Countries by Government Debt-to-GDP Ratio 2025
2025 Global Debt Ranking: Key Results and IMF Data Basis
Venezuela has the highest general government gross debt-to-GDP ratio in the 2025 IMF data at 308.7% of GDP. Japan ranks second at 206.5%, followed by Sudan at 187.6%. Higher debt-to-GDP ranks higher.
This ranking uses 2025 values published in the IMF World Economic Outlook April 2026 data vintage. WEO metadata determine the latest actual year separately for each country and series, so a 2025 observation may be classified by the IMF as actual or as a staff estimate depending on the economy. Values can also be revised in later WEO vintages.
The research uses two IMF source families: the World Economic Outlook for numeric values and the April 2026 Fiscal Monitor for definitions, comparability notes and fiscal methodology. Coverage is exactly 100 confirmed 2025 countries and economies. Unit: percent of GDP. Direction: descending.
Status mix: 100 official_value, 0 calculated_value, 0 official_forecast, 0 modeled_projection. On this page, official_value means the 2025 ratio is directly published by the IMF; it does not imply that every national 2025 fiscal account is final or unrevisable.
Venezuela ranks first in the confirmed 2025 table.
Myanmar is the 100th entry after restricting the ranking to confirmed 2025 values.
Twenty-three entries have gross government debt equal to or greater than annual GDP.
Fiscal Monitor world gross-debt aggregate for 2025; it is not a simple average of country ratios.
What government debt-to-GDP measures
General government gross debt-to-GDP compares government debt liabilities with the size of an economy. A ratio of 100% means the measured gross debt stock is equal to one year of GDP; it does not mean the debt must be repaid within one year.
Gross debt is not the same as net debt. Net debt deducts relevant financial assets from gross debt. It is also different from the annual budget deficit, which measures a fiscal flow rather than the accumulated debt stock.
Debt-to-GDP is useful for cross-country screening, but it is not a standalone measure of default risk or fiscal sustainability. Interest costs, maturity, currency composition, government assets, revenue capacity, financing access and institutional differences can materially change the interpretation.
Comparability limit
The IMF documents differences in sectoral coverage, instrument coverage, valuation and fiscal-year conventions across economies. The ranking therefore compares the IMF-published series, not perfectly identical national balance sheets.
Top 10 countries by government debt-to-GDP in 2025
Venezuela is the numerical outlier at 308.7%. Japan is the only other Top 10 economy above 200%, while all ten entries exceed 125% of GDP.
Top 10 confirmed 2025 general government gross debt ratios
| Rank | Country | Debt-to-GDP | Source / Method Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Venezuela | 308.7% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; directly published IMF value. |
| 2 | Japan | 206.5% | official_value; IMF WEO/Fiscal Monitor Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; revised gross-debt definition. |
| 3 | Sudan | 187.6% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; directly published IMF value. |
| 4 | Singapore | 171.3% | official_value; IMF WEO/Fiscal Monitor Apr 2026; data year 2025; fiscal-year basis; special balance-sheet context applies. |
| 5 | Bahrain | 147.6% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; directly published IMF value. |
| 6 | Greece | 145.7% | official_value; IMF WEO/Fiscal Monitor Apr 2026; data year 2025; GFSM 2014 debt definition includes deferred interest. |
| 7 | Lebanon | 139.4% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; directly published IMF value. |
| 8 | Italy | 137.1% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; directly published IMF value. |
| 9 | Senegal | 130.2% | official_value; IMF WEO/Fiscal Monitor Apr 2026; data year 2025; Senegal series includes the whole public sector from 2017 onward. |
| 10 | Maldives | 125.4% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; directly published IMF value. |
Important country-specific comparability notes
Japan
The IMF revised Japan's general government gross-debt definition from an unconsolidated market-value basis to a consolidated face-value basis. The current series is therefore not directly comparable with previous WEO vintages.
Singapore
The IMF notes that Singapore's government debt is covered by financial assets and is mainly issued to deepen the domestic market, meet Central Provident Fund investment needs, provide long-term savings options and facilitate reserve management.
China
The Fiscal Monitor states that the debt perimeter used in its comparison tables is narrower than the IMF staff perimeter used in China Article IV reports. The 99.2% figure should therefore be read as this specific IMF comparison measure.
