## global-debt-monitor-2022 - Section 1

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### Global Debt Developments
- Total world debt (public plus non-financial private debt stocks) declined 10 percentage points of GDP in 2021, to 247 percent of GDP (US$ 235 trillion).
- 2020 saw the largest one-year increase in global debt, when it rose 29 percentage points of GDP; the fall in 2021 accounted for one third of the increase in 2020.
- World public debt:
  - Fell from 100 percent of GDP in 2020 to 96 percent of GDP in 2021.
  - Decline supported by strong real GDP growth, high inflation, and the withdrawal of COVID-19 fiscal support measures.
- World non-financial private debt:
  - Dropped from 160 percent of GDP in 2020 to 153 percent of GDP in 2021.
  - Decline driven by lower corporate debt: corporate debt fell 4.2 percent of GDP; household debt fell 1.4 percentage points of GDP.
- Heterogeneity across country groups:
  - Advanced economies (AEs):
    - Total debt declined on average by 10 percentage points of GDP, to 292 percent of GDP in 2021.
    - Falls driven by similar reductions in public and private debt-to-GDP ratios.
    - Non-financial corporate debt dropped by 4 percentage points of GDP; household debt fell by 2 percentage points of GDP.
  - Emerging markets (EMs):
    - Total debt-to-GDP fell, on average, 7 percentage points to 192 percent of GDP in 2021.
    - Private debt reduced to 130 percent of GDP; public debt remained broadly stable around 64 percent of GDP.
    - EMs excluding China (EMs ex-China): public and private debt fell, respectively, 4 and 6 percentage points of GDP; total debt in EMs ex-China fell to 130 percent of GDP in 2021.
  - Low-income developing countries (LIDCs):
    - Total debt increased to 88 percent of GDP in 2021.
    - Public debt remained close to 49 percent of GDP.
    - Non-financial private debt-to-GDP ratio rose, on average, 2 percentage points to 40 percent.

### Global Debt Drivers
- Main driver of declining debt-to-GDP ratios in 2021 was a sharp rise in nominal GDP in the largest economies.
- Fiscal deficits declined in 2021 as COVID-19 fiscal support measures were withdrawn and revenues increased, but deficits remained relatively large and continued to push public debt up in all country groups.
- Contribution examples:
  - For G-20 public debt on average, real GDP growth reduced debt by near 4½ percentage points of GDP while high inflation pushed debt ratios down by about 5 percent of GDP.
  - Among G-20 countries, the economic rebound shaved off near 7 percent of GDP of private sector debt while inflation pushed private debt downwards by more than 6½ percentage points of GDP.
- Historical context:
  - Prior to the pandemic, joint contributions of growth and inflation to debt changes were narrower and closer to zero.
  - During 2020 these distributions widened and shifted upwards (increasing debt-to-GDP); in 2021 they moved in the opposite direction but with large variation within and across country groups.

### Deleveraging in Household and Non-Financial Corporate (NFC) Debt
- Households:
  - Advanced economies experienced gradual deleveraging: household debt fell from 81 percent of GDP in 2009 to 73 percent of GDP in 2019.
  - Emerging markets’ household debt grew, reaching 41 percent of GDP at the pandemic onset.
  - China’s household debt more than doubled, ending 2019 at 56 percent of GDP.
- Non-financial corporate debt:
  - Advanced economies: remained high, ending 2019 at 92 percent of GDP—1 percentage point of GDP higher than in 2009.
  - Emerging markets: corporate indebtedness rose from 64 percent of GDP in 2009 to 90 percent of GDP in 2019.
  - China drove a large part of EMs’ corporate debt increase: non-financial corporate debt in China rose around 30 percentage points, reaching 134 percent of GDP in 2019.

