Today, the world’s economy is going through a real struggle which is why we decided to create a list of 10 countries that have the most debt in 2017.
We are living in a world where even some of the richest countries are struggling with their own debt and in some of them, the GDP per capita is increasing significantly from day to day. GDP stands for a gross domestic product which is a measure of the total output of one country divided by the number of people who live in it. The GDP is mostly used while comparing one country to another to see the performance of the countries.
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The external debt, on the other hand, also known as foreign debt is what one country owes to foreign creditors. The foreign creditors can be either individual citizens of the country, the government or corporations including international financial institutions like the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
You probably caught yourself questioning, why do the countries borrow money, how can some of the richest countries with the most stable economy be in so much debt? Well, the government spends a lot more money than they take from their citizen in the form of tax so they have three options. The first option is to increase the tax, the second is to decrease the expenditure which will significantly lower the standard and will put the small businesses to end. The third and the option most of the countries are choosing is to borrow money.
According to the latest statistics, the worldwide debt is about $200 trillion and it is a seriously alarming number. The world’s debt is even three times the size of the entire global economy. However, even though almost every country in the world is in debt, there are some who don’t have this problem. For instance, Macao, The British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Liechtenstein, and Palau are living debt-free.
In order to create our list, we dug deep into documents from Treasury, CIA, IMF and WorldBank to find out the debt of the countries. The list was sorted by the amount each country is owing starting from the least to the country with the most debt in U.S. dollars.
If you want to learn something more about the countries with debt, you should also take a look at out list of 7 Countries with Highest Debt to GDP.
Without further ado, we start the countdown of 10 countries that have the most debt in 2017!
10. Spain
Debt: $2.03 trillion
When it comes to debt, Spain is in the tenth place with more than $2 trillion debt. The debt per capita in Spain is $44,100. Even though the government and the opposition trust that Spain will be out of its Excessive Debt Procedure (EDP) in two years, today Spain is one of the countries with most debt.
9. Ireland
Debt: $2.23 trillion
Ireland’s debt per capita is $471,000 and even though the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is expecting the Irish economy to grow by 3.5% this year, and 3.2% the year after, Ireland is still one of the countries with the most debt. The expectation IMF has for the Irish economy is significantly lower than the Department of Finance predicts, which is 4.3% in 2017.
8. Italy
Debt: $2.26 trillion
The eighth place on our list of countries that have the most debt in 2017 took Italy, not only because it has a $37,900 debt per capita, but because of the overall external debt. The GDP percent in Italy is 133 and it is struggling to stay competitive internationally and it goes from bad to even worse. According to the European Commission, Italy’s GDP has risen up to 0.9% this year, and it is expected to rise by 1.1% next year.
7. Japan
Debt: $3.64 trillion
The debt per capita in Japan, the next one on our list of countries that have the most debt in 2017 is $26,400 and GDP is 74%. The International Monetary Fund raised the growth forecast for their economy for this year, and the following 2018. The GDP growth in 2017 will be for 1.2% and 0.6% in 2018. The nation is struggling with shrinking the labor force and to achieve the economy recovery.
6. Luxembourg
Debt: $3.93 trillion
Luxembourg’s debt per capita is pretty high because the number of citizens is pretty small. The debt per capita is $6,733,000. Even after the lower than expected growth of debt, Luxembourg is still vulnerable. It embraced the international tax transparency and anti-tax avoidance agenda which, according to International Monetary Fund could weigh on the economic activity and the tax revenue.
5. Netherlands
Debt: $3.94 trillion
The Netherlands took the fifth place on our list of countries that have the most debt in 2017, not only because it has a huge debt per capita, $234,000, but because it has a huge external debt. According to the European Commission, the Netherlands is outperforming in the average economic growth which was expected from it. The economic growth for 2017 is 2.1% and it is expected for 2018 to be 1.8%.
4. Germany
Debt: $5.00 trillion
The debt per capita Germany, the next one on our list of countries that have the most debt in 2017, has is $61,700. If you take a look back, back in 2006, Germany had a $24,619 debt per capita. At the start of the year, Germany’s economy started with 0.6% GDP growth. Even though Germany has a stable economy, it is still one of the countries that has the most external debt.
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3. France
Debt: $5.10 trillion
Even though it seems like the perfect country, France, the number three on our list of countries that have the most debt in 2017 is one of the countries with the weakest economies in Europe. The debt per capita in France is $75,800. The major issue this country faced this year, was the presidential elections. Let’s hope the newly elected president will have the solution for their debt.
2. United Kingdom
Debt: $7.55 trillion
The United Kingdom’s debt per capita in U.S. dollars is 119,000. Even though the Chancellor George Osborne made his mission to reduce the United Kingdom’s debt by the end of the last parliament, the debt has risen in value significantly. The debt is expected to keep growing according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
1. United States
Debt: $19.23 trillion
The United States’ debt per capita is $56,000. It owes to individuals, companies and foreign governments. The United States’ debt is the greatest and since every new program and a tax cut is adding to the debt, it significantly contributed for the debt to get so large. The debt America has is bigger than everything this country produces during the whole year and it tells the investors that the country could have problems repaying the loans.
This was our list of 10 countries that have the most debt in 2017.
