What is Sovereign Debt?

Sovereign debt is simply money or credit owed by a government to its creditors. These debts typically include securities, bonds or bills with maturity dates ranging from less than a year to more than ten years. 

But the term can also be used to describe future obligations like pensions, entitlement programs, and other goods and services that were contracted but not paid.

Concerns around sovereign debt have been growing since World War II.

During that time, many countries went into debt to finance either the war itself or the rebuilding efforts afterwards. However, modern Keynesian economics supports a fairly high level of public debt to pay for public investment in lean times under the premise that it can be paid back by the growth that follows.

Measuring Sovereign Debt

Sovereign debt is can be measured using a variety of different metrics. Often times, these metrics are used in order to determine if a country's sovereign debt is too high given its gross domestic product (GDP) or abilities to tax its citizens. But these factors should also take into account a country' GDP growth rate, which can dramatically influence its future ability to repay debt.

The three most popular metrics are:

1. Total Public Debt - The total public debt is the total amount of debt outstanding. But without context, this figure isn't very informative and can be misleading. As a result, most experts look towards Debt-to-GDP and Debt per Capita as common measures.

2. Debt as a Percent of GDP - Debt as a percentage of gross domestic product is simply the total public debt divided by GDP. Countries with a debt greater than their GDP (or a ratio over 100%) are generally considered to be over indebted.

3. Debt per Capita - Debt per capita is simply the total debt divided by the number of citizens. A debt per capita that is in excess of per capita income reduces the likelihood that the government will be able to make up its shortfall through traditional taxation.

International investors can find the levels of public sector debt via the World Bank, CIA World Factbook or individual central bank websites.

Sovereign Debt Statistics

Sovereign debt levels have been on the rise since World War II. From Russia's financial crisis in 1998 to Argentina's default in 2001, these debts have been the source of much financial turmoil. But what countries are most at-risk and what countries are deemed safe for international investors? 

Below are some statistics from www.tradingeconomics.com/

Sovereign Debt Ratings

Sovereign debt ratings can help investors determine the credit risks associated with a given country by taking into account not only debt levels, but political risk, regulatory risk and other factors. Some studies have shown that these ratings can influence debt costs by as much as 25% per notch. The three most popular credit rating agencies are Standard & Poor's, Moody's Investor Services, and Fitch Ratings.

