WASHINGTON: Global debt rose to a record US$237 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2017, more than US$70 trillion higher from a decade earlier, according to an analysis by the Institute of International Finance.
Among mature markets, household debt as a percentage of GDP hit all-time highs in Belgium, Canada, France, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.
That’s a worrying signal, with interest rates beginning to rise globally. Ireland and Italy are the only major countries where household debt as a percentage of GDP is below 50%.
Still, the ratio of global debt-to-gross domestic product fell for the fifth consecutive quarter as the world’s economic growth accelerated.
The ratio is now around 317.8% of GDP, or 4 percentage points below the high in the third quarter of 2016, according to the IIF.
Among emerging markets, household debt to GDP is approaching parity in South Korea at 94.6%.