The World’s Most Debt-Laden Economies: Where Does Lebanon Stand?

Lebanon Today

Global debt has reached a new record, amounting to $337.7 trillion at the end of the second quarter of this year. This increase is largely attributed to the weakening of the U.S. dollar, in addition to the trend of major central banks towards adopting more flexible monetary policies.

The Institute of International Finance reported that the debt volume increased by more than $21 trillion during the first half of this year. The institute indicated that countries such as China, France, the United States, Germany, Britain, and Japan witnessed the largest increases in debt volume. In contrast, the value of the dollar has decreased by 9.75% since the beginning of the year, according to Reuters.

The following is a list of the top 10 countries in terms of debt volume:

1- United States: $37.64 trillion, by September 30, 2025, according to data from the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

2- China: $18.31 trillion, according to the Statista platform.

3- Japan: $10.23 trillion, according to the Statista platform.

4- United Kingdom: $3.7 trillion, according to the BBC.

5- France: $3.6 trillion, according to Eurostat.

6- Italy: $3.27 trillion, according to Eurostat.

7- Germany: $2.92 trillion, according to Eurostat.

8- Canada: $2.3 trillion, for the fiscal year 2024/2025.

9- India: $2.19 trillion, according to the Indian budget 2025-2026.

10- Brazil: $1.71 trillion.

In a related context, many Arab countries face increasing burdens of public debt, which has become a major economic and structural challenge. These debts put pressure on national budgets and reduce the ability of these countries to finance development and improve living standards.

This massive amount of debt casts a shadow over governments, increases the fragility of social and economic conditions, and raises levels of extreme poverty, especially with the rising burden of interest and the decline in revenues in many Arab economies.

The following is a list of the top 10 Arab countries in terms of debt volume (2024), according to the World Population Review platform:

1- Egypt: $377.8 billion

4- Algeria: $116.7 billion

6- Morocco: $100.3 billion

7- Qatar: $92.3 billion

9- Sudan: $66.6 billion

10- Bahrain: $56.8 billion