Central government debt, total (% of GDP)

For 2024, Central government debt, total (% of GDP) is led by Singapore at 167.80%. This page combines ranking, historical trend, and map-based distribution.

Debt is the entire stock of direct government fixed-term contractual obligations to others outstanding on a particular date. It includes domestic and foreign liabilities such as currency and money deposits, securities other than shares, and loans. It is the gross amount of government liabilities reduced by the amount of equity and financial derivatives held by the government. Because debt is a stock rather than a flow, it is measured as of a given date, usually the last day of the fiscal year. Central government is the part of general government that includes all administrative departments of the national executive, legislative, and judicial functions, other central agencies and those non-market producers controlled by the central government, whose competence extends normally over the whole economic territory. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.

Countries ranked 33
Snapshot year 2024
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0.041.983.9126168SingaporeSingapore: 167.80%168United KingdomUnited Kingdom: 130.74%131United StatesUnited States: 115.77%116El SalvadorEl Salvador: 107.28%107SpainSpain: 105.64%106South AfricaSouth Africa: 82.76%82.8HungaryHungary: 81.99%82.0BrazilBrazil: 81.86%81.9MozambiqueMozambique: 71.77%71.8Bahamas, TheBahamas, The: 71.46%71.5ColombiaColombia: 71.20%71.2UruguayUruguay: 65.31%65.3
Rank Country Value
1 Singapore 167.80%
2 United Kingdom 130.74%
3 United States 115.77%
4 El Salvador 107.28%
5 Spain 105.64%
6 South Africa 82.76%
7 Hungary 81.99%
8 Brazil 81.86%
9 Mozambique 71.77%
10 Bahamas, The 71.46%
11 Colombia 71.20%
12 Uruguay 65.31%
13 Malaysia 64.57%
14 Burkina Faso 64.18%
15 Canada 64.13%
16 Thailand 61.86%
17 Uganda 54.43%
18 Papua New Guinea 52.01%
19 New Zealand 51.99%
20 Mexico 50.27%
21 Albania 49.96%
22 Armenia 47.88%
23 Korea, Rep. 47.81%
24 Mongolia 43.34%
25 Georgia 40.10%
26 Andorra 39.98%
27 Bosnia and Herzegovina 39.74%
28 Kyrgyz Republic 38.72%
29 Turkiye 26.62%
30 Solomon Islands 26.04%
31 Switzerland 22.28%
32 Russian Federation 17.85%
33 Somalia, Fed. Rep. 12.66%
Some World Bank indicators are published with a lag. The site always shows the latest actually available year for each country and indicator.

Analytical takeaways

  • Singapore sits at the top of the Central government debt, total (% of GDP) distribution in 2024 at 167.80%, with a lead of 37.06% over the next country.
  • The median country in the current global snapshot is Uganda at 54.43%, which helps frame the center of the distribution rather than only the leaders.
  • At the lower end of the current sample sits Somalia, Fed. Rep. (12.66%), and the page currently covers 33 countries.