### Debt Transparency
- Fiscal transparency defined as comprehensiveness, clarity, reliability, timeliness, and relevance of public reporting on public finances; debt transparency is a key element.
- Debt landscape complexity increased due to:
  - Increased diversity of creditors.
  - Emergence of new forms of lending.
  - Wider use of confidentiality clauses.
- Reporting shortcomings:
  - Current legal frameworks often lack provisions for debt disclosure and reporting.
  - Some countries define debt narrowly (securities and loans only), excluding complex instruments.
  - In many countries, especially LIDCs, only central government debt is reported, excluding state-owned enterprises (SOEs), local and subnational governments, and extrabudgetary bodies.
  - Inadequate reporting and undisclosed contingent liabilities can represent a large fraction of GDP, undermining fiscal management, investor confidence, and increasing borrowing costs.
- Role of the IMF Global Debt Database (GDD):
  - Provides timely and accurate disclosure of debt to the general public for a wide range of countries.
  - Covers private and public debt for 190 countries with information dating back to the 1950s.
  - Offers multiple debt series with different coverages and more than doubles the number of countries in existing private debt datasets.
  - Data are subject to regular checks through bilateral consultations with country officials and IMF country desks.

### Frequently Asked Questions — Key Points
- What is the GDD?
  - A dataset covering private and public debt for 190 countries dating back to the 1950s; grew out of work starting with the October 2016 Fiscal Monitor.
- Update frequency:
  - The GDD is updated annually in December of the following year of latest data availability (e.g., the 2021 update is launched in December 2022).
  - Rationale: Advanced economies typically finalize annual data 6 months after year-end; Emerging Markets up to 9 months; LIDCs and frontier economies can take up to one or two years.
- Public debt series:
  - Corresponds to gross debt owed by the general and/or central government as defined in IMF’s Public Debt Statistics: Guide for Compilers 2011.
  - Covers central government debt, general government debt, and non-financial public sector/public sector where available.
  - Instruments covered include: (i) loans; (ii) debt securities; (iii) currency and deposits; (iv) insurance, pension, and standardized guarantee schemes; (v) other accounts payable; and (vi) special drawing rights.
  - SOE debt is in most cases excluded from the GDD except when public sector coverage or data sources include SOEs.
- Private debt series:
  - Reports household and non-financial private corporate debt.
  - Defined as gross outstanding stock of all liabilities that are debt instruments, in line with the System of National Accounts 2008; cross-border debt flows considered.
  - Because few countries provide exhaustive historical coverage, an alternative narrower measure focusing on loans and debt securities is also compiled to expand coverage.
- Calculation of aggregate debt-to-GDP ratios:
  - Aggregate debt ratio for a country group is a GDP-weighted average of individual countries’ debt-to-GDP ratios.
  - Notation and formula described: aggregate differs from simple sum of individual debt ratios and is not necessarily equal to total debt divided by total GDP both in USD.
- Data compilation and validation:
  - GDD builds on IMF’s Historical Public Debt Database (HPDD), reporting separate series for general and central government debt, filling breaks in HPDD, extending continuous series, and expanding country coverage.
  - Private debt methodology builds on BIS work, expanding the BIS sample to 158 countries.
  - Reported debt series are compiled without extrapolation, interpolation, or auxiliary regressions; original series adjusted for definitional differences when feasible.
- Who to contact:
  - For queries, refer to the GDD webpage on the IMF website or e-mail IMF-GDD@imf.org.

### Non-Financial Corporate Debt in Advanced Economies and Emerging Markets, 2005–21 (Section 2)

### Overview and major trends
- Global private debt rose from 195% of GDP in 2007 to 247% of GDP in 2021.
- Global private debt peaked at 257% of GDP in 2020 (COVID-19 Pandemic).
- Global private debt by component in 2021:
  - Private: 153%
  - Public: 96%

### Selected period markers and crises
- 2007: 195%
- 2009 (Global Financial Crisis aftermath): 215%
- 2019: 228%
- 2020 (COVID-19 Pandemic): 257%
- 2021: 247%

