Central government debt, total (% of GDP)

Debt is the entire stock of direct government fixed-term contractual obligations to others outstanding on a particular date — domestic and foreign liabilities such as currency and money deposits, securities other than shares, and loans, net of equity and financial derivatives held by the government. Because debt is a stock rather than a flow, it is measured as of a given date, usually the last day of the fiscal year. Central government excludes state and local governments, so the series understates general government debt in federal systems. The World Bank publishes the indicator in the World Development Indicators from International Monetary Fund data (Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files). Values are null where national statistics are unavailable and are never interpolated. Units: percent of GDP.