World debt

DEBT rose across the rich world in the run-up to the financial crisis, from consumers bingeing on credit cards through to industrial companies borrowing for expansion and financial institutions using debt to buy risky assets. Since the crisis, governments have been borrowing furiously to make up for retrenchment in private spending.

The interactive graphic above shows the overall debt levels for a wide range of countries, based on data supplied by the McKinsey Global Institute. In theory there is no maximum level for debt relative to GDP, but Ireland and Iceland (not on this map) found the limit in practice when they hit eight-to-ten times national income. Emerging markets have much lower levels of debt than developed countries, which helps explain why they are now able to borrow on advantageous terms.

The debt is also broken down by sector. Sovereign debt is currently the focus of most attention. Japan is managing to fund a public-debt-to-GDP ratio of almost 200%, thanks largely to quiescent domestic investors, but a ratio above 90% is thought to have a significant, adverse effect on growth. Note the huge size of Britain's banks relative to its economy, and the high level of Spanish corporate debt: these two countries saw the steepest rises in overall debt levels over the past decade.