Economics
World’s $281 Trillion Debt Pile Is Set to Rise Again in 2021
- World debt reached record $281 trillion at end of 2020: IIF
- Developing-world debt topped 250% of GDP amid virus stimulus
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The world has never been more indebted after a year of battling Covid-19. And there’s even more borrowing ahead.
Governments, companies and households raised $24 trillion last year to offset the pandemic’s economic toll, bringing the global debt total to an all-time high of $281 trillion by the end of 2020, or more than 355% of global GDP, according to the Institute of International Finance. They may have little choice but to keep borrowing in 2021, said Washington-based director of sustainability research Emre Tiftik and economist Khadija Mahmood.