Global public and private debt is set to see its biggest decline in 70 years in 2021 after reaching a record high due to the effects of COVID-19, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday, but overall it will be much lower than pre-pandemic levels. Stay up
In a blog released alongside its inaugural Global Debt Monitor, the IMF said total public and private debt is expected to decline 10 percentage points to 247 percent of global GDP in 2021, from its peak of 257 percent in 2020. That compares to about 195 percent. Percent of GDP in 2007 before the global financial crisis.
In dollar terms, global debt continued to rise, although at a much slower rate, reaching a record $235 trillion last year.