### Regional and country group snapshots (percent of GDP, weighted averages shown in figure panels for 2019–2021)
- World (2019, 2020, 2021): 146, 165, 124
- AEs (Advanced Economies) (2019, 2020, 2021): 152, 190, 160
- EMs (Emerging Markets) (2019, 2020, 2021): 180, 137, 80
- EMs ex-China (2019, 2020, 2021): 38, 165, 201
- LIDCs (Low-Income Developing Countries) (2019, 2020, 2021): 153, 175, 130
- US (2019, 2020, 2021): 74, 40, 159
- China (2019, 2020, 2021): 194, 0, 50

### Time-series panels (2005–21)
- Emerging Markets panels show values across 2005–2021 with vertical scale up to 90.
- Advanced Economies panels show values across 2005–2021 with vertical scale up to 110.

### Table 1. Global Public Debt, 2007–21 (Percent of GDP, weighted averages)
- World (2007–2021 sequence): 61.1, 64.0, 74.7, 76.9, 80.9, 84.1, 99.8, 96.0
- Advanced Economies (2007–2021 sequence): 71.7, 78.4, 91.7, 98.1, 105.2, 105.2, 124.7, 119.5
- Euro Area (2007–2021 sequence): 66.0, 69.7, 80.4, 86.0, 92.1, 85.8, 99.4, 97.8
- Japan (2007–2021 sequence): 172.8, 180.7, 198.7, 205.7, 229.1, 236.1, 259.1, 262.1
- United Kingdom (2007–2021 sequence): 41.4, 49.0, 62.8, 74.0, 84.1, 83.8, 102.5, 102.8
- United States (2007–2021 sequence): 64.6, 73.5, 86.7, 95.2, 104.7, 108.8, 134.5, 128.1
- Emerging Market Economies (2007–2021 sequence): 35.0, 32.9, 38.5, 37.4, 43.5, 44.1, 64.5, 64.5
- China (2007–2021 sequence): 29.2, 27.2, 34.6, 33.9, 42.6, 57.2, 68.0, 71.5
- Others (2007–2021 sequence): 36.7, 34.7, 40.0, 38.8, 43.9, 51.7, 61.5, 58.5
- Low-Income Developing Countries (2007–2021 sequence): 28.8, 27.1, 29.6, 28.0, 34.7, 42.7, 48.6, 48.5

### Table 2. Global Private Debt, 2007–21 (Percent of GDP, weighted averages)
- World (2007–2021 sequence): 136.1, 137.3, 142.7, 137.2, 140.3, 145.8, 158.9, 152.8
- Advanced Economies (2007–2021 sequence): 164.1, 168.0, 171.9, 166.9, 164.2, 165.2, 179.5, 174.2
- Euro Area (2007–2021 sequence): 153.5, 159.2, 167.2, 166.7, 164.5, 160.9, 174.8, 169.3
- Japan (2007–2021 sequence): 159.4, 164.4, 170.9, 163.0, 158.1, 163.8, 182.5, 185.2
- United Kingdom (2007–2021 sequence): 175.6, 185.7, 185.4, 177.7, 163.2, 154.8, 169.1, 157.8
- United States (2007–2021 sequence): 169.2, 168.8, 167.5, 159.0, 151.0, 151.5, 164.9, 158.7
- Emerging Market Economies (2007–2021 sequence): 67.8, 71.4, 81.8, 83.9, 107.4, 123.1, 135.1, 128.8
- China (2007–2021 sequence): 105.8, 105.8, 127.8, 138.4, 169.4, 189.5, 200.8, 193.6
- Others (2007–2021 sequence): 56.2, 59.9, 62.8, 62.0, 69.0, 71.5, 77.5, 71.0
- Low-Income Developing Countries (2007–2021 sequence): 19.4, 21.4, 24.3, 24.0, 27.6, 34.4, 36.9, 38.9