Brazil
The IMF-comparable 2025 gross-debt ratio is 93.3%. The Fiscal Monitor also reports that the Brazilian authorities' definition produced 78.7% of GDP at end-2025 because the coverage differs.
Chart: Top 20 debt-to-GDP ratios in 2025
The bars use the same raw values as the ranking table and are scaled to Venezuela's 308.7% ratio.
Methodology
The ranking metric is general government gross debt as a percentage of GDP. Country and economy values come from the IMF World Economic Outlook April 2026 vintage. The IMF Fiscal Monitor April 2026 provides the debt definition, fiscal coverage notes, the world aggregate and important country-specific comparability information.
Metric and unit
General government gross debt, percent of GDP. The ranking uses the ratio directly published by the IMF rather than reconstructing it from separate debt and GDP inputs.
Target year
Every ranked row uses 2025. Economies without a confirmed 2025 value are excluded rather than filled with a value from another year.
Ranking rule
Higher debt-to-GDP ranks higher. Values are sorted descending from the published 2025 ratio. Equal values at one-decimal display precision retain their source order.
Data status
All 100 rows are official_value because the ratios are directly published by the IMF. The WEO's own metadata determine whether an individual country-year observation is actual or staff-estimated; this page does not replace that classification.
Inclusion and exclusion
The table contains exactly the 100 highest confirmed 2025 values. Non-country aggregates and observations from other years are excluded. Sri Lanka, for example, is not inserted with its available 2024 ratio.
Conflicts
Conflicting definitions are not averaged. The IMF WEO comparison series controls the rank, while material country-definition differences documented by the IMF are disclosed separately.
Country conventions
Some economies use fiscal-year reporting, and sectoral coverage or debt valuation can vary. The IMF's published country conventions are retained without creating modeled replacements.
Revision risk
The April 2026 WEO is a data vintage, not an immutable historical archive. The IMF notes that even observations classified as actual can be revised when newer information becomes available.
Regional labels
Regions used by the table filter are broad editorial geographic groupings. They are provided for navigation only and do not affect the IMF value or rank.
What the metric does not measure
It does not measure net debt, annual deficit, interest burden, external debt alone, default probability, debt maturity, currency exposure or government financial assets.
The IMF world gross-debt aggregate for 2025 is 93.9% of GDP. It is an aggregate ratio and should not be interpreted as the median or arithmetic average of the 100 country and economy ratios below.
Top 100 countries and economies by government debt-to-GDP in 2025
Search by country or economy, filter by region or status, change sort order, or limit the display to the Top 10 or Top 20.
Top 100 confirmed 2025 general government gross debt ratios
| Rank | Country / Economy | Debt-to-GDP | Source / Method Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Venezuela | 308.7% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 2 | Japan | 206.5% | official_value; IMF WEO/Fiscal Monitor Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; consolidated face-value definition; prior WEO vintages are not directly comparable. |
| 3 | Sudan | 187.6% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 4 | Singapore | 171.3% | official_value; IMF WEO/Fiscal Monitor Apr 2026; data year 2025; fiscal-year basis; IMF notes debt is covered by financial assets. |
| 5 | Bahrain | 147.6% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 6 | Greece | 145.7% | official_value; IMF WEO/Fiscal Monitor Apr 2026; data year 2025; GFSM 2014 definition includes deferred interest. |
| 7 | Lebanon | 139.4% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 8 | Italy | 137.1% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 9 | Senegal | 130.2% | official_value; IMF WEO/Fiscal Monitor Apr 2026; data year 2025; Senegal series includes the whole public sector from 2017 onward. |
| 10 | Maldives | 125.4% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 11 | United States | 123.9% | official_value; IMF WEO/Fiscal Monitor Apr 2026; data year 2025; cross-economy IMF adjustment excludes specified unfunded government pension liabilities. |
| 12 | France | 116.0% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 13 | Canada | 113.5% | official_value; IMF WEO/Fiscal Monitor Apr 2026; data year 2025; cross-economy IMF adjustment excludes specified unfunded government pension liabilities. |
| 14 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 113.4% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 15 | Ukraine | 108.7% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 16 | Belgium | 106.3% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 17 | Suriname | 105.8% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 18 | Bhutan | 103.6% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; fiscal-year convention applies. |
| 19 | Dominica | 102.6% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; fiscal-year convention applies. |
| 20 | Mozambique | 102.5% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 21 | United Kingdom | 102.3% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 22 | Cabo Verde | 101.0% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 23 | Spain | 100.4% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 24 | China | 99.2% | official_value; IMF WEO/Fiscal Monitor Apr 2026; data year 2025; debt perimeter is narrower than the IMF staff perimeter used in China Article IV work. |
| 25 | Congo, Republic of | 96.8% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 26 | Barbados | 94.2% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; fiscal-year convention applies. |
| 27 | Brazil | 93.3% | official_value; IMF comparison definition; data year 2025; authorities' definition was 78.7% of GDP at end-2025. |
| 28 | Portugal | 89.9% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 29 | Finland | 89.3% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 30 | El Salvador | 87.2% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 31 | Egypt | 86.8% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; fiscal-year convention applies. |
