Australia is one of seven countries that Forbes magazine says is the "most likely to suffer a debt crisis" within the next three years.

China, whose economy has faltered in the past two years, comes No. 1 on the list of seven, but Australia is No. 2. Sweden, Hong Kong, South Korea, Canada and Norway complete the list of infamy. The article was written by Australian economist Steve Keen.

Using data for both private and public debt compiled by Switzerland-based Bank of International Settlements, the magazine looks at the rate of growth of credit compared with gross domestic product, paying particular attention to when credit growth begins to fall.

Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd gets some credit for helping avert the worst of the financial crisis with a massive government cash injection, but this time around the country won't be as lucky, the magazine warns. Getty Images

A graph of the United States shows that lines tracing GDP and GDP plus credit growth cross in 2009, coinciding with the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the financial crisis.

"The bottom line is that private sector expenditure in an economy can be measured as the sum of GDP plus the change in credit, and crises occur when (a) the ratio of private debt to GDP is large; (b) growing quickly compared to GDP," the magazine says.