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$69 Trillion of World Debt in One Infographic

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$69 Trillion of World Debt in One Infographic

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$69 Trillion of World Debt in One Infographic

Two decades ago, total government debt was estimated to sit at $20 trillion.

Since then, according to the latest figures by the IMF, the number has ballooned to $69.3 trillion with a debt to GDP ratio of 82% — the highest totals in human history.

Which countries owe the most money, and how do these figures compare?

The Regional Breakdown

Let’s start by looking at the continental level, to get an idea of how world debt is divided from a geographical perspective:

RegionDebt to GDPGross Debt (Billions of USD)% of Total World Debt
Asia and Pacific79.8%$24,12034.8%
North America100.4%$23,71034.2%
Europe74.2%$16,22523.4%
South America75.0%$2,6993.9%
Africa56.9%$1,3131.9%
Other37.1%$1,2311.8%
World81.8%$69,298100.0%

In absolute terms, over 90% of global debt is concentrated in North America, Asia Pacific, and Europe — meanwhile, regions like Africa, South America, and other account for less than 10%.

This is not surprising, since advanced economies hold most of the world’s debt (about 75.4%), while emerging or developing economies hold the rest.

World Debt by Country

Now let’s look at individual countries, according to data released by the IMF in October 2019.

It’s worth mentioning that the following numbers are representative of 2018 data, and that for a tiny subset of countries (i.e. Syria) we used the latest available numbers as an estimate.