*Fiscal Affairs Department | International Monetary Fund | December 2022*

### Section 1

### global-debt-monitor-2022 - Section 1

### Global Debt Developments
- Total world debt (public plus non-financial private debt stocks) declined 10 percentage points of GDP in 2021, to 247 percent of GDP (US$ 235 trillion).
- 2020 saw the largest one-year increase in global debt, when it rose 29 percentage points of GDP; the fall in 2021 accounted for one third of the increase in 2020.
- World public debt:
  - Fell from 100 percent of GDP in 2020 to 96 percent of GDP in 2021.
  - Decline supported by strong real GDP growth, high inflation, and the withdrawal of COVID-19 fiscal support measures.
- World non-financial private debt:
  - Dropped from 160 percent of GDP in 2020 to 153 percent of GDP in 2021.
  - Decline driven by lower corporate debt: corporate debt fell 4.2 percent of GDP; household debt fell 1.4 percentage points of GDP.
- Heterogeneity across country groups:
  - Advanced economies (AEs):
    - Total debt declined on average by 10 percentage points of GDP, to 292 percent of GDP in 2021.
    - Falls driven by similar reductions in public and private debt-to-GDP ratios.
    - Non-financial corporate debt dropped by 4 percentage points of GDP; household debt fell by 2 percentage points of GDP.
  - Emerging markets (EMs):
    - Total debt-to-GDP fell, on average, 7 percentage points to 192 percent of GDP in 2021.
    - Private debt reduced to 130 percent of GDP; public debt remained broadly stable around 64 percent of GDP.
    - EMs excluding China (EMs ex-China): public and private debt fell, respectively, 4 and 6 percentage points of GDP; total debt in EMs ex-China fell to 130 percent of GDP in 2021.
  - Low-income developing countries (LIDCs):
    - Total debt increased to 88 percent of GDP in 2021.
    - Public debt remained close to 49 percent of GDP.
    - Non-financial private debt-to-GDP ratio rose, on average, 2 percentage points to 40 percent.

### Global Debt Drivers
- Main driver of declining debt-to-GDP ratios in 2021 was a sharp rise in nominal GDP in the largest economies.
- Fiscal deficits declined in 2021 as COVID-19 fiscal support measures were withdrawn and revenues increased, but deficits remained relatively large and continued to push public debt up in all country groups.
- Contribution examples:
  - For G-20 public debt on average, real GDP growth reduced debt by near 4½ percentage points of GDP while high inflation pushed debt ratios down by about 5 percent of GDP.
  - Among G-20 countries, the economic rebound shaved off near 7 percent of GDP of private sector debt while inflation pushed private debt downwards by more than 6½ percentage points of GDP.
- Historical context:
  - Prior to the pandemic, joint contributions of growth and inflation to debt changes were narrower and closer to zero.
  - During 2020 these distributions widened and shifted upwards (increasing debt-to-GDP); in 2021 they moved in the opposite direction but with large variation within and across country groups.

### Deleveraging in Household and Non-Financial Corporate (NFC) Debt
- Households:
  - Advanced economies experienced gradual deleveraging: household debt fell from 81 percent of GDP in 2009 to 73 percent of GDP in 2019.
  - Emerging markets’ household debt grew, reaching 41 percent of GDP at the pandemic onset.
  - China’s household debt more than doubled, ending 2019 at 56 percent of GDP.
- Non-financial corporate debt:
  - Advanced economies: remained high, ending 2019 at 92 percent of GDP—1 percentage point of GDP higher than in 2009.
  - Emerging markets: corporate indebtedness rose from 64 percent of GDP in 2009 to 90 percent of GDP in 2019.
  - China drove a large part of EMs’ corporate debt increase: non-financial corporate debt in China rose around 30 percentage points, reaching 134 percent of GDP in 2019.

