## Global Debt Database — dataset overview (gdd121719-excel)

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Global Debt Database — dataset overview (gdd121719-excel)](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/fiscal-monitor/2018/april/data/gdd121719-excel.xlsx)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/-/media/files/publications/fiscal-monitor/2018/april/data/gdd121719-excel.xlsx.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/-/media/files/publications/fiscal-monitor/2018/april/data/gdd121719-excel.xlsx.json)

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### Dataset summary and purpose
- The Global Debt Database (GDD) comprises total gross debt of the (private and public) nonfinancial sector for an unbalanced panel of 190 advanced economies, emerging market economies and low-income countries, dating back to 1950.
- The dataset is the result of a multiyear investigative process that started with the October 2016 Fiscal Monitor.
- For methodology and definitions, see Mbaye, Moreno Badia and Chae (2018).
- Contact for feedback or supplementary sources: IMF-GDD@imf.org.

### Publication and update
- Publication type: dataset (XLSX or CSV).
- Last Update: December 16, 2019.

### Workbook structure (worksheets and sizes)
- Worksheets included (name — rowCount — columnCount):
  - "Data" — rowCount: 80 — columnCount: 15
  - "Contents" — rowCount: 39 — columnCount: 5
  - "rawdata" — rowCount: 13113 — columnCount: 29
  - "countrylist" — rowCount: 191 — columnCount: 3
  - "weo gov cov" — rowCount: 189 — columnCount: 6
  - "footnote" — rowCount: 87 — columnCount: 7

### Key variables, units, and coding (examples preserved exactly)
- Principal data series (percent of GDP unless otherwise noted):
  - "Total private debt, all instruments (percent of GDP)"
  - "Total private debt, loans and debt securities (percent of GDP)"
  - "Household debt, all instruments (percent of GDP)"
  - "Household debt, loans and debt securities (percent of GDP)"
  - "Non-financial corporations debt, all instruments (percent of GDP)"
  - "Non-financial corporations debt, loans and debt securities (percent of GDP)"
  - "Public sector debt (percent of GDP)"
  - "Nonfinancial public sector debt (percent of GDP)"
  - "General government debt (percent of GDP)"
  - "Central government debt (percent of GDP)"
  - "Nominal gross domestic product (billions)"
- rawdata table column headings (sample):
  - "dept", "ifscode", "country", "year", "code"
  - "tot_all_data", "hh_all_data", "nfc_all_data", "tot_ls_data", "hh_ls_data", "nfc_ls_data"
  - "ps_data", "nfps_data", "gg_data", "cg_data", "ngdp_data"
  - Corresponding source columns: "tot_all_source", "hh_all_source", "nfc_all_source", "dl_source", "cb_source", "sec_source", "hh_ls_source", "nfc_ls_source", "ps_source", "nfps_source", "gg_source", "cg_source", "ngdp_source"

### Temporal and country coverage specifics (examples preserved exactly)
- Panel coverage: an unbalanced panel of 190 countries, dating back to 1950.
- Example country-year rows shown in rawdata (United States samples):
  - Year: 1950 — tot_all_data: 75.826082 — hh_all_data: 25.482242 — nfc_all_data: 50.343839 — tot_ls_data: 55.314634 — hh_ls_data: 24.802614 — nfc_ls_data: 30.51202 — gg_data: 83.126037 — cg_data: 78.199645 — ngdp_data: 301.7827 — sources include "OECD (1950-2018)", "National Source (1950-2018)", and "WEO 2019 (1950-2018)"
  - Year: 1951 — tot_all_data: 72.692564 — hh_all_data: 24.518253 — nfc_all_data: 48.174311 — ngdp_data: 348.99306 — sources include "OECD (1950-2018)", "National Source (1950-2018)", and "WEO 2019 (1950-2018)"
  - Year: 1952 — tot_all_data: 74.282425 — hh_all_data: 26.598532 — nfc_all_data: 47.683893 — ngdp_data: 368.02784 — sources include "OECD (1950-2018)", "National Source (1950-2018)", and "WEO 2019 (1950-2018)"
  - (Additional contiguous yearly samples for 1953–1957 appear with values and sources in rawdata.)

### Source provenance and footnotes (examples preserved exactly)
- Sources include national sources and international datasets; examples from the Data worksheet source lookups:
  - "National Source (1995-2018)"
  - "National Source (1961-2018)"
  - "National Source (1950-2018)"
  - "WEO 2002 (1970-1992); WEO 2019 (1993-2018)"
  - "R&R (1950-1974); National Source (1975-2018)"
  - "PWT (1950-1959); WEO 2019 (1960-2018)"
- Example footnote entry result:
  - "Note: 'National Source' refers to the Statistics Sweden, and Swedish National Debt Office."
- Contents worksheet sample source entries:
  - BIS — "Bank of International Settlements" — reference: "Dembiermont, C., Drehmann M., and Muksakunratana S. 2013. “How Much Does the Private Sector Really Borrow? A New Database for Total Credit to the Private Non-Financial Sector.” BIS Quarterly Review (2013), pp. 65-81."
  - CEIC — "CEIC" — reference: "https://www.ceicdata.com/en"

### Country and coverage control tables
- "countrylist" worksheet lists countries with columns: "country", "ifscode", "dept" (sample shows "Afghanistan" ifscode 512 dept "MCD", through "Azerbaijan" 912 "MCD", etc.).
- "weo gov cov" worksheet provides WEO government coverage notes with columns: "ifscode", "country", "dept", "weo gov coverage", "ps/nfps" (sample entries include textual flags such as "CG, NFPC", "CG, SG, LG, NFPC", and action notes like "change to CG", "drop NFPS", "keep CG").

### Notes on usage and quality control
- The dataset relies on user feedback to address problems; notifications of omissions or supplementary sources are welcome and will be acknowledged.
- The "footnote" worksheet documents national sources and special coverage notes (sample entries include Central Banks and Ministries of Finance and text notes about coverage exclusions).

*Dataset: gdd121719-excel.xlsx — Global Debt Database (Last Update: December 16, 2019).*

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/fiscal-monitor/2018/april/data/gdd121719-excel.xlsx_