Top 10 Countries in the World with the Highest External Debt (2008)


What is external debt?

External debt of a country is calculated as the total public and private debt owed to nonresidents repayable in foreign currency, goods, or services. In other words, external debt is the part of a country's debt owed to creditors outside the country.

This includes debt-owed to private commercial banks, governments, or international financial institutions such as the IMF and World Bank. It is an important economic indicator to gauge a country's financial condition.

Country US$ PER CAPITA
1. Monaco $ 540,000
2. Ireland $ 448,032
3. Switzerland $ 174,526
4. United Kingdom $ 174,167
5. Netherlands $ 136,795
6. Belgium $ 126,202
7. Norway $ 98,530
8. Austria $ 90,289
9. Denmark $ 89,853
10. Hong Kong $ 84,445

Source: hubpages.com/hub/External-Debt