This is a list of the gross National debt that countries have. National debt refers to the amount of total government debt a country has. This is also referred to as ‘public sector debt’.

debt a country has. This is also referred to as ‘public sector debt’. It is compiled using data from the IMF, Eurostat and CIA agencies.

Note: National debt is different to ‘External debt‘ – External debt includes all the debts a country (both private and public sector) owe to foreigners.

Note: You may see slightly different figures for government debt levels, depending how it is measured. For example, US net debt is debt held by private sector. Gross US debt ( includes intra-governmental holdings)

Updated July 2017.

List of National Debt by Country

Levels of general gross government debt. Debt levels as % of GDP for 2017.

1 Japan 234.7 2 Greece 181.6 3 Lebanon 161.5 4 Italy 132.5 5 Jamaica 130.1 6 Cabo Verde 128.6 7 Portugal 126.2 8 Eritrea 119.8 9 Singapore 110.5 10 Grenada 110 11 Barbados 108.9 12 Belgium 106.7 13 Cyprus 104.6 14 Mozambique 100.3 15 Spain 99.6 16 Canada 98.8 17 France 96 18 Egypt 92.6 19 Puerto Rico 92.5 20 United Kingdom 92.2 21 Yemen 92.2 22 Jordan 90.6 23 Sao Tome and Principe 89.5 24 Antigua and Barbuda 89 25 Croatia 88.3 26 European Union 86.8 27 Belize 86.3 28 Austria 83.5 29 Saint Kitts and Nevis 83 30 Slovenia 81.8 31 Iraq 79 32 Ukraine 78.2 33 Ireland 77.9 34 Sri Lanka 77.1 35 Saint Lucia 77 36 Morocco 77 37 Hungary 75.1 38 United States 73.8 39 Ghana 73.7 40 Brazil 73.5 41 Serbia 72.9 42 Maldives 72.8 43 Bahrain 72 44 Albania 71 45 Montenegro 70.7 46 Congo, Republic of the 70 47 Dominica 70 48 Pakistan 69.8 49 Kyrgyzstan 69.5 50 Sudan 68.8 51 Germany 68.2 52 Suriname 67.8 53 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 67 54 Aruba 67 55 Mauritius 66 56 El Salvador 64.9 57 Bahamas, The 64.4 58 Finland 63.6 59 Togo 63.3 60 Israel 63.2 61 Uruguay 62.8 62 Malta 62.6 63 Costa Rica 62.3 64 Netherlands 61.8 65 Laos 61.6 66 Malawi 61.2 67 Belarus 60.7 68 Djibouti 60.5 69 United Arab Emirates 60.3 70 Mongolia 60 71 Seychelles 59.1 72 Tunisia 59 73 Syria 57.5 74 Angola 57.4 75 Zambia 57.2 76 Iceland 56.5 77 Mexico 56.3 78 Senegal 55.6 79 Qatar 55.6 80 Malaysia 55.1 81 Vietnam 54.9 82 Ethiopia 54.2 83 Argentina 53.8 84 Lesotho 53.4 85 Armenia 53.4 86 Guyana 53.1 87 Slovakia 52.4 88 India 52.3 89 Moldova 51.9 90 Marshall Islands 51.3 91 Trinidad and Tobago 51.2 92 Cote d’Ivoire 50.9 93 Thailand 50.4 94 Kenya 50.4 95 Fiji 50.2 96 Niger 48.9 97 Macedonia 47.8 98 Honduras 47.3 99 Bolivia 47 100 Bosnia and Herzegovina 46.5 101 Australia 46.1 102 Korea, South 46.1 103 Virgin Islands 45.9 104 Zimbabwe 45.4 105 Tonga 45.1 106 Nicaragua 45 107 Poland 44.7 108 Colombia 44.6 109 Dominican Republic 44 110 Gabon 43.5 111 Burundi 43.4 112 Sierra Leone 43.3 113 South Africa 43.3 114 Namibia 43.1 115 Bermuda 43 116 Philippines 42.9 117 Georgia 42.4 118 Madagascar 41.8 119 Lithuania 41.8 120 Tuvalu 41.1 121 Andorra 41 122 Czechia 40.8 123 Benin 40.2 124 Papua New Guinea 39.4 125 Romania 39.3 126 Panama 39.3 127 Latvia 38.7 128 Hong Kong 38.4 129 Uganda 36.9 130 Venezuela 36.7 131 Rwanda 36.6 132 Tanzania 36.6 133 Chad 35.4 134 Faroe Islands 35 135 Denmark 34.2 136 Switzerland 34.1 137 New Zealand 34 138 Cambodia 33.9 139 Taiwan 33.5 140 Curacao 33.2 141 Ecuador 33 142 Turkey 32.7 143 Cuba 32.7 144 Norway 32.2 145 Guam 32.1 146 Cameroon 31.1 147 Saudi Arabia 31 148 Sweden 31 149 Bhutan 30 150 Indonesia 29.4 151 Comoros 28.5 152 Micronesia, Federated States of 28 153 Nepal 27.6 154 Guatemala 27.4 155 Mali 27.3 156 Bulgaria 26.7 157 Haiti 26.5 158 Peru 26.3 159 Bangladesh 25.9 160 San Marino 25.8 161 Paraguay 25.5 162 West Bank 24.4 163 Equatorial Guinea 24.3 164 Kazakhstan 24.1 165 Kuwait 23.1 166 Luxembourg 21.4 167 Botswana 21 168 Azerbaijan 20.4 169 Anguilla 20.1 170 Chile 18.5 171 Oman 18.5 172 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 18.2 173 China 16.1 174 Swaziland 13.7 175 Russia 13.7 176 Nigeria 13.2 177 Greenland 13 178 Algeria 13 179 Iran 11.9 180 Liberia 11.8 181 Uzbekistan 11 182 Kosovo 10.6 183 Libya 10 184 Estonia 9.7 185 Kiribati 8.6 186 Gibraltar 7.5 187 Tajikistan 6.5 188 New Caledonia 6.5 189 Wallis and Futuna 5.6 190 Timor-Leste 0

Sources:

CIA factbook – National debt by Country

Public debt, International Monetary Fund, April 2012

Eurostat pdf.

Some selected levels of Public Sector debt in different countries:

Further Reading

Annual Government Borrowing

An important factor is not just cumulative national debt, but, the annual budget deficit. This annual deficit determines the rate of deterioration in the public sector debt.

The budget deficit is the total amount the government needs to borrow in a particular year.

Budget Deficits by Country in 2012

This shows that the US has one of the highest budget deficits in the world.

External Debt

A different statistics is external debt, this the amount of debt a country owes to other countries. It includes both the private and public sector debt. See: list of external debt by country

Credit Ratings

Readers Question