Currently, many Russians are interested in information regarding external debt not only our state, but also other countries of the world. Which of them has the smallest external debt, and which has the largest? Our experts will help you sort out these issues.

External debt

Before ranking the countries of the world by the size and amount of external debt, we should consider this concept itself. It is established primarily at the legislative level. Thus, in our country there is a Budget Code, according to which the external debt of any country to other states is understood as financial credit debt in foreign currency.

In the dictionary of economic terms, this concept is considered in the form of total monetary obligations, which the borrower country must return within a certain period of time to the creditor state. The amount of such credit debt will include both the loan itself and the interest for its use that requires payments. For a country, this amount of debt includes obligations:

• international banks;
• governments of other countries of the world;
• private banks that are owned by foreigners.

There are two types of external debt:

1. Current (the one that needs to be returned to foreign creditors in the current year, that is, in 2019).
2. General government (accumulated over several years along with unpaid interest, it should be reimbursed in subsequent years).

To estimate the amount of external debt of an individual state, specialists working in the field of economics and finance use the relationship between credit debt before foreign creditors and the gross domestic product of the debtor country itself. In this case, GDP (gross domestic product) is a macroeconomic indicator representing the total amount of everything that a country earned in a year from the goods and services produced.

External debt indicators

Experts say that external debt affects not only economic sphere borrower country, but can also lead to long-term political dependence. This is determined by the critical level of overall debt indicators:

1. The solvency of the country (the ability to timely fulfill all obligations undertaken at the expense of own resources), which includes:
   • dependence on export goods;
   • relation to the state's GDP (that is, to the main base of household resources);
   • repayment of debt obligations from state budget revenues.
2. Liquidity (the ability of existing assets, e.g. valuable papers, to quick sale at market prices), taking into account:
   • the duration of the debt (short-term or long-term);
   • adequacy of international reserves;
   • monitoring the risks of non-repayment of debt obligations.
3. Indicators for the public sector, namely:
   • the impact of tax revenues on public debt;
   • changes in the exchange rate of foreign currency to home currency.

Thanks to these indicators, which affect almost all areas of the economy, it is possible to calculate how quickly the debtor state will return what it borrowed from other countries of the world cash. For example, a safe level of debt is indicated by a ratio of debt to export earnings not exceeding 200% (if this indicator will be above 275%, then the external debt can be partially written off as unpaid).

In relation to local GDP, the critical level of debt will be considered from 60% (according to IMF calculations) and from 80-100% (according to calculations World Bank). Exceeding this limit indicates that the repayment of financial debt from other countries of the world is due to the transfer of resources. Instead of producing goods and services for domestic needs the state is coming their production for export trade.

Also, to predict the return of debt obligations with interest, you should take into account:

• the ratio of these obligations (they may be subject to a number of preferential conditions);
• degree of openness of the external capital market;
• real exchange rate regime;
• the likelihood of an economic crisis.

If a country has limited access to its own and international reserves, then there can be no question of any solvency. Therefore, many developing countries have difficulty returning cash loans. They use all the profits received from domestic production to pay off external debt, and the current costs of their own activities are taken from new loan receipts.

Positive aspects of state external debt from countries around the world

It would seem that credit financial debt to other countries does not bring anything good for the state - it is the ineffective use of money received on credit, servicing credit obligations, economic dependence on the creditor country, leading to a change in political relations between states. But experts in economics and finance also find positive aspects in external debt:

• any foreign loan improves the economic situation of the borrowing country;
• the influx of foreign capital helps in the development of certain areas of the economy (for example, transport, energy, etc.);
• the general budget of the state is restored.

But these positive aspects begin to work only if borrowed funds are distributed effectively.

Rating of world countries by external debt

Experts working in the World banking system, annually calculate all possible prospects for repaying external debt for countries around the world. Also within the scope of their activities is the compilation of rating tables on external debt with miscalculation percentage debts of this type nominal GDP. For 2019, the top 10 countries in the world with the lowest external debt have been compiled:

The name of the country	External debt (millions of dollars)	External debt to GDP (%)
USA	16 893 000	101
Great Britain	9 836 000	396
Germany	5 624 000	159
France	5 633 000	188
Netherlands	3 733 000	309
Japan	2 719 000	46
Spain	2 570 000	165
Italy	2 684 000	101
Ireland	2 357 000	1060
Luxembourg	2 146 000	3411

As a result of the analysis of these tables, we can conclude that there are a surprisingly small number of countries that do not have external debt - only three (Brunei, Macau and the Republic of Palau), in contrast to other states that owe almost the entire world.