### Debt Transparency
- Fiscal transparency defined as comprehensiveness, clarity, reliability, timeliness, and relevance of public reporting on public finances; debt transparency is a key element.
- Debt landscape complexity increased due to:
  - Increased diversity of creditors.
  - Emergence of new forms of lending.
  - Wider use of confidentiality clauses.
- Reporting shortcomings:
  - Current legal frameworks often lack provisions for debt disclosure and reporting.
  - Some countries define debt narrowly (securities and loans only), excluding complex instruments.
  - In many countries, especially LIDCs, only central government debt is reported, excluding state-owned enterprises (SOEs), local and subnational governments, and extrabudgetary bodies.
  - Inadequate reporting and undisclosed contingent liabilities can represent a large fraction of GDP, undermining fiscal management, investor confidence, and increasing borrowing costs.
- Role of the IMF Global Debt Database (GDD):
  - Provides timely and accurate disclosure of debt to the general public for a wide range of countries.
  - Covers private and public debt for 190 countries with information dating back to the 1950s.
  - Offers multiple debt series with different coverages and more than doubles the number of countries in existing private debt datasets.
  - Data are subject to regular checks through bilateral consultations with country officials and IMF country desks.

### Frequently Asked Questions — Key Points
- What is the GDD?
  - A dataset covering private and public debt for 190 countries dating back to the 1950s; grew out of work starting with the October 2016 Fiscal Monitor.
- Update frequency:
  - The GDD is updated annually in December of the following year of latest data availability (e.g., the 2021 update is launched in December 2022).
  - Rationale: Advanced economies typically finalize annual data 6 months after year-end; Emerging Markets up to 9 months; LIDCs and frontier economies can take up to one or two years.
- Public debt series:
  - Corresponds to gross debt owed by the general and/or central government as defined in IMF’s Public Debt Statistics: Guide for Compilers 2011.
  - Covers central government debt, general government debt, and non-financial public sector/public sector where available.
  - Instruments covered include: (i) loans; (ii) debt securities; (iii) currency and deposits; (iv) insurance, pension, and standardized guarantee schemes; (v) other accounts payable; and (vi) special drawing rights.
  - SOE debt is in most cases excluded from the GDD except when public sector coverage or data sources include SOEs.
- Private debt series:
  - Reports household and non-financial private corporate debt.
  - Defined as gross outstanding stock of all liabilities that are debt instruments, in line with the System of National Accounts 2008; cross-border debt flows considered.
  - Because few countries provide exhaustive historical coverage, an alternative narrower measure focusing on loans and debt securities is also compiled to expand coverage.
- Calculation of aggregate debt-to-GDP ratios:
  - Aggregate debt ratio for a country group is a GDP-weighted average of individual countries’ debt-to-GDP ratios.
  - Notation and formula described: aggregate differs from simple sum of individual debt ratios and is not necessarily equal to total debt divided by total GDP both in USD.
- Data compilation and validation:
  - GDD builds on IMF’s Historical Public Debt Database (HPDD), reporting separate series for general and central government debt, filling breaks in HPDD, extending continuous series, and expanding country coverage.
  - Private debt methodology builds on BIS work, expanding the BIS sample to 158 countries.
  - Reported debt series are compiled without extrapolation, interpolation, or auxiliary regressions; original series adjusted for definitional differences when feasible.
- Who to contact:
  - For queries, refer to the GDD webpage on the IMF website or e-mail IMF-GDD@imf.org.

*Fiscal Affairs Department | International Monetary Fund | December 2022*

### Section 2

### Non-Financial Corporate Debt in Advanced Economies and Emerging Markets, 2005–21 (Percent of GDP, weighted averages)

### Overview and major trends
- Global private debt rose from 195% of GDP in 2007 to 247% of GDP in 2021.
- Global private debt peaked at 257% of GDP in 2020 (COVID-19 Pandemic).
- Global private debt by component in 2021:
  - Private: 153%
  - Public: 96%

### Selected period markers and crises
- 2007: 195%
- 2009 (Global Financial Crisis aftermath): 215%
- 2019: 228%
- 2020 (COVID-19 Pandemic): 257%
- 2021: 247%

