<p>The answer is in the the first line and title of the articles. Not all debt is government debt. One calculation also includes household and corporate debt.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-27T13:19:03.673Z
2017-02-27T13:33:15.827Z
2017-02-27T13:33:15.827Z
Giskard
<p>While looking at debt to GDP ratio of various countries, I had difficulty with different figures on different websites.
Look at this which shows China's debt to GDP ratio as 43.9%:
<a href="http://www.tradingeconomics.com/china/government-debt-to-gdp" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.tradingeconomics.com/china/government-debt-to-gdp</a></p>

<p>Then there are many other links which show China's debt as 250% of GDP.
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jun/16/chinas-debt-is-250-of-gdp-and-could-be-fatal-says-government-expert" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jun/16/chinas-debt-is-250-of-gdp-and-could-be-fatal-says-government-expert</a></p>

<p>What am I missing here?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-07T04:28:12.580Z
Avnish, if you ever want to get an accurate read on a nation's debt-to-GDP ratio, first learn the formula. So you would take debt, let's say $22 Trillion. Divide that by GDP, let's say $60 Trillion (22 ÷ 60 = 0.37), that would be a debt-to-GDP ratio of 37%, about where it was in the United States in 1789 and 1981 by the way. Assuming the debt and GDP numbers you obtain are accurate, all you need is the formula and you will know how accurate it is from any source you read. By the way, United States current debt-to-GDP is 105% (22 ÷ 21 = 1.05), way over the risky threshold that most economists a
Daniel
<macroeconomics><gdp><government-debt><china>
Confusion regarding debt to GDP ratio
Avnish Gaur
# Confusion regarding debt to GDP ratio

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-02-27)

While looking at debt to GDP ratio of various countries, I had difficulty with different figures on different websites.
Look at this which shows China's debt to GDP ratio as 43.9%:
<http://www.tradingeconomics.com/china/government-debt-to-gdp>

Then there are many other links which show China's debt as 250% of GDP.
<https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jun/16/chinas-debt-is-250-of-gdp-and-could-be-fatal-says-government-expert>

What am I missing here?

**Tags:** macroeconomics, gdp, government-debt, china
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Avnish, if you ever want to get an accurate read on a nation's debt-to-GDP ratio, first learn the formula. So you would take debt, let's say $22 Trillion. Divide that by GDP, let's say $60 Trillion (22 ÷ 60 = 0.37), that would be a debt-to-GDP ratio of 37%, about where it was in the United States in 1789 and 1981 by the way. Assuming the debt and GDP numbers you obtain are accurate, all you need is the formula and you will know how accurate it is from any source you read. By the way, United States current debt-to-GDP is 105% (22 ÷ 21 = 1.05), way over the risky threshold that most economists a  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-02-27. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

The answer is in the the first line and title of the articles. Not all debt is government debt. One calculation also includes household and corporate debt.


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