Central government debt, total (% of GDP)

Definition

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.

Methodology for Public Sector indicators

Public sector indicators (government revenue, expenditure, debt) are compiled from IMF Government Finance Statistics and national budget reporting. Definitions of "general government" versus "central government" vary, so cross-country comparison requires checking the institutional coverage. Debt-to-GDP ratios are most useful in trend form rather than point-in-time comparison.

How to interpret

• Always check the unit and reporting year before comparing values across countries.
• NULL or "Not available" means the World Bank did not publish a value — we never estimate.
• Year-over-year changes can be driven by methodology updates, not just real economic shifts.