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Statistics -> Debt in Selected Countries

Debt in Selected Countries

The table below shows the total debt as a % of GDP, and debt per person in selected countries for 2011. The information is gathered from sources which are listed below the table.

What is the significance of these numbers?

The government gross debt is used as an indicator of the financial stability of the country. Once the government gross debt nears 100% of GDP, financial alarm bells start to ring, and purchasers of that country's debt (t-bills, bonds) may demand higher interest rates. This has happened in 2011 with Portugal, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, and Greece. Another factor affecting the interest rates is the amount of debt held by citizens of the country, vs the amount of debt held outside of the country. Japan is an example where 95% of the debt is held by its own citizens, which helps stabilize their debt market. The US debt has now reached 100% of GDP, and their debt was downgraded in August 2011 by Standard & Poor's (S&P) to AA+ from AAA. AAA is the highest rating.

	Debt as % of GDP					Total Debt
Country	Gov't Gross Debt	Personal Gross Debt	Total Debt	GDP 2011 $trillions	Population 2011 millions	$trillions	per person $US
Japan	233%	77%	310%	$5.8	126.5	$18.0	$142,672
Ireland	109%	123%	232%	0.2	4.5	0.5	109,706
United States	100%	92%	192%	15.2	313.1	29.2	93,376
Canada	84%	97%	181%	1.7	34.4	3.1	91,409
United Kingdom	81%	101%	182%	2.5	62.4	4.5	72,097
Greece	166%	71%	237%	0.3	11.4	0.7	64,523
France	87%	61%	148%	2.8	63.1	4.1	64,517
Italy	121%	50%	171%	2.2	60.8	3.7	61,351
Germany	83%	60%	143%	3.5	82.2	5.0	61,212
Spain	67%	87%	154%	1.5	46.5	2.3	49,171
Portugal	106%	106%	212%	0.2	10.7	0.5	46,788

Notes:

	All amounts are in US$.
	The government gross debt includes all levels of government.
	Corporate debt and bank debt are not included in the debt totals.
	The last column shows the debt *per person*, not per household. The total debt for a family of 4 in Canada would be $365,636.
	We confirmed with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, quoted as a source for the IMF information) that the Canada debt includes Federal, Provincial, Territorial and Local governments, and the Canada and Québec Pension Plans, and does not include financial or non-financial public corporations.

Information sources:

	International Monetary Fund (IMF) Global Financial Stability Report (published September 2011) - Debt as % of GDP, except Canada personal gross debt, which was not included in the report.
	Statistics Canada Household Sector Indicators - Canada personal gross debt (2nd qtr 2011)
	International Monetary Fund World Economic Outlook Database, April 2011 - GDP 2011
	United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs - Population 2011 from Total Population - Both Sexes, Medium Estimates

Tax Tip: Reduce your own debt, and pressure your government to reduce its debt.

Revised: September 18, 2012

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