Global Debt Database: Methodology and Sources

By Samba Mbaye, Marialuz Moreno Badia, Kyungla Chae

May 14, 2018

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Samba Mbaye, Marialuz Moreno Badia, and Kyungla Chae. Global Debt Database: Methodology and Sources, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2018) accessed October 6, 2024

Disclaimer: IMF Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to encourage debate. The views expressed in IMF Working Papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.

Summary

This paper describes the compilation of the Global Debt Database (GDD), a cutting-edge dataset covering private and public debt for virtually the entire world (190 countries) dating back to the 1950s. The GDD is the result of a multiyear investigative process that started with the October 2016 Fiscal Monitor, which pioneered the expansion of private debt series to a global sample. It differs from existing datasets in three major ways. First, it takes a fundamentally new approach to compiling historical data. Where most debt datasets either provide long series with a narrow and changing definition of debt or comprehensive debt concepts over a short period, the GDD adopts a multidimensional approach by offering multiple debt series with different coverages, thus ensuring consistency across time. Second, it more than doubles the cross-sectional dimension of existing private debt datasets. Finally, the integrity of the data has been checked through bilateral consultations with officials and IMF country desks of all countries in the sample, setting a higher data quality standard.

Subject: Economic sectors, Emerging and frontier financial markets, Financial institutions, Financial markets, National accounts, Private debt, Public debt, Public sector, Securities

Keywords: Concepts overlap, Debt data, Debt database, Debt liability, Debt series, Debt statistics, Debt-to-GDP, Emerging and frontier financial markets, Global, Historical debt, Ignoring debt securities, North Africa, North America, Private debt, Private sector, Public debt, Public sector, Securities, WP

Publication Details

Pages:

52
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Working Paper No. 2018/111
Stock No:

WPIEA2018111
ISBN:

9781484353592
ISSN:

1018-5941

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