RankCountryDebt to GDPGross Debt ($B)% of World Total
#1🇺🇸 United States104.3%$21,46531.0%
#2🇯🇵 Japan237.1%$11,78817.0%
#3🇨🇳 China, People's Republic of50.6%$6,7649.8%
#4🇮🇹 Italy132.2%$2,7444.0%
#5🇫🇷 France98.4%$2,7363.9%
#6🇬🇧 United Kingdom86.8%$2,4553.5%
#7🇩🇪 Germany61.7%$2,4383.5%
#8🇮🇳 India68.1%$1,8512.7%
#9🇧🇷 Brazil87.9%$1,6422.4%
#10🇨🇦 Canada89.9%$1,5402.2%
#11🇪🇸 Spain97.1%$1,3862.0%
#12🇲🇽 Mexico53.6%$6550.9%
#13🇰🇷 Korea, Republic of37.9%$6520.9%
#14🇦🇺 Australia41.4%$5880.8%
#15🇧🇪 Belgium102.0%$5430.8%
#16Netherlands52.4%$4790.7%
#17Argentina86.1%$4470.6%
#18Singapore113.6%$4140.6%
#19Greece184.9%$4040.6%
#20Austria73.8%$3370.5%
#21Indonesia30.1%$3080.4%
#22Portugal120.1%$2890.4%
#23Poland48.9%$2860.4%
#24Switzerland40.5%$2860.4%
#25Ireland63.7%$2440.4%
#26Russian Federation14.6%$2420.3%
#27Turkey30.2%$2330.3%
#28Egypt92.7%$2310.3%
#29Pakistan71.7%$2260.3%
#30Israel60.8%$2250.3%
#31Sweden38.5%$2140.3%
#32Thailand42.1%$2130.3%
#33South Africa56.7%$2090.3%
#34Taiwan Province of China35.1%$2070.3%
#35Malaysia55.6%$1990.3%
#36Venezuela182.4%$1800.3%
#37Norway40.0%$1740.3%
#38Colombia52.2%$1730.2%
#39Finland59.3%$1630.2%
#40Saudi Arabia19.0%$1490.2%
#41Iran32.2%$1440.2%
#42Vietnam55.6%$1340.2%
#43Philippines38.9%$1290.2%
#44Denmark34.3%$1210.2%
#45Hungary70.8%$1140.2%
#46Iraq49.3%$1110.2%
#47Nigeria27.3%$1090.2%
#48Bangladesh34.0%$98.10.14%
#49Angola89.0%$94.30.14%
#50Qatar48.6%$93.00.13%
#51Romania36.7%$87.90.13%
#52Lebanon151.0%$85.10.12%
#53Czech Republic32.6%$79.90.12%
#54United Arab Emirates19.1%$79.10.11%
#55Ukraine60.2%$78.80.11%
#56Morocco65.0%$77.00.11%
#57Chile25.6%$76.30.11%
#58Sri Lanka83.3%$74.10.11%
#59Sudan212.1%$72.70.10%
#60Algeria38.3%$66.50.10%
#61New Zealand29.8%$60.50.09%
#62Peru26.1%$58.80.08%
#63Puerto Rico55.5%$56.10.08%
#64Kenya60.1%$52.80.08%
#65Slovak Republic48.9%$52.10.08%
#66Ecuador45.8%$49.60.07%
#67Ethiopia61.0%$49.00.07%
#68Croatia74.6%$45.40.07%
#69Dominican Republic50.5%$43.20.06%
#70Oman53.4%$42.30.06%
#71Jordan94.4%$39.90.06%
#72Ghana59.3%$38.90.06%
#73Slovenia70.4%$38.10.05%
#74Uruguay63.5%$37.90.05%
#75Kazakhstan21.0%$36.30.05%
#76Bahrain94.7%$35.70.05%
#77Costa Rica53.5%$32.30.05%
#78Tunisia77.0%$30.70.04%
#79Belarus47.8%$28.50.04%
#80Serbia54.5%$27.50.04%
#81Myanmar38.2%$26.20.04%
#82Panama39.5%$25.70.04%
#83Cyprus102.5%$25.10.04%
#84Côte d'Ivoire53.2%$22.90.03%
#85Bolivia53.8%$21.80.03%
#86Tanzania37.3%$21.20.03%
#87Zambia78.1%$20.90.03%
#88Kuwait14.7%$20.80.03%
#89Guatemala24.7%$19.40.03%
#90Lithuania34.2%$18.20.03%
#91Syria30.0%$18.00.03%
#92Yemen64.8%$17.90.03%
#93El Salvador67.1%$17.50.03%
#94Cameroon39.1%$15.10.02%
#95Luxembourg21.4%$14.90.02%
#96Jamaica94.4%$14.60.02%
#97Senegal61.6%$14.50.02%
#98Mozambique99.8%$14.40.02%
#99Bulgaria20.4%$13.30.02%
#100Latvia35.9%$12.50.02%
#101Turkmenistan29.1%$11.90.02%
#102Uganda41.4%$11.60.02%
#103Albania69.9%$10.50.02%
#104Uzbekistan20.6%$10.40.02%
#105Lao P.D.R.57.2%$10.40.01%
#106Gabon60.7%$10.20.01%
#107Congo, Republic of87.8%$10.20.01%
#108Trinidad and Tobago45.1%$10.20.01%
#109Iceland37.6%$9.80.01%
#110Honduras40.2%$9.60.01%
#111Mauritius66.2%$9.40.01%
#112Paraguay21.5%$9.00.01%
#113Azerbaijan18.8%$8.80.01%
#114Nepal30.2%$8.80.01%
#115Papua New Guinea35.5%$8.20.01%
#116Bahamas, The63.3%$7.90.01%
#117Zimbabwe37.1%$7.80.01%
#118Georgia44.9%$7.30.01%
#119Congo, Dem. Rep. of the15.3%$7.20.01%
#120Cambodia28.6%$7.00.01%
#121Bosnia and Herzegovina34.3%$6.90.01%
#122Namibia45.8%$6.60.01%
#123Malta45.2%$6.60.01%
#124Mali37.3%$6.40.01%
#125Barbados125.7%$6.40.01%
#126Armenia51.3%$6.40.01%
#127Burkina Faso42.9%$6.10.01%
#128Equatorial Guinea43.3%$5.90.01%
#129Benin41.0%$5.90.01%
#130Madagascar45.7%$5.50.01%
#131Chad48.3%$5.30.01%
#132North Macedonia40.5%$5.10.01%
#133Niger53.8%$5.00.01%
#134Nicaragua37.2%$4.90.01%
#135Guinea38.2%$4.60.01%
#136Kyrgyz Republic56.0%$4.50.01%
#137Mauritania82.9%$4.30.01%
#138Malawi62.9%$4.30.01%
#139Togo76.2%$4.10.01%
#140Montenegro72.6%$4.00.01%
#141Rwanda40.7%$3.90.01%
#142Maldives68.0%$3.60.01%
#143Tajikistan47.9%$3.60.01%
#144Eritrea174.3%$3.50.01%
#145Moldova29.7%$3.40.00%
#146Haiti33.3%$3.20.00%
#147Bhutan102.4%$2.60.00%
#148Sierra Leone63.0%$2.60.00%
#149Estonia8.3%$2.60.00%
#150Fiji46.2%$2.60.00%
#151Suriname72.8%$2.50.00%
#152Cabo Verde124.5%$2.50.00%
#153Aruba84.5%$2.40.00%
#154Botswana12.1%$2.30.00%
#155Guyana52.9%$2.10.00%
#156Burundi58.4%$2.00.00%
#157South Sudan, Republic of42.2%$1.90.00%
#158Belize95.2%$1.80.00%
#159Eswatini35.2%$1.70.00%
#160Antigua and Barbuda89.5%$1.40.00%
#161Gambia, The86.6%$1.40.00%
#162Djibouti48.0%$1.40.00%
#163Afghanistan6.9%$1.40.00%
#164Kosovo17.0%$1.40.00%
#165Liberia39.9%$1.30.00%
#166San Marino77.9%$1.30.00%
#167Saint Lucia64.3%$1.20.00%
#168Lesotho44.5%$1.20.00%
#169Central African Republic49.9%$1.10.00%
#170Guinea-Bissau64.3%$0.90.00%
#171Seychelles56.9%$0.90.00%
#172Grenada63.5%$0.80.00%
#173Saint Vincent and the Grenadines74.5%$0.60.00%
#174Saint Kitts and Nevis60.5%$0.60.00%
#175Vanuatu51.4%$0.50.00%
#176Samoa50.3%$0.40.00%
#177Dominica74.1%$0.40.00%
#178Hong Kong SAR0.1%$0.40.00%
#179Brunei Darussalam2.6%$0.40.00%
#180São Tomé and Príncipe74.5%$0.30.00%
#181Comoros21.0%$0.20.00%
#182Timor-Leste6.1%$0.20.00%
#183Solomon Islands9.4%$0.10.00%
#184Micronesia, Fed. States of20.3%$0.10.00%
#185Nauru58.3%$0.10.00%
#186Marshall Islands25.2%$0.10.00%
#187Kiribati20.6%$0.00.00%
#188Tuvalu28.1%$0.00.00%