There are countries that are both borrowers and lenders to each other. So why don't they offset their financial debts? But this depends not only on the political relationship between them, but also on the conditions credit loan– repayment terms, interest payments etc. After all, the offset of such debts can not only reset the debt, but also seriously affect working capital state financial companies. This situation, in turn, could lead to a crisis in the economies of both countries.

According to Standard & Poor's, one of the three most influential rating agencies 40% of the world's sovereign debt is owned by monarchies. In doing so, the agency emphasizes the difference between absolute monarchs, who have significant influence on politics in their countries, and constitutional monarchs, who play a symbolic role as head of state.

All absolute monarchies are concentrated in the Arab world, and their national debt is less than 1% of the total. However, constitutional monarchies tend to have higher credit ratings based on the increased stability and predictability of their policies.

Public debt consists of debt held by central government, regional and local authorities, state enterprises and organizations.

5. Absolute monarchies

They account for 0.4% of global public debt. This reflects the high budget indicators countries They do not need to make large borrowings from outside. Of the absolute monarchies, the most best rating(“AA”) have Qatar and emirate Abu Dhabi.

4. Constitutional monarchies

Norway, Spain, Sweden, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein And Denmark make up the majority of indebted kingdoms (5.9% of public debt). Spain has a satisfactory credit rating (“BBB”), all other countries have the highest (“AAA”).

3. States included in the British Commonwealth of Nations

The top three in global public debt in 2015 include countries under the protectorate of Queen Elizabeth II. She is the head of more than a dozen countries within the Commonwealth - including Great Britain,Canada, Bahamas And Papua New Guinea . The total public debt of these states amounted to 8.2%. Wherein Great Britain, Canada And Australia have a long-term credit rating of “AAA”, according to Standard & Poor’s.

2. Japan

Tokyo's national debt is $11 trillion, 25.4% of total debt or 246.14% of GDP. Since the early 1990s Japan is experiencing continuous stagnation. The policies that the Japanese government is pursuing to overcome the crisis only increase the level of debt. Currently the government Japan spends almost half of its total tax revenue to pay off its massive debt. Despite this, the yield on 10-year Japanese bonds remains surprisingly low, down to 1%.

1. Non-monarchical states

These countries account for 60.2% of the world's public debt. The largest debtor is Greece. Its debt as a percentage of GDP is 172.73%. In July 2015, the IMF released a report on Greece's debt sustainability. It said that due to policy easing during last year and the recent deterioration of the domestic macroeconomic and financial environment, Greece's public debt has become highly unsustainable. Slightly less national debt Italy— 133.7% of GDP. Russia is not included in the top 20 countries with the largest public debt; at the beginning of 2015, the external debt of the state was $41 billion, excluding the debts of state-owned companies, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and banks.

Debt levels of countries around the world

Against the backdrop of another debt crisis flaring up, let's discuss this issue together.

These are the data that recently once again alarmed the Internet communities, tirelessly monitoring the successes or failures of the Russian authorities:

“Russia’s external debt last year increased by $83 billion 408 million, or 15.4%, and as of January 1, 2013 amounted to $623 billion 963 million compared to $540 billion 555 million as of January 1, 2012, according to Bank data Russia." (proof)

Horror? Or not? What does it mean? Yes, we hear so much from time to time: about fiscal cliffs, and about the periodic default of the United States, and about the complete bankruptcy of Greece, they even calculated how high the mountain of money that makes up the US national debt will be.

Each of you has probably thought at least once about this question: who do they owe everything to? Almost every country owes something, and many of them already owe exorbitant amounts (it seems to me that no one expects that the debt will be repaid). If we turn to brainy economists, they will put forward their theories for us, which we still won’t understand. Let's all try to figure this out in some simpler way, so to speak, for the average person and using vivid examples...

First, let me remind you how government debt arises. total amount obligations of the state on issued and outstanding government loans received by the creditor and interest on them, guarantees issued by the government, constitutes public debt.

Each government strives in its activities to ensure that the revenue side of the budget is equal to the expenditure side. In reality, expenditures exceed revenues, resulting in a budget deficit. Most economically the developed countries, as a rule, constantly have a deficit budget (from 2-3% of GDP).

To cover the government's budget deficit, the state applies for a loan to national banks, as well as the issue of government securities - bonds. As a result, it appears and grows state debt, because government bonds and credit are debentures states.

Under foreign debt refers to the obligations of the state arising in foreign currency. These can be loans from foreign governments, credit organizations, firms and international financial organizations, it could also be foreign investment.

Lately, in particular, there has been a lot of talk about the difficult situation in the Eurozone. Sometimes it will “bang” here, sometimes here. Greece either comes out or doesn't come out. Let's look at debt interpenetration in Europe first. The data is a little outdated, but the trend of the hike and understanding the essence of the issue will be sufficient...

