Central government debt, total (current LCU) - Country Ranking - Europe

Definition: Debt is the entire stock of direct government fixed-term contractual obligations to others outstanding on a particular date. It includes domestic and foreign liabilities such as currency and money deposits, securities other than shares, and loans. It is the gross amount of government liabilities reduced by the amount of equity and financial derivatives held by the government. Because debt is a stock rather than a flow, it is measured as of a given date, usually the last day of the fiscal year.

Source: International Monetary Fund, Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files.

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 Hungary 34,527,400,000,000.00 2016
2 United Kingdom 2,294,250,000,000.00 2016
3 Iceland 1,831,530,000,000.00 2016
4 Ukraine 1,712,920,000,000.00 2016
5 Albania 1,188,810,000,000.00 2016
6 Spain 1,164,770,000,000.00 2016
7 Turkey 831,394,000,000.00 2016
8 Denmark 747,563,000,000.00 1994
9 Italy 650,914,000,000.00 1992
10 Germany 394,942,000,000.00 1999
11 Norway 275,920,000,000.00 1994
12 Ireland 230,468,000,000.00 2016
13 Czech Republic 194,159,000,000.00 1994
14 Netherlands 170,009,000,000.00 1994
15 Poland 152,238,000,000.00 1994
16 Switzerland 130,547,000,000.00 2016
17 Finland 52,858,940,000.00 1994
18 Moldova 51,276,800,000.00 2016
19 Belarus 37,941,760,000.00 2016
20 Bosnia and Herzegovina 15,809,920,000.00 2016
21 Cyprus 5,717,895,000.00 1994
22 Portugal 4,669,746,000.00 1994
23 Malta 1,842,609,000.00 1994
24 Slovenia 1,431,314,000.00 1994
25 San Marino 760,475,500.00 2016
26 Luxembourg 396,257,800.00 1993
27 Latvia 325,225,800.00 1994

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Limitations and Exceptions: For most countries central government finance data have been consolidated into one account, but for others only budgetary central government accounts are available. Countries reporting budgetary data are noted in the country metadata. Because budgetary accounts may not include all central government units (such as social security funds), they usually provide an incomplete picture. In federal states the central government accounts provide an incomplete view of total public finance. Data on government revenue and expense are collected by the IMF through questionnaires to member countries and by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Despite IMF efforts to standardize data collection, statistics are often incomplete, untimely, and not comparable across countries.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: The IMF's Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014, harmonized with the 2008 SNA, recommends an accrual accounting method, focusing on all economic events affecting assets, liabilities, revenues, and expenses, not just those represented by cash transactions. It accounts for all changes in stocks, so stock data at the end of an accounting period equal stock data at the beginning of the period plus flows over the period. The 1986 manual considered only debt stocks. Government finance statistics are reported in local currency. Many countries report government finance data by fiscal year; see country metadata for information on fiscal year end by country.

Periodicity: Annual