Daily Junction.mobi portalNews · November 23, 2025 · Marcus Vale · 1 min
Global debt is at record levels. Here is why high debt matters, which countries are most at risk and what options exist for resolution.
Global debt — including public debt (government borrowing), household debt and corporate debt — reached a record $307 trillion in 2023, according to the Institute of International Finance. This is approximately 330% of global GDP. During the pandemic, governments worldwide borrowed heavily to fund emergency support, and companies took on cheap debt in a low-interest-rate environment.
For a decade after the 2008-2009 financial crisis, record-low interest rates made borrowing very cheap. The rapid rise in interest rates from 2022 onward — as central banks fought inflation — dramatically increased the cost of servicing this debt. Countries and companies that had borrowed at low fixed rates were insulated in the short term; those with floating-rate debt or needing to refinance faced immediate pressure.
Many low- and middle-income countries borrowed heavily during the low-interest-rate period, often from China as well as from Western multilateral institutions. As rates rose and their currencies weakened, the real cost of servicing dollar-denominated debt increased. By 2024, approximately 40 countries were in or near debt distress — unable to service their debt without reducing spending on healthcare, education or infrastructure.
The existing framework for sovereign debt restructuring — involving the IMF, World Bank, Paris Club of Western creditors and private creditors — is cumbersome and slow. The emergence of China as a major bilateral creditor has complicated negotiations, as China's terms and priorities differ from those of Western creditors, and agreeing common restructuring terms across creditor groups has proved difficult.
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