In absolute terms, the most indebted nation is the United States, which has a gross debt of $21.5 trillion according to the IMF as of 2018.

If you’re looking for a more precise figure for 2019, the U.S. government’s “Debt to the Penny” dataset puts the amount owing to exactly $23,015,089,744,090.63 as of November 12, 2019.

Of course, the U.S. is also the world’s largest economy in nominal terms, putting the debt to GDP ratio at 104.3%

Other stand outs from the list above include Japan, which has the highest debt to GDP ratio (237.1%), and China , which has increased government debt by almost $2 trillion in just the last two years. Meanwhile, the European economies of Italy and Belgium check the box as other large debtors with ratios topping 100% debt to GDP.

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Will Tesla Lose Its Spot in the Magnificent Seven?

We visualize the recent performance of the Magnificent Seven stocks, uncovering a clear divergence between the group’s top and bottom names.

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Will Tesla Lose Its Spot in the Magnificent Seven?

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

In this graphic, we visualize the year-to-date (YTD) performance of the “Magnificent Seven”, a leading group of U.S. tech stocks that gained prominence in 2023 as the replacement of FAANG stocks.

All figures are as of March 12, 2024, and are listed in the table below.

RankCompanyYTD Change (%)
1Nvidia90.8
2Meta44.3
3Amazon16.9
4Microsoft12
5Google0.2
6Apple-6.7
7Tesla-28.5

From these numbers, we can see a clear divergence in performance across the group.

Nvidia and Meta Lead

Nvidia is the main hero of this show, setting new all-time highs seemingly every week. The chipmaker is currently the world’s third most valuable company, with a valuation of around $2.2 trillion. This puts it very close to Apple, which is currently valued at $2.7 trillion.

The second best performer of the Magnificent Seven has been Meta, which recently re-entered the trillion dollar club after falling out of favor in 2022. The company saw a massive one-day gain of $197 billion on Feb 2, 2024.

Apple and Tesla in the Red

Tesla has lost over a quarter of its value YTD as EV hype continues to fizzle out. Other pure play EV stocks like Rivian and Lucid are also down significantly in 2024.

Meanwhile, Apple shares have struggled due to weakening demand for its products in China, as well as the company’s lack of progress in the artificial intelligence (AI) space.

Investors may have also been disappointed to hear that Apple’s electric car project, which started a decade ago, has been scrapped.

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