Edited article from http://internationalinvest.about.com/

WORLD  AMERICA  EUROPE  ASIA  AUSTRALIA  AFRICA	Last	Previous	Highest	Lowest	Unit	Reference	Frequency
Japan	230.00	224.20	230.00	50.60	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Greece	177.10	175.00	177.10	22.60	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Lebanon	134.41	133.36	185.19	130.80	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Jamaica	132.72	135.50	135.50	87.31	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Italy	132.30	128.50	132.30	90.50	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Portugal	130.20	129.70	130.20	48.50	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Cape Verde	114.22	101.63	114.22	54.28	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Ireland	109.70	123.20	123.20	24.80	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Cyprus	107.50	102.20	107.50	48.90	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Belgium	106.50	104.40	133.10	74.10	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
United States	102.98	101.17	121.70	31.70	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Bhutan	101.30	98.40	101.30	36.90	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Singapore	99.30	103.20	106.20	66.90	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Spain	97.70	92.10	97.70	16.60	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
France	95.00	92.30	95.00	20.70	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Euro Area	91.90	90.90	91.90	66.20	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Egypt	90.50	87.10	102.30	73.30	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
United Kingdom	89.40	87.30	89.40	31.30	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Jordan	86.68	80.17	219.73	60.24	percent	Dec/13	Yearly	[+]
Canada	86.51	87.66	101.70	66.50	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Iceland	86.40	91.40	101.00	23.00	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Austria	84.50	80.90	84.50	56.10	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Slovenia	80.90	70.30	80.90	18.30	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Croatia	80.60	76.00	80.60	34.40	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Sudan	79.00	70.70	139.30	56.30	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Zimbabwe	77.00	66.20	147.70	31.40	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Hungary	76.90	77.30	82.20	0.00	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Sri Lanka	75.50	78.30	103.20	75.50	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Germany	74.70	77.10	80.30	55.60	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Bahamas	73.40	66.20	73.40	23.20	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Ukraine	71.21	40.65	71.21	12.30	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Serbia	70.90	59.60	201.20	28.30	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Albania	69.11	64.82	84.60	53.43	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Netherlands	68.80	68.60	76.10	45.30	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Sao Tome and Principe	68.23	72.45	309.20	33.30	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Malta	68.00	69.20	69.80	35.30	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Ghana	67.60	55.64	125.40	26.20	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Israel	67.50	67.60	96.70	67.50	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Mauritania	66.90	65.60	280.45	60.80	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Belize	66.30	66.70	87.10	31.40	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
India	66.10	65.80	84.30	65.80	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Guyana	65.80	63.90	135.70	59.90	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Seychelles	65.00	69.00	87.00	49.00	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Pakistan	64.30	64.80	87.90	54.90	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Morocco	63.89	61.70	117.71	21.66	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Uruguay	62.80	62.10	111.55	54.90	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
El Salvador	62.38	61.37	62.38	37.35	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Laos	62.03	33.43	81.70	33.43	percent	Dec/13	Yearly	[+]
Finland	59.30	55.60	59.30	10.80	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Brazil	58.91	56.80	60.90	53.40	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Costa Rica	58.32	55.88	58.68	36.57	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Montenegro	56.84	53.97	56.84	27.50	percent	Dec/13	Yearly	[+]
Mozambique	55.40	46.90	138.40	37.50	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Slovakia	53.60	54.60	54.60	27.90	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Malaysia	52.80	54.70	80.74	31.80	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Mauritius	52.80	58.30	63.70	48.40	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Mongolia	51.70	45.30	105.50	24.50	percent	Dec/11	Yearly	[+]
Fiji	50.60	51.40	56.20	33.69	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Vietnam	50.50	54.98	54.98	31.90	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Poland	50.10	55.70	55.70	36.80	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Yemen	49.95	51.70	51.80	27.20	percent	Dec/13	Yearly	[+]
Kenya	49.80	44.50	78.30	42.80	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Venezuela	49.80	45.90	71.90	26.30	percent	Dec/13	Yearly	[+]
Nicaragua	49.10	49.80	169.10	49.10	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Gambia	47.70	44.50	117.40	35.10	percent	Dec/13	Yearly	[+]
Tunisia	47.50	44.38	69.90	40.20	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Kyrgyzstan	46.70	43.80	122.27	43.80	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Macedonia	45.90	40.40	48.80	23.00	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Lesotho	45.80	37.70	88.66	36.90	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Dominican Republic	45.79	46.14	46.14	16.43	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Thailand	45.70	43.70	57.80	15.20	percent	Dec/13	Yearly	[+]
Panama	45.60	41.70	115.75	41.70	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Philippines	45.40	49.20	74.90	45.40	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Denmark	45.20	45.00	58.10	27.50	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Eritrea	45.00	29.10	62.50	29.10	percent	Dec/13	Yearly	[+]
Djibouti	44.56	48.10	67.80	44.56	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Sweden	43.90	38.70	73.20	36.20	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Argentina	43.00	38.80	166.00	33.30	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Czech Republic	42.75	45.18	45.18	12.50	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Honduras	42.63	42.17	68.06	23.07	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Bahrain	42.00	41.30	42.00	8.50	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Central African Republic	41.83	50.57	97.40	30.50	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Trinidad and Tobago	41.60	38.60	58.84	13.18	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Armenia	41.23	38.45	46.21	13.56	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