This is the official 2011 ESCP Europe study on debt cross penetration in Europe.

The arrows show who owes whom and how much, the thickness of the arrows shows the size of interstate debts, the circles with the names of countries show the total amount of debt (the area of ​​the circle is proportional to the size of the country's total debt). Pay attention to England and Italy

But among other things, it is clear that there are counter debts. In the modern banking system, this is considered normal - when everyone owes everyone. Any reasonable person in such a situation will suggest simplifying the picture by making counter offsets. Well, let's make them.

At the same time, it is necessary to understand that in reality it is impossible to offset debts - they were issued with different conditions, different repayment periods, and so on, in addition, such offset will nullify or seriously reduce the working capital of many financial organizations - which will cause a collapse of payments and the subsequent growing lump of a general crisis . There are many different nuances there.

But virtually we can make such a purely formal digital offset. Let's look at the result:

It is clearly visible that France's debt has practically disappeared. And she is owed a lot by Italy, somewhat less by Germany, and even less (but also a lot) by Spain. In general, if anyone is doing well with debts, it’s France.

But whoever has really big problems is also clearly visible, this is England. England owes Germany and Spain gigantic (and approximately equal) sums, but few people owe her anything.

Italy is also in a bad position - it owes France a lot, but no one owes it anything significant.

Oddly enough, everything is not so hopeless for Spain - it owes the French and Germans, but the British owe it even more, and Portugal’s debts are also quite large. Well, the Germans, and even more so practically Alles Ordnung - yes, the debt to France is great, but England and Spain owe Germany much more.

Of course, the volume of debt itself is not important - what is important is its relationship with Country's GDP. It was because of this relationship that disaster was created first in Greece, Portugal and Ireland (PIG). But the main European debt bubble lurks in England. He will show himself yet.

data for 2011

But about the relationship with GDP, this is a very interesting and often forgotten point by many. This is where we come to the assessment of the news that was at the beginning of the post.

In the economic report of the European Commission published in mid-May in 2013. an increase in public debt is predicted for the vast majority of eurozone countries, in particular Spain, France, Greece, Portugal and Ireland. The Analytical Information Service of the International Organization of Creditors (WOC) conducted a study of the volumes of public debt in different countries of the world and forecasts for their increase.

In 2010, the total public debt of the world's countries exceeded $41 trillion, but at that time the increase in the volume of liabilities could be justified by the desire of governments to overcome the consequences of the crisis as quickly as possible and return to pre-crisis levels. At the end of 2011 statistical reports demonstrated positive dynamics of various economic indicators, including GDP growth in many countries. However, government debts 50 largest economies the world also grew and reached the amount of 55 trillion dollars. The total external debt of these countries exceeded 65 trillion dollars. Thus, economic growth last year was due to government injections, including through borrowing from non-residents.

As can be seen from the table, the leaders in the ranking of countries in terms of external debt in most cases occupy the same positions as a year earlier. External debt of the United States at the end of 2011. became equal to the volume of GDP, but the United States is far from a leader in the ranking for this indicator. Ireland's external debt is almost 11 times greater than its GDP, Great Britain - 5 times, the Netherlands and Hong Kong - 4 times. Only Japan has an external debt ratio below 50%, but this is probably the only positive aspect in the debt situation of this country. Japanese level government debt is off the charts, as shown in the table below.

Compared to the results of 2010 In the top ten, everyone remained in their places, with the exception of the UK and China. The latter managed to reduce its sovereign debt by 5%, which allowed it to change places with the UK, which continues to increase debt (+17%). In addition, in the top ten, China has the best ratio of public debt to GDP (25.8%).

The US national debt continues to grow, and its ratio to GDP has already exceeded 100%. But it is necessary to understand that the American economy is the largest in the world, in addition, the United States has the opportunity to generate share premium. This means that even with the continuing trend toward an increase in the debt burden, the American economy still has room for growth.

Japan leads the world with public debt at 226% of GDP

Most high level debt burden is recorded in Japan, where the volume of public debt to GDP is 226%. The country continues to combat the consequences of the tsunami mainly through domestic financial injections into national currency, which explains such a high debt burden. Following Japan in this indicator is Greece, in third place is Italy, which is using every opportunity to avoid the fate of Greece. At the end of 2011 Italy's GDP grew by 7%, while France and Germany grew by 8% and 9% respectively. Overall for the eurozone in 2011. turned out quite successfully - economic growth was observed in all countries of the bloc with the exception of Greece (-1%).

