Global debt reaches an all-time high of $184 trillion, says IMF

The global debt has reached an all-time high of $ 184 trillion, with three countries the United States, China and Japan accounting for more than half of it, the International Monetary Fund said Thursday.

Earlier this year, the IMF had calculated the global debt to be around $ 182 trillion.

In its latest update, the IMF said the global debt has reached an all-time high of $ 184 trillion.

The updated amount, in nominal terms, is the equivalent of 225 per cent of the world GDP in 2017.

On average, the world's debt now exceeds $ 86,000 per person more than 2 times the average income per-capita. The top three borrowers in the world (United States, China, and Japan) account for more than half of the global debt, exceeding their share of global output, the IMF said, adding that it is nonetheless striking that the most indebted economies in the world are also the richer ones.

 

The emergence of China among the top ranking is, however, a relatively new development, it said.

Since the beginning of the millennium, China's share in global debt has gone up from less than three per cent to over 15 per cent, underscoring the rapid credit surge in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.