG South Africa BBB NEG Baa1 NEG BBB+ NEG Spain BBB- NEG Baa3 NEG BBB NEG Sri Lanka B+ STA B1 POS BB- STA St. Maarten Baa1 STA St. Vincent & the Grenadines B2 STA Suriname BB- STA Ba3 POS BB- STA Sweden AAA STA Aaa STA AAA STA Switzerland AAA STA Aaa STA AAA STA Taiwan AA- STA Aa3 STA A+ STA Thailand BBB+ STA Baa1 STA BBB STA Trinidad and Tobago A STA Baa1 STA Tunisia BB STA Baa3 NEG BB+ NEG Turkey BB STA Ba1 POS BBB- STA Uganda B+ NEG B STA Ukraine B NEG B3 NEG B STA United Arab Emirates Aaa STA AA STA United Kingdom AAA NEG Aaa NEG AAA NEG United States of America AA+ NEG Aaa NEG Uruguay BBB- STA Baa3 POS BB+ POS Venezuela B+ STA B2 STA B+ NEG Vietnam BB- STA B2 STA B+ STA Zambia B+ STA B1 STA B+ NEG

• DATA: download the full spreadsheet

More data

Data journalism and data visualisations from the Guardian

World government data

• Search the world's government data with our gateway

Development and aid data

• Search the world's global development data with our gateway

Can you do something with this data?

• Flickr Please post your visualisations and mash-ups on our Flickr group

• Contact us at data@guardian.co.uk

• Get the A-Z of data

• More at the Datastore directory

• Follow us on Twitter

• Like us on Facebook