Believe it or not, the countries with the largest government debt totals are not necessarily those carrying the heaviest debt burdens. The picture changes considerably depending on whether debt is measured in dollar terms or relative to the size of a country’s economy.
This gallery uses 2026 projections from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to compare the world’s 30 most indebted governments using both measures. Click on to see how global heavyweights stack up on borrowing.