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Who has most debt?

When gross public debt is considered as a percentage of a nations gross domestic

product, it turns out Japan takes the No. 1 spot. Japan's debt is more than double

its annual gross domestic product, according to many estimates. By contrast the

United States gross national debt is closer to 100 percent of gross domestic

product, according to estimates from the International Monetary Fund and the

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. That still puts the

U.S. in better shape than other industrialized nations including Greece, Italy and

Ireland, according to the OECD estimates. Of course, those are among the

European countries whose high debt levels have raised concerns in recent

months.

Here are the 10 developed countries with the most gross debt, compared to GDP,based on the OECD's projections for 2011:

1. Japan - 213 percent of GDP

2. Greece - 157 percent

3. Italy - 129 percent

4. Iceland - 121 percent

5. Ireland - 120 percent

6. Portugal - 111 percent

7. United States - 101 percent

8. Belgium - 101 percent

9. France - 97 percent

10. United Kingdom 89 percent

Worries about the growing U.S. debt, combined with concerns about the

uncertain strategy for dealing with that debt, played into Standard & Poor's

recent decision to cut the rating on the nations long-term debt securities one

notch to AA+ from the highest AAA rating.

In Japan, debt slowly ballooned beginning in the 1990s as the Japanese

government tried to pump more money in the economy to stimulate its growth.

The period is sometimes referred to as the lost decade because economic

http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2010/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2009&ey=2011&ssm=1&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&pr1.x=50&pr1.y=11&c=512,941,914,446,612,666,614,668,311,672,213,946,911,137,193,962,122,674,912,676,313,548,419,556,513,678,316,181,913,682,124,684,339,273,638,921,514,948,218,943,963,686,616,688,223,518,516,728,918,558,748,138,618,196,522,278,622,692,156,694,624,142,626,449,628,564,228,283,924,853,233,288,632,293,636,566,634,964,238,182,662,453,960,968,423,922,935,714,128,862,611,716,321,456,243,722,248,942,469,718,253,724,642,576,643,936,939,961,644,813,819,199,172,184,132,524,646,361,648,362,915,364,134,732,652,366,174,734,328,144,258,146,656,463,654,528,336,923,263,738,268,578,532,537,944,742,176,866,534,369,536,744,429,186,433,925,178,746,436,926,136,466,343,112,158,111,439,298,916,927,664,846,826,299,542,582,967,474,443,754,917,698,544&s=GGXWDG_NGDP&grp=0&a=http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?QueryId=29868http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?QueryId=29868http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2010/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2009&ey=2011&ssm=1&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&pr1.x=50&pr1.y=11&c=512,941,914,446,612,666,614,668,311,672,213,946,911,137,193,962,122,674,912,676,313,548,419,556,513,678,316,181,913,682,124,684,339,273,638,921,514,948,218,943,963,686,616,688,223,518,516,728,918,558,748,138,618,196,522,278,622,692,156,694,624,142,626,449,628,564,228,283,924,853,233,288,632,293,636,566,634,964,238,182,662,453,960,968,423,922,935,714,128,862,611,716,321,456,243,722,248,942,469,718,253,724,642,576,643,936,939,961,644,813,819,199,172,184,132,524,646,361,648,362,915,364,134,732,652,366,174,734,328,144,258,146,656,463,654,528,336,923,263,738,268,578,532,537,944,742,176,866,534,369,536,744,429,186,433,925,178,746,436,926,136,466,343,112,158,111,439,298,916,927,664,846,826,299,542,582,967,474,443,754,917,698,544&s=GGXWDG_NGDP&grp=0&a=

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growth was so anemic. Japans long-term debt rating currently stands at AA-, a

couple notches below the U.S. rating, according to Standard & Poors.

Although Japan carries a lot of debt, some experts dont see their debt as nearly

as risky as many other countries. Thats because not all debt is created equal. In

Japan, much of the nations debt is held domestically. By contrast, much of the

United States debt is held by other countries, such as China.

Who holds the most U.S. debt?

Japan is not subject to the same dramas because most of their debt is

domestically financed. The U.S. also is different in that its debt levels rose quickly

in the past few years as the country tried to deal with the financial, housing and

credit crises, and shake off the Great Recession. The United States hastraditionally been quite low in debt compared to other advanced countries. The

problem is the financial crisis hit.

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