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20 nations with highest public debt

Last updated on: May 31, 2013 22:09 IST

Vehicles pass by the East Gate Mall building, located on the corner of Robert Mugabe and Sam Nujoma roads in the central business district (CBD) of the capital Harare.

Image: Vehicles pass by the East Gate Mall building, located on the corner of Robert Mugabe and Sam Nujoma roads in the central business district (CBD) of the capital Harare.
Photographs: Philimon Bulawayo/Reuters.

Public debt is the total amount of money borrowed by the government. It is usually stated as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP).

Take a look at the nations with the highest public debt according to Indexmundi...

Zimbabwe

Rank: 1

Public debt (% of GDP): 220.1

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GDP Indexmundi

Image: People are reflected on a window as they walk through Tokyo's Akihabara district in Tokyo.
Photographs: Yuriko Nakao/Reuters.

Japan

Rank: 2

Public debt (% of GDP): 211.7

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GDP

Image: Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Photographs: Courtesy, stkittstourism.

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Rank: 3

Public debt (% of GDP): 200

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Kitts GDP NevisRank

Image: A mural of praying hands is displayed on the side of a hotel in central Athens.
Photographs: Cathal McNaughton/Reuters.

Greece

Rank: 4

Public debt (% of GDP): 161.7

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GDP

Image: A full moon rises over the port city of Tyre, southern Lebanon.
Photographs: Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters.

Lebanon

Rank: 5

Public debt (% of GDP): 134

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GDP Lebanon

Image: Iceland's Parliament house in Reykjavik.
Photographs: Ints Kalnins/Reuters.

Iceland

Rank: 6

Public debt (% of GDP): 128.3

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GDP

Image: A park in Jamaica.
Photographs: Jamaica Tourism Board.

Jamaica

Rank: 7

Public debt (% of GDP): 125.5

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GDP Jamaica

Image: An aerial view of St. Peter's square in Rome.
Photographs: Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters

Italy

Rank: 8

Public debt (% of GDP): 120.1

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GDP

Image: An Eritrean man walks alongside the Red Sea port of Massawa, 150km from the capital of Asmara.
Photographs: Reuters.

Eritrea

Rank: 9

Public debt (% of GDP): 118.5

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GDP

Image: Singapore Merlion is seen in front of the city centre, in Singapore.
Photographs: Reuters.

Singapore

Rank: 10

Public debt (% of GDP): 118.2

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GDP

Image: Pigeons fly around the main square of Lisbon Terreiro do Paco in Portugal.
Photographs: Jose Manuel Ribeiro/Reuters.

Portugal

Rank: 11

Public debt (% of GDP): 112.8

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GDP

A statue of Britain's Queen Victoria at Belfast's City Hall stands close to a new 60-metre high Ferris wheel attraction, in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Image: A statue of Britain's Queen Victoria at Belfast's City Hall stands close to a new 60-metre high Ferris wheel attraction, in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Photographs: Jonathan Saul/Reuters.

Ireland

Rank: 12

Public debt (% of GDP): 105.4

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GDP

Image: Rental bikes covered with snow in central Brussels.
Photographs: Francois Lenoir/Reuters.

Belgium

Rank: 13

Public debt (% of GDP): 99.7

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GDP Belgium Rank

Image: Barbados.
Photographs: Courtesy, Barbados Tourism Authority.

Barbados

Rank: 14

Public debt (% of GDP): 95.9

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GDP

Image: Home of a Nuba tribe family is seen on the side of a mountain in Kadogli town in the South Kordofan state of Sudan.
Photographs: Mohamed Nurdldin Abdallh/Reuters.

Sudan

Rank: 15

Public debt (% of GDP): 93.7

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GDP Sudan Rank