{"id":829001,"date":"2026-07-27T10:37:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T10:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/829001\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T10:37:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T10:37:20","slug":"ranked-the-worlds-most-indebted-countries-today-visual-capitalist-canadian-energy-news-top-headlines-commentaries-features-events","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/829001\/","title":{"rendered":"Ranked: The World\u2019s Most Indebted Countries Today – Visual Capitalist – Canadian Energy News, Top Headlines, Commentaries, Features & Events"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Gabriel Cohen<\/a> | Article\/Editing: Niccolo Conte<\/a> | Graphics\/Design: Miranda Smith<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\"debt\n<\/p>\n

Key Takeaways<\/p>\n

Hong Kong ranks first with total debt equal to 380% of GDP, followed by Japan at 372%
\nThe U.S. ranks seventh at 264%, led by government debt (123%) and corporate debt (73%)<\/p>\n

How indebted is your country today?<\/p>\n

Get the Latest Canadian Focused Energy News Delivered to You! It’s FREE: Quick Sign-Up Here<\/a><\/p>\n

Based on the latest available data (Q4 2025) from the Institute of International Finance\u2019s\u00a0Global Debt Monitor<\/a>, several major economies now carry total debt loads exceeding 300% of GDP, meaning their combined household, corporate, and government borrowing is worth more than three years of economic output.\n<\/p>\n

This visualization ranks\u00a035 countries\u00a0by their total debt-to-GDP ratios, combining household, corporate, and government borrowing into one measure.\n<\/p>\n

Hong Kong Tops the Ranking<\/p>\n

With a total debt burden of\u00a0380%, Hong Kong has the world\u2019s highest total debt. This small special administrative region (SAR) of China is highly developed and urbanized, counting roughly 7.5 million inhabitants.\n<\/p>\n

While its government debt is a relatively slim\u00a067%\u00a0and its total household debt of\u00a086%\u00a0hovers around global developed-country standards, Hong Kong\u2019s corporate debt is a staggering\u00a0227%\u00a0of GDP, making up nearly the entirety of its total debt burden.\n<\/p>\n

The table below shows the total debt burden and breakdowns for household, corporate, and government debt to GDP:<\/p>\n

\"GLJ\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"total<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

However, Hong Kong\u2019s high corporate debt can best be explained by the SAR\u2019s real estate business, in which high-debt transactions are standard. The dynamic real estate sector and related activities contribute\u00a0roughly a quarter<\/a>\u00a0to Hong Kong\u2019s GDP.\n<\/p>\n

Japan\u2019s Government Debt Nears 200% of GDP<\/p>\n

In contrast, Japan\u2019s corporate debt (113%) is relatively in line with other OECD and developed peers; however, the government\u2019s sprawling government debt of just shy of\u00a0200%\u00a0of GDP is higher than many countries\u2019 total debt burden.\n<\/p>\n

Government debt woes began to take off following the Lost Decades of economic stagnation which followed the collapse of the Japanese asset price bubble in 1991.\n<\/p>\n

As years of sluggish growth turned into decades, Japanese policymakers opted to incorporate quantitative easing, a policy by which the central bank bought government bonds in order to stimulate economic activity in the country, driving up the country\u2019s national debt in the process.\n<\/p>\n

Today the Bank of Japan owns roughly half of the national debt, while the other half is held in large part by domestic banks and insurance companies.\n<\/p>\n

Debt in the Developed World<\/p>\n

Japan is not the only country to have had to accrue debt in response to tough times. Back-to-back crises have forced governments to borrow extensively in recent years, from global COVID-19 stimulus responses to more recent industrial and defense purchases across Europe.\n<\/p>\n

Many governments continue to run large fiscal deficits, while households and businesses face rising borrowing costs amid economic uncertainty.<\/p>\n

Share This: <\/p>\n

More News Articles<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Gabriel Cohen | Article\/Editing: Niccolo Conte | Graphics\/Design: Miranda Smith Key Takeaways Hong Kong ranks first with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":829002,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[45,49,48,46],"class_list":["post-829001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=829001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/829002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=829001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=829001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=829001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}