Public Debt: Which are the 9 most indebted countries in the world in 2025?

Which are the countries where public debt is highest? Discover the ranking and Italy’s position.

Public debt is one of the parameters describing a country’s economic situation. We hear it mentioned everywhere, often compared to another measure, GDP, which indicates a state’s productive activities.

The entire global economy, given that we are in a capitalist system, is based on debt. It is a sort of lifeblood, indispensable for achieving the main objective imposed by the economic system we live in: growth.

In 2008, however, a technology emerged that has the potential to revolutionise the global monetary system. The document sanctioning its birth began with a title destined to echo through eternity: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. We are talking, obviously, about Bitcoin.

We have discussed solutions to the problem of debt and poverty in another article, so now let’s return to the problem: which are the most indebted states in the world? And therefore, what is the ranking of countries with the highest public debt?

Public debt: it is a problem to be faced

The ranking of countries by public debt changed after the COVID-19 pandemic, not so much for the order of states as in the amounts they owe to their creditors. By 2029, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the global debt-to-GDP ratio will reach 100%.

This indicator, usually used to analyse the economic situation of a single state, measures, over the course of a year, the amount of debt in relation to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), that is, the set of productive activities of a state.

Quite simply, if the Debt/GDP ratio is low, for example, at 50%, it means that the total accumulated debt is half compared to what that given country produces in a year. On the other hand, if the Debt/GDP ratio is 120%, which is quite high, then total debt exceeds a year’s worth of national economic output.

Public debt, when it is much higher than GDP, poses a problem for investors due to its long-term sustainability. If the situation worsens, those holding the debt will demand higher interest rates to reflect the investment risk premium. At this point, the State in question indebts itself further solely to pay interest, in a vicious circle that increases the Debt/GDP ratio.

The situation is even graver if we take into account the restrictive economic policy decisions implemented by all major Western governments from 2022 to the first half of 2025 to combat inflation, only to then gradually start cutting rates.

The central point is that the world is sitting on a mountain of debt; global public debt surpassed, in September 2025, the worrying threshold of 102 trillion dollars.

In short, the situation is becoming increasingly critical. Jerome Powell himself, chairman of the Federal Reserve – the central bank of the United States – recently declared that America “has embarked on an unsustainable path” and that “it is borrowing money from future generations”.

Despite what has just been specified, and a total public debt of about 38,000 billion dollars (38 trillion), the United States does not rank among the countries with the highest public debt; quite the opposite. Continue reading to know the ranking!

The ranking of the most indebted countries

Here is the ranking of countries with the highest public debt, based on the debt-to-GDP ratio. The reason? Because the nominal value of this measure, taken “alone,” does not provide information on the true incidence of a state’s debts.

Japan (229.6%)

The country with the highest debt/GDP ratio is Japan. The causes of the country’s heavy indebtedness lie in the real estate bubble that burst in the 90s. Furthermore, the new Japanese prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, has declared the intention of wanting to spend even more on a whole series of important public investments, further indebting the Land of the Rising Sun.

Sudan (221.5%)

Second in the ranking of countries by public debt is Sudan, heavily hit by an economic crisis caused by a devastating internal civil war, which pits the SAF (Sudanese Armed Forces), internationally recognised as legitimate, against the RSF (Rapid Support Forces), a rebel faction.

Singapore (175.6%)

Singapore is an incredibly advanced city-state, especially from an economic perspective, and ranks first among the richest countries in the world, with a GDP per capita of $141,553. Despite having high public debt, rating agencies continue to evaluate it with top marks.

Greece (146.7%)

The default avoided in 2009 is now a distant memory, and the country has certainly improved in recent years. Recently, the rating agency Fitch raised Greece’s rating from BBB- to BBB, noting that its forecasts point to a further decline in Greek public debt to 145%.

Bahrain (142.5%)

Bahrain’s public debt has almost tripled over the last 10 years due to various factors, including the drop in oil prices, increased defence spending, and the government’s traditional aversion to taxes. In any case, the IMF has warned Bahrain about the unsustainability of its debt, officially urging it to reduce expenses.

Italy (136.8%)

Our country ranks sixth among the most indebted countries. Italian public debt touched a new historical high in February 2023, only to stabilise in the following two years. Incidentally, in 2025, the agencies Fitch and S&P Global raised Italy’s rating from BBB to BBB+: the reason is to be found in the current administration’s financial management.

Maldives (131.8%)

The Maldives’ economy is focused on tourism and imports, given that internal production is very weak, as its geographical composition – 1,200 islands – limits strong domestic production and diversification. Lately, also due to external shocks like Covid-19 or the Russo-Ukrainian and Israeli-Palestinian wars, the public debt of the Maldives has grown a lot**, without GDP doing the same.

USA (125%)

In the penultimate place of the ranking of the most indebted countries, we find the United States, which, just like the European Union, carried out a restrictive economic policy to combat the inflationary spike caused by COVID-19 stimuli, only to then start cutting rates. Under the last two administrations, however, public debt has increased by 60%, exceeding the ceiling of 38,000 billion dollars (38 trillion).

Senegal (122.9%)

The case of Senegal is very particular because it concerns an unprecedented scandal: the new government, upon taking office, signalled to the IMF the existence of more than 7 billion dollars in loans contracted by the previous administration. The problem? They had not been declared. The IMF therefore suspended about $ 1.8 billion in financing.

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