IMF: World debt at all-time high… an average of $86k owed per person

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says the world’s debt has hit an all-time record of $184 trillion, an upward swing from the $182 trillion reported last week.

The figure represents an average of $86,000 debt owed per person, according to a statement issued by Ting Yan, press officer at IMF, on ‘Global Debt Database (GDD) Update’.

“Today, the International Monetary Fund updated its publicly available Global Debt Database (GDD) – a comprehensive dataset covering public and private debt for virtually the entire world (190 countries) dating back to the 1950s,” the statement read.

“Today’s update of the GDD offers for the first time a glimpse of global debt developments up to 2017.

“By including both the sovereign and private sides of borrowing for the entire world, the GDD offers an unprecedented picture of global debt in the post-World War II era.”

Global debt is said to have reached an all-time high of $184 trillion in nominal terms or the equivalent of 225 percent of Gross Domestic Product in 2017.

According to IMF, the $184 trillion is $2 trillion higher than the estimated number released during the fiscal monitor press conference in October 2018, because it includes end-2017 data and includes the debts of several countries who had not previously reported their updated data.

“On average, the world’s debt now exceeds $86,000 per person – more than two and half times the average income per-capita,” the IMF said.

“The top three borrowers in the world (United States, China, and Japan) account for more than half of global debt, exceeding their share of global output.”

The Fund had put the global debt at $182 trillion on December 1, warning highly indebted emerging-markets and low-income countries against what it termed pro-cyclical fiscal policies.

Christine Lagarde, IMF managing director, disclosed the figure in a statement issued at the conclusion of the Group of 20 (G-20) Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina.