South Korea's National Debt Ratio 40.78% in 2015 → 64.96% in 2025... 9th Largest Increase Among 37 Advanced Countries

[Asia Economy Reporter Jusangdon Joo] According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) World Economic Outlook on the 7th, South Korea's national debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to rise by more than 24%, from 40.78% in 2015 to 64.96% in 2025. This represents the ninth largest increase among 37 advanced economies classified by the IMF.

The IMF data on national debt ratios is based on general government debt (D2). According to this, South Korea's national debt ratio, which was 40.78% in 2015, is expected to increase to 41.92% in 2019, 48.41% in 2020, 52.24% in 2021, 55.80% in 2022, 59.25% in 2023, 62.27% in 2024, and 64.96% in 2025. The national debt ratio rose sharply in 2020 and 2021, when expansionary fiscal policies were inevitable due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase from 2019 to 2021 reached 10.32 percentage points.

However, the increase in national debt ratios in other advanced countries during this period was even greater. These include New Zealand (28.68 percentage points), Canada (26.35 percentage points), the United Kingdom (26.17 percentage points), Japan (26.01 percentage points), the United States (24.96 percentage points), France (20.45 percentage points), and Germany (12.75 percentage points).

In terms of the increase in national debt ratio from 2019 to 2021, South Korea ranks 24th among the 37 advanced countries. However, when expanding the range to a 10-year period from 2015 to 2025, South Korea's increase in national debt ratio is 24.18 percentage points, ranking 9th among the 37 advanced economies.

Countries such as Spain (19.51 percentage points), Italy (17.29 percentage points), and Canada (15.05 percentage points) have smaller increases in national debt ratios than South Korea. The Netherlands (-8.25 percentage points), Germany (-12.66 percentage points), and Portugal (-15.28 percentage points) are expected to see decreases in their national debt ratios. This is because, although national debt ratios temporarily increased during the COVID-19 period, these countries are pursuing fiscal soundness by reducing national debt after 2022.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.