Sovereign debt levels by country

Concerns about the levels of sovereign debt, particluarly in Europe, have dominated news this year. In the UK, the new coalition government has made cutting the UK’s debt a top priority, with Greece’s struggle on the bond markets hanging like a spectre over the political debate.

Central government debt differs to public sector debt in that it mostly relates to debt issued by countries to plug the holes that budget deficits have left in their balance sheets, and ignores the debt that relates to such things as social security funds.

A large majority of this debt is issued on the international capital markets and is hence marketable, making it subject to fears and expectations of investors.

But what is the debt? How is it composed? When does it mature? And how do different countries debt levels compare?

This interactive sovereign debt graphic attempts to quantify these questions for key countries around the world.

Data source note

The primary data source for this graphic is the OECD’s central government finance statistics but in order to drill down further into the data we have also gone to local sources, usually the national debt offices or finance ministries.