When one looks at debt by country, it helps to give an idea of how well countries are doing or how much they are struggling.
External debt, also called “foreign debt” is the portion of total country debt that is owed to creditors outside of the country. The debt includes both principal and interest payments due.
The deficit is the difference between how much money the government takes in through taxes and how much it spends each year. Public debt is an accumulation of all the deficit, plus any other money the government spent that wasn’t part of the budget.
Debt is fundamentally necessary to the operation of a national government, but it can also be limiting and dangerous.
Failure to repay results in significantly higher borrowing costs.
If a country has high debt it may also limit policy options in terms of stimulating growth. Governments need to use debt responsibly or else it impacts long term growth potential.
A further look at debt by country:
USA
114% of GDP
UK
569% of GDP
France
222% of GDP
Germany
145% of GDP
Luxembourg
3443% of GDP
Japan
124% of GDP
Italy
124% of GDP
Netherlands
316% of GDP
Spain
167% of GDP
Singapore
408% of GDP
Germany
$5.317 million
France
$5.25 million
Brazil
$699 298
India
$475 813
South Africa
$144406
For some emerging economies, getting into debt is the only way to raise funds. Government debt is issued in the domestic currency. Sovereign debt is issued in a foreign currency.
The debt of developing countries is often considered to carry a higher risk. This is why developing countries pay higher interest rates.
Investors have to consider the government’s stability, how the government plans to repay the debt and the possibility of the country going into default.
Some of the countries that issue debt do it in order to finance their growth.