### Regional and country group snapshots (percent of GDP, weighted averages shown in figure panels for 2019–2021)
- World (2019, 2020, 2021): 146, 165, 124 (values appear in figure rows; preserve as presented)
- AEs (Advanced Economies) (2019, 2020, 2021): 152, 190, 160
- EMs (Emerging Markets) (2019, 2020, 2021): 180, 137, 80
- EMs ex-China (2019, 2020, 2021): 38, 165, 201
- LIDCs (Low-Income Developing Countries) (2019, 2020, 2021): 153, 175, 130
- US (2019, 2020, 2021): 74, 40, 159
- China (2019, 2020, 2021): 194, 0, 50  (values appear in figure rows; preserve as presented)

### Time-series ranges and panels (2005–21)
- Emerging Markets panels show values across 2005–2021 with vertical scale up to 90 (exact yearly values not individually listed in the provided extract).
- Advanced Economies panels show values across 2005–2021 with vertical scale up to 110 (exact yearly values not individually listed in the provided extract).

### Table 1. Global Public Debt, 2007–21 (Percent of GDP, weighted averages)
- World (2007–2021 sequence as presented): 61.1, 64.0, 74.7, 76.9, 80.9, 84.1, 99.8, 96.0
- Advanced Economies (2007–2021 sequence): 71.7, 78.4, 91.7, 98.1, 105.2, 105.2, 124.7, 119.5
- Euro Area (2007–2021 sequence): 66.0, 69.7, 80.4, 86.0, 92.1, 85.8, 99.4, 97.8
- Japan (2007–2021 sequence): 172.8, 180.7, 198.7, 205.7, 229.1, 236.1, 259.1, 262.1
- United Kingdom (2007–2021 sequence): 41.4, 49.0, 62.8, 74.0, 84.1, 83.8, 102.5, 102.8
- United States (2007–2021 sequence): 64.6, 73.5, 86.7, 95.2, 104.7, 108.8, 134.5, 128.1
- Emerging Market Economies (2007–2021 sequence): 35.0, 32.9, 38.5, 37.4, 43.5, 44.1, 64.5, 64.5
- China (2007–2021 sequence): 29.2, 27.2, 34.6, 33.9, 42.6, 57.2, 68.0, 71.5
- Others (2007–2021 sequence): 36.7, 34.7, 40.0, 38.8, 43.9, 51.7, 61.5, 58.5
- Low-Income Developing Countries (2007–2021 sequence): 28.8, 27.1, 29.6, 28.0, 34.7, 42.7, 48.6, 48.5

### Table 2. Global Private Debt, 2007–21 (Percent of GDP, weighted averages)
- World (2007–2021 sequence): 136.1, 137.3, 142.7, 137.2, 140.3, 145.8, 158.9, 152.8
- Advanced Economies (2007–2021 sequence): 164.1, 168.0, 171.9, 166.9, 164.2, 165.2, 179.5, 174.2
- Euro Area (2007–2021 sequence): 153.5, 159.2, 167.2, 166.7, 164.5, 160.9, 174.8, 169.3
- Japan (2007–2021 sequence): 159.4, 164.4, 170.9, 163.0, 158.1, 163.8, 182.5, 185.2
- United Kingdom (2007–2021 sequence): 175.6, 185.7, 185.4, 177.7, 163.2, 154.8, 169.1, 157.8
- United States (2007–2021 sequence): 169.2, 168.8, 167.5, 159.0, 151.0, 151.5, 164.9, 158.7
- Emerging Market Economies (2007–2021 sequence): 67.8, 71.4, 81.8, 83.9, 107.4, 123.1, 135.1, 128.8
- China (2007–2021 sequence): 105.8, 105.8, 127.8, 138.4, 169.4, 189.5, 200.8, 193.6
- Others (2007–2021 sequence): 56.2, 59.9, 62.8, 62.0, 69.0, 71.5, 77.5, 71.0
- Low-Income Developing Countries (2007–2021 sequence): 19.4, 21.4, 24.3, 24.0, 27.6, 34.4, 36.9, 38.9

*Source: IMF Global Debt Database, 2022*

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/conferences/2022/12/global-debt-monitor-2022.pdf_