Today’s visualization comes from HowMuch.net and shows the world’s countries as a “snowball” of presidency debt, coloured and arranged by debt-to-GDP ratio. The data itself comes from the IMF’s latest update from October 2018.
The structure of the visualization is apt because debt can accumulate unsustainably if governments should not proactive. This can create a vicious cycle through which growing debt can begin to hinder growth, making the debt ultimately harder to repay.
Here are the countries with the very best debt:
Japan and Greece are essentially the most indebted countries on this planet, with debt-to-GDP ratios of 237.6% and 181.8%, respectively. Meanwhile, the United States ranks eighth with a ratio of 105.2%, and the newest Treasury estimate puts the national debt at $22 trillion.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, there are 10 jurisdictions which have incurred less debt relative to the scale of their economies:
In the meantime, here is the complete list of Southeast Asian government debts:
