<p>In short: yes, it very well might be and this has been argued by some (see, for example: <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffreydorfman/2014/07/12/forget-debt-as-a-percent-of-gdp-its-really-much-worse/#29b8530f6e0c" rel="nofollow">http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffreydorfman/2014/07/12/forget-debt-as-a-percent-of-gdp-its-really-much-worse/#29b8530f6e0c</a>).</p>

<p>The use of Debt/GDP is the current international norm, but Debt/Tax revenue might very well be a better, more concise option. Using Debt/GDP might be because it has been common to compare countries to each other with GDP or GDP/capita and having GDP as a factor relates the debt to these measures.</p>

<p>It can also be argued that in the end the whole population of a country is responsible for paying their country's debts, so in an extreme situation it's not just the government's income which might be used to pay off debts.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-01T08:17:22.577Z
2016-03-01T09:54:33.977Z
2016-03-01T09:54:33.977Z
John L.
<p>If the probable reason is because it must reflect the government's ability to pay back the deficit, wouldn't government income be a better indicator, rather than GDP?</p>

<macroeconomics><fiscal-policy>
Why is fiscal deficit always shown as a percentage of GDP?
WorldGov
# Why is fiscal deficit always shown as a percentage of GDP?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-03-01)

If the probable reason is because it must reflect the government's ability to pay back the deficit, wouldn't government income be a better indicator, rather than GDP?

**Tags:** macroeconomics, fiscal-policy

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-03-01. Score: 2

In short: yes, it very well might be and this has been argued by some (see, for example: <http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffreydorfman/2014/07/12/forget-debt-as-a-percent-of-gdp-its-really-much-worse/#29b8530f6e0c>).

The use of Debt/GDP is the current international norm, but Debt/Tax revenue might very well be a better, more concise option. Using Debt/GDP might be because it has been common to compare countries to each other with GDP or GDP/capita and having GDP as a factor relates the debt to these measures.

It can also be argued that in the end the whole population of a country is responsible for paying their country's debts, so in an extreme situation it's not just the government's income which might be used to pay off debts.


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