| 32 | Mauritius | 86.5% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; fiscal-year convention applies. |
| 33 | Zambia | 86.0% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 34 | Bolivia | 84.8% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 35 | Trinidad and Tobago | 84.2% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 36 | India | 84.1% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; fiscal-year convention applies. |
| 37 | Jordan | 82.8% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 38 | Tunisia | 81.3% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 39 | Lao P.D.R. | 80.6% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 40 | Austria | 80.5% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 41 | Argentina | 80.3% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 42 | Gabon | 78.9% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 43 | Fiji | 78.7% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; fiscal-year convention applies. |
| 44 | South Africa | 78.6% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 45 | Malawi | 78.4% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 46 | Saint Lucia | 77.1% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; fiscal-year convention applies. |
| 47 | Guinea-Bissau | 75.3% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 48 | Hungary | 75.2% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 49 | Gambia | 73.9% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 50 | Bahamas, The | 73.8% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; fiscal-year convention applies. |
| 51 | Pakistan | 72.8% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; fiscal-year convention applies. |
| 52 | Grenada | 71.6% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 53 | Malaysia | 70.7% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 54 | Namibia | 70.2% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 55 | Antigua and Barbuda | 69.7% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 56 | Kenya | 69.3% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 57 | Israel | 68.5% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 58 | Belize | 67.9% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 59 | Jamaica | 67.7% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; fiscal-year convention applies. |
| 60 | Montenegro | 67.1% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; tied at published one-decimal precision. |
| 61 | Morocco | 67.1% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; tied at published one-decimal precision. |
| 62 | Slovenia | 65.9% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 63 | Uruguay | 65.7% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 64 | Thailand | 64.7% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; fiscal-year convention applies. |
| 65 | Rwanda | 64.6% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 66 | Aruba | 63.6% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; IMF economy entry. |
| 67 | Togo | 63.0% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 68 | Germany | 62.9% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 69 | Palau | 62.3% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; fiscal-year convention applies. |
| 70 | South Sudan | 62.1% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 71 | Central African Republic | 61.8% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; tied at published one-decimal precision. |
| 72 | Mexico | 61.8% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; tied at published one-decimal precision. |
| 73 | Slovak Republic | 61.6% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 74 | San Marino | 60.6% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; tied at published one-decimal precision. |
| 75 | Romania | 60.6% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; tied at published one-decimal precision. |
| 76 | Costa Rica | 60.4% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 77 | Colombia | 59.9% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; country coverage differs from a narrow central-government concept. |
| 78 | Philippines | 59.4% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 79 | Dominican Republic | 59.0% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; debt coverage follows the IMF country convention. |
| 80 | Poland | 58.8% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 81 | Saint Kitts and Nevis | 58.4% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 82 | Benin | 57.3% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 83 | Panama | 56.6% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 84 | Côte d'Ivoire | 56.3% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 85 | Iceland | 56.1% | official_value; IMF WEO/Fiscal Monitor Apr 2026; data year 2025; gross debt excludes specified insurance technical reserves and other accounts payable. |
| 86 | Croatia | 55.9% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 87 | São Tomé and Príncipe | 55.7% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 88 | Cyprus | 55.3% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 89 | Liberia | 54.9% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 90 | New Zealand | 54.7% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 91 | Ecuador | 54.4% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 92 | Uganda | 54.2% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 93 | Algeria | 54.1% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 94 | Iraq | 53.9% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 95 | Albania | 52.6% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 96 | North Macedonia | 52.5% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 97 | Korea, Republic of | 52.3% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 98 | Papua New Guinea | 52.1% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 99 | Burkina Faso | 52.0% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; target year 2025; direct WEO value. |
| 100 | Myanmar | 51.9% | official_value; IMF WEO Apr 2026; data year 2025; fiscal-year convention applies. |
Exactly 100 confirmed 2025 country and economy entries are shown. Values are displayed at one-decimal precision. Observations from other years are not used to fill gaps.