Source: IMF data, WOC calculations

The highest level of debt burden per capita was also recorded in Japan - 105 thousand dollars of public debt. For Ireland, which ranks second, this figure is more than half as low ($49.9 thousand). As can be seen from the rating, over the past year the debt burden in the top twenty has increased on average by more than 10%, with the exception of Sweden and Portugal, where there has been a slight decrease in this indicator (by 4% and 2%, respectively).

According to all three indicators, Russia is at good positions. The country's level of external debt to GDP does not exceed 30%; its growth over the year was only 6%. The level of public debt is even lower and does not exceed 10% of GDP, and for every Russian there is $1,247 in debt. As can be seen from the table below, almost all debt is covered by international reserves.

Source: CIA data, WOC calculations

For several years, the top three in the ranking in terms of international reserves did not change, and a fairly significant gap remained between third and fourth places. But at the end of 2011. Saudi Arabia overtook Russia to take third place. Apparently, the government of this Arab country is building up its reserves for a rainy day when the oil runs out. To get into second place, Saudi Arabia needs to double reserve fund. This is possible if oil prices remain high and Japan begins to use gold and foreign exchange reserves to solve internal problems.

Forecast of growth of public debt in 2012-2015.

Source: IMF data

According to IMF expectations, by 2015. the volume of government debt will continue to increase. The United States will retain leadership in this indicator - the country will surpass the $20 trillion mark in three years. Japan will retain second place, and by 2015. its government debt will exceed $15 trillion. Judging by trends, by 2015. the total debt of the top ten countries will reach almost 55 trillion dollars, that is, the volume that currently accounts for the debts of 50 countries.

We present to your attention the data of the TOP 10 countries in the world in terms of GDP in 2012, as well as the GDP of some CIS countries in 2012, prepared on the basis of the CIA (USA) World Fact Book. According to the information presented, the top three leaders in terms of GDP have not changed, and the United States is still in first place, China is second, and Japan is third. Russia in terms of GDP rose from 10th place in 2011 to 9th place in 2012, overtaking India. In addition to Russia, the top 100 countries in the world with the largest GDP from the CIS countries included Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.

Countries GDP volume, US dollars

1. USA 15497.321 billion
2. China 7743.144 billion
3. Japan 6124.899 billion
4. Germany 3706.970 billion
5. France 2889.708 billion
6. Brazil 2617.987 billion
7. England 2603.880 billion
8. Italy 2287.704 billion
9. Russia 2117.236 billion
10. India 2012.760 billion

32. Ukraine 359.900 billion
54. Kazakhstan 167.600 billion
61. Belarus 105.200 billion
74. Azerbaijan 65.410 billion
75. Uzbekistan 64.150 billion.

And now another meaningful picture from Wikipedia! Anyone interested can search our country.

Below the spoiler is a table of all countries of the world, sorted by the ratio of external debt to GDP (as a percentage)

As we see, the external debt is not growing much, but the internal public debt is much stronger.

By the way, I saw an interesting flash drive here. CLICK ON THE PICTURE BELOW and you can see how the world's debts have changed in the past and what forecast awaits them in the future

But the latest news: Italy's sovereign debt has reached a historic high and exceeded two trillion euros As reported in a statement released today by the country's Central Bank (Banca diItalia), in October, external debt amounted to 2 trillion 14 billion euros. (link )

Well, on the topic that concerns debts, I cannot ignore the most interesting country in this regard - the USA. Remember, not so long ago everyone on the Internet was looking with curiosity at what the US national debt looked like.

Let's remember this.

Well, or here’s another option on US debt!

If you look at each country individually, you might think that it owes another country. But no, other countries also owe someone... In fact, it is no secret to anyone that states owe various banking structures.

Any sane person asks the question: “Why doesn’t the government simply print the required amount of money?” The most amazing thing is that not a single high-ranking official or venerable professor of economics can give a clear and precise answer to this question! They all repeat in unison the memorized phrase that if you print money, there will be inflation. At the same time, none of them can explain what the difference is: take 10 billion USD. V international bank(sell bonds to a certain foreign investment company) or borrow them from the domestic consumer by issuing bonds for favorable conditions, the guarantor of which is the state itself with its countless natural resources and land.. After all, the effect for the economy is one - it will receive 10 billion USD. By the way, money can be withdrawn from the economy at any time, if necessary.

Inflation is determined by the ratio of the volume of money supply and the volume of trade turnover, and where does it come from? money supply- this does not matter, just as the proportions of the components of trade turnover do not matter.

Here is another interesting, but unfortunately not new, diagram of mutual debts. Click on the picture and you will be able to select a country to visualize mutual debt.