China	41.06	39.38	41.06	19.99	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Lithuania	40.90	38.80	40.90	15.50	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Latvia	40.00	38.20	44.50	9.00	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Tanzania	39.90	39.50	66.60	31.10	percent	Dec/13	Yearly	[+]
Myanmar	39.72	40.81	140.95	39.72	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Romania	39.60	38.00	39.60	12.40	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
South Africa	39.00	37.00	43.50	27.80	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Papua New Guinea	38.80	32.70	71.06	23.60	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Colombia	38.00	35.80	45.60	23.30	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Sierra Leone	37.65	36.90	247.38	34.96	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Iraq	37.02	32.10	334.85	32.10	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Georgia	36.80	37.90	43.62	21.55	percent	Dec/13	Yearly	[+]
Belarus	36.71	38.46	112.50	0.15	percent	Dec/13	Yearly	[+]
Taiwan	36.50	35.80	36.50	11.19	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Ivory Coast	36.41	39.92	84.20	29.00	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
South Korea	35.98	34.52	35.98	8.24	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Senegal	35.20	29.60	72.60	17.70	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Madagascar	34.90	34.00	111.88	24.30	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Uganda	34.70	33.26	84.40	22.10	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Switzerland	34.20	34.90	51.60	25.10	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Republic of the Congo	34.00	32.00	270.18	22.89	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Australia	33.88	30.90	33.88	9.70	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Liberia	33.20	26.60	720.73	26.00	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Turkey	33.00	35.85	77.90	33.00	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Bolivia	32.40	32.60	80.40	32.40	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Hong Kong	32.00	33.84	35.47	13.70	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Qatar	31.48	32.11	67.13	8.03	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Angola	31.00	34.57	104.50	20.60	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Zambia	31.00	28.80	277.53	28.80	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Guinea Bissau	30.80	26.70	209.50	21.40	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Mexico	30.70	28.60	37.20	17.10	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
New Zealand	30.43	31.00	61.02	14.55	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Bosnia and Herzegovina	30.40	28.20	56.04	17.00	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Syria	30.01	31.21	189.76	30.01	percent	Dec/10	Yearly	[+]
Ecuador	29.80	24.20	85.50	16.40	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Nepal	28.80	31.90	69.50	28.80	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Ethiopia	28.60	27.40	41.80	24.70	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Bulgaria	28.40	28.40	77.60	13.20	percent	Aug/15	Monthly	[+]
Tajikistan	28.34	29.18	111.78	28.34	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Burkina Faso	28.30	22.48	43.40	20.90	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Cambodia	28.12	28.76	43.16	27.46	percent	Dec/13	Yearly	[+]
Rwanda	28.00	29.42	119.50	21.27	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Gabon	27.70	26.90	86.96	16.73	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Haiti	26.70	21.32	60.88	11.97	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Norway	26.40	29.30	53.80	26.40	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Comoros	26.30	51.30	78.10	26.30	percent	Dec/13	Yearly	[+]
Suriname	26.20	29.20	114.98	16.86	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Indonesia	25.02	24.90	87.43	22.96	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Niger	24.80	23.80	69.90	15.80	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Moldova	24.60	23.60	159.42	19.27	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Maldives	24.40	29.40	47.35	24.40	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Guatemala	24.31	25.36	50.45	20.82	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Namibia	24.00	21.80	27.49	14.22	percent	Mar/15	Quarterly	[+]
Chad	23.80	30.20	61.90	23.10	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Luxembourg	23.60	24.00	24.00	6.10	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Botswana	23.10	26.00	26.00	5.98	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Guinea	20.81	22.97	113.00	20.81	percent	Dec/13	Yearly	[+]
Togo	20.80	17.30	124.00	13.60	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Peru	20.70	20.30	47.10	20.30	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Cuba	20.20	21.10	21.10	14.80	percent	Dec/11	Yearly	[+]
Cameroon	19.90	13.40	131.44	9.30	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Congo	19.69	18.88	181.62	18.88	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Cayman Islands	19.50	21.10	24.50	7.50	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Benin	18.30	18.00	58.20	11.40	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Bangladesh	18.00	18.90	44.90	18.00	percent	Dec/13	Yearly	[+]
Malawi	18.00	25.50	119.70	14.60	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Russia	17.92	14.02	99.00	7.90	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Palestine	17.36	19.04	26.36	2.93	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Turkmenistan	16.80	21.10	64.41	2.42	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Iran	16.36	15.76	22.67	8.93	percent	Dec/15	Yearly	[+]
United Arab Emirates	15.68	15.87	24.10	2.70	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Paraguay	15.16	12.60	66.90	12.50	percent	Dec/13	Yearly	[+]
Chile	15.10	12.80	31.40	3.90	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Kazakhstan	14.86	12.86	17.60	5.90	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Burundi	14.20	15.10	224.60	14.20	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Azerbaijan	13.75	11.60	24.20	7.30	percent	Dec/13	Yearly	[+]
Kosovo	11.21	10.76	11.21	5.51	percent of GDP	Jun/15	Quarterly	[+]
Estonia	10.60	10.10	10.60	3.70	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Nigeria	10.50	11.00	88.00	10.50	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Swaziland	9.90	9.98	26.16	8.78	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Algeria	8.76	8.32	116.20	8.32	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Uzbekistan	8.70	8.58	59.38	8.58	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Equatorial Guinea	7.60	8.99	325.60	0.80	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Kuwait	7.14	6.54	203.36	1.09	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Afghanistan	6.60	6.70	184.00	6.60	percent	Dec/13	Yearly	[+]
Libya	6.10	6.80	21.20	5.90	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Oman	4.80	4.90	38.57	4.10	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Brunei	2.60	2.48	2.60	0.00	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]
Saudi Arabia	1.60	2.20	103.50	1.60	percent	Dec/14	Yearly	[+]