Insights from the 2025 Top 100
Key Insight
Venezuela's 308.7% ratio is 102.2 percentage points above Japan's 206.5%, creating a large gap between first and second place.
Notable Pattern
Twenty-three entries are at or above 100% of GDP. Spain, at 100.4%, is the final economy above that threshold in the strict 2025 ranking.
Regional / Source Concentration
Very high debt ratios are not confined to one region. The Top 20 includes economies from Latin America, East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, North America, the Middle East and South Asia, while every numeric row uses the same IMF WEO source family.
Outlier
Twenty-six entries exceed the IMF's 93.9% world gross-debt aggregate for 2025. Brazil, at 93.3%, is the first ranked economy below that global benchmark.
What the ranking means
A high debt-to-GDP ratio shows a large gross government debt stock relative to economic output. It does not by itself show that a country or economy is close to default, nor does a lower ratio automatically mean public finances are safe.
Debt-service costs, budget balances, interest rates, maturity profiles, currency exposure, government assets and access to financing can make two economies with similar gross-debt ratios look very different from a fiscal-risk perspective.
Comparisons across data vintages also require care. Japan's current series reflects an IMF methodology change, while Singapore's unusually high gross ratio should be read alongside its substantial government financial assets.
Download the Countries by Government Debt-to-GDP Ratio 2025 dataset
Countries by Government Debt-to-GDP Ratio 2025
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Download Excel + CSV Data PackFAQ
Which country has the highest government debt-to-GDP ratio in 2025?
Venezuela ranks first at 308.7% of GDP, followed by Japan at 206.5% and Sudan at 187.6% in the IMF April 2026 data vintage.
Are all 2025 figures final national data?
No. The values are directly published in the IMF WEO April 2026 vintage, but the IMF determines the latest actual year separately for each country and series. A 2025 observation may therefore be actual or staff-estimated depending on its metadata, and later WEO vintages may revise it.
Are these 2026 forecasts?
No. The ranking is for the 2025 data column. It does not use the IMF's 2026 debt projection as the ranked value and does not create a modeled projection from growth assumptions.
Why is Japan's ratio lower than in some older rankings?
The IMF revised Japan's gross-debt definition from an unconsolidated market-value basis to a consolidated face-value basis. The IMF states that the revised series is not directly comparable with previous WEO vintages.
Why does Singapore rank so high?
Singapore has a high gross-debt ratio, but the IMF notes that this debt is covered by financial assets and is mainly issued for domestic-market development, Central Provident Fund investment needs, long-term savings options and reserve-management purposes.
Why can Brazil have both 93.3% and 78.7% debt figures?
The definitions differ. The IMF comparison series used in this ranking is 93.3% for 2025, while the Fiscal Monitor reports that the Brazilian authorities' definition produced 78.7% of GDP at end-2025.
Does debt above 100% of GDP mean a country is insolvent?
No. Debt-to-GDP measures the debt stock relative to economic output. Financing costs, maturity, currency composition, revenue, government assets and market access also matter.
Why is Sri Lanka not included?
This is a strict 2025 ranking. A value from another year is not substituted when a confirmed 2025 observation is unavailable, so an older observation cannot displace an economy with a verified 2025 value.
Sources
IMF World Economic Outlook Database — April 2026
Primary numeric source for the 2025 general government gross debt-to-GDP series. The IMF DataMapper link below is an official access interface to the same WEO source family and is not counted as a separate underlying source.
IMF Fiscal Monitor — April 2026
Used for the gross-debt definition, fiscal-year and coverage conventions, the 93.9% world aggregate and country-specific methodological notes for Japan, Singapore, China, Brazil and other economies.
https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/fiscal-monitor/2026/april/english/text.pdf