It is absolutely clear that only internal borrowings are economically justified, which do not increase the monetary base, and it is absolutely not clear why the people, represented by the state, should depend on some international banking corporations and pay them.

Unfortunately, we must admit that the governments of most developed countries have lost the opportunity to fully implement their main function - the function of management. Central banks are not controlled by governments, therefore, they cannot be a full-fledged instrument for achieving national goals.

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Here's what else I'd recommend reading in economics:

The United States of America maintains leadership in the ranking of countries in terms of external debt. This is stated in the message of the analytical information service of the International Organization of Creditors (WOC), which conducted a study of the volume of public debt in different countries world and forecasts for debt growth, the correspondent reports.

In 2010, the total public debt of the world's countries exceeded $41 trillion, but at that time the increase in the volume of liabilities could be justified by the desire of governments to overcome the consequences of the crisis as quickly as possible and return to pre-crisis levels. Statistical reports for 2011 demonstrate a positive movement in various economic indicators, including. However, government debts of the world's 50 largest economies also grew, reaching $55 trillion. The total external debt of these countries has exceeded $65 trillion. Thus, economic growth was due to government injections, including through borrowing from non-residents.

Table 1. Rating of countries by external debt volume, billion US dollars

Place in 2011	Place in 2010		Volume of external debt, billion US dollars, 2011	Volume of external debt, billion US dollars, 2010	Change, %	External debt/
		Great Britain
		Germany
		Netherlands
		Ireland
		Australia
		Switzerland

Source: CIA data, WOC calculations

INWOCnote that l The leaders in the ranking of countries in terms of external debt in most cases retain last year’s positions. The US external debt became equal to the volume of GDP at the end of 2011. But if we consider the rating according to this indicator, the United States is far from a leader. Ireland's external debt is almost 11 times greater than its GDP, Great Britain - 5 times, the Netherlands and Hong Kong - 4 times. Only Japan has this figure below 50%, but this is probably the only positive point in the debt ratings for this country. The level of Japanese government debt is off the charts, as can be seen in the table. 2.

Table 2 Rating of countries by public debt volume

Place in 2011	Place in 2010		Volume of government public debt, billion US dollars, 2011	Volume of government public debt, billion US dollars, 2010	Change, %	Government debt/
		Germany
		Great Britain
		Brazil
		Netherlands

Compared to the results of 2010, all of the top ten remained in their places, with the exception of the UK and China. The latter managed to reduce its sovereign debt by 5%, which allowed it to change places with Britain, which continues to increase debt (+17%). In the top ten, China also has the best public debt to GDP ratio (25.8%).

The US government debt continues to grow and its ratio to GDP has already exceeded 100%. But here it is necessary to understand that the US economy is the largest in the world, and in addition, the States have the opportunity to generate share premiums. This means that even with the continuing trend of increasing debt burden, the American economy still has room for growth.

The highest level of debt burden was recorded in Japan, where the volume of public debt to GDP is 226%. The country continues to combat the consequences of the tsunami mainly through internal financial injections in the national currency, which explains such a high figure. Following Japan in this indicator is Greece. In third place is Italy, which is using every opportunity to avoid the fate of Greece. At the end of 2011, Italy's GDP grew by 7%, and France and Germany by 8% and 9%, respectively. In general, 2011 was quite successful for the Eurozone countries. The economic growth observed in all countries except Greece (-1%).

Table 3. Rating of countries by public debt per capita

		State debt per capita, US dollars, 2011	State debt per capita, US dollars, 2010	Change, %
	Ireland
	Singapore
	Norway
	Germany
	Netherlands
	Switzerland
	Great Britain
	Finland
	Portugal

Source: IMF data, WOC calculations

The highest level of debt burden was recorded in Japan - per capita of the country there is $105 thousand of public debt. For Ireland, which ranks second, this figure is more than 2 times lower ($49.9 thousand). As can be seen from the rating over the past year, the debt burden in the top twenty on average increased by more than 10%. With the exception of Sweden and Portugal, where there is a slight decrease in this indicator (-4% and -2% respectively).

Russia is in good positions in all three indicators. The level of external debt to GDP does not exceed 30%, its growth over the year is only 6%. The level of public debt is even lower and does not exceed 10% in relation to GDP, and for each Russian there is $1,247. As can be seen from table. 4 Almost all debt is covered by international reserves.

Table 4. Rating of countries by volume of international reserves in 2011

		Volume of international reserves, billion US dollars	Reserve coverage of external debt, %	Reserve coverage of government debt, %
	Saudi Arabia
	Brazil
	Switzerland
	Korea Republic
	Germany
	Singapore
	Indonesia
	Malaysia