The world debt continues to grow. In 2024 he reached the 100 thousand billion dollarsa figure that is equivalent to 93% of the GDP of all the countries of the world. According to estimates of the International Monetary Fund, 100%could be reached by 2030. The debt limits growth due to interest costs, affecting the most indebted countries more.
THE’Italy It is among the most indebted countries in the world and the most indebted in Europe after Greece. Among the advanced countries, only Japan has a worst situation.
The ranking of the most indebted countries in the world
Often, when analyzing a country’s public debt, it is expressed in percentage of GDP Instead of in a currency, as dollars or euros. It is a method to relate the debt to the size of the country’s economy, giving more meaning to the data. The public debt of Greece, equal to about 424 billion euros, may seem tiny if compared with that of France, 3,200 billion euros. Put in relation to the GDP of their respective nations, the perspectives change.
The ranking of the most indebted countries in relation to their GDP acts, according to the data of Trading Economics (IMF, World Bank, Eurostat, OECD) of 2023:
- Sudan: 256%;
- Japan: 255%;
- Lebanon: 195%;
- Singapore: 168%;
- Eritrea: 164%;
- Greece: 162%;
- Argentina: 155%;
- Venezuela: 146%;
- Italy: 135%;
- Bhutan: 123%;
- United States: 122%;
- Bahrein: 121%;
- Cuba: 119%;
- Green Cape: 115%;
- France: 111%.
In this ranking they are found Very different countries. They range from states at war, on the verge of bankruptcy or that have undergone a secession of important territory (Lebanon, Argentina, Sudan), to developed countries, with growth difficulties but which have reached a considerable level of well -being (France, Japan , Italy), up to countries at the peak of their economic expansion (United States).
Because the debt holds up growth
In his analysis for the future of the global economy, the International Monetary Fund He identified the growing debt as one of the brakes to growth. It is not intuitive to understand why: the immediate financial availability to which loans allow access should speed up growth, not slow it down.
The main problem of debt They are not the new loans, however, they are the past ones. The accumulation of large quantities of debt causes in turn an accumulation of interest and other ancillary costs. In this, the example of Italy helps to understand how too high a debt is harmful to an economy.
Italy, despite having a very high public spending, has been in several years in primary surplusif the pandemic years are excluded. This means that the state spends less than it derives from taxes. If the expenses on debt are excluded. The deficit that prevents the Italian state from investing is entirely due to the interests of the public debt accumulated over the decades. For this reason it is essential, according to the IMF, that the countries begin to think of a path of reduction of public debt, in order to unlock useful resources for future growth.
