• Africa’s average public debt-to-GDP ratio fell to 62.8% in 2025, down from 63.7% in 2024.
• Global debt hit a record $348 trillion, fueled largely by government borrowing.
• Emerging markets’ debt ratios climbed above 235% of GDP, marking a new high.

Africa’s average public debt-to-GDP ratio continued its gradual decline in 2025, even as global debt climbed to an unprecedented level, according to the latest Global Debt Monitor released February 25 by the Institute of International Finance (IIF), a Washington-based association of major banks.

The continent’s average public debt ratio fell to 62.8% at the end of 2025, compared with 63.7% a year earlier. The IIF pointed to ongoing fiscal consolidation efforts across several African economies as a key factor behind the improvement.

Still, debt levels remain elevated in several countries. At the end of 2025, the highest public debt-to-GDP ratios in Africa were recorded in Senegal (122.9%), Zambia (107.2%), Mozambique (97.2%), the Republic of the Congo (93.1%), Tunisia (80.6%), and South Africa (79.4%).

Household and corporate debt across the continent remain relatively modest. In the fourth quarter of 2025, household debt accounted for 13.6% of GDP, compared with 19.3% for nonfinancial corporations and 9.5% for financial firms. These figures are well below averages in advanced economies such as the United States, the euro area, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, and Canada. In those markets, household debt averages 67.2% of GDP, while debt stands at 96% for financial corporations and 87.4% for nonfinancial corporations.

Governments at the Center of the Global Debt Surge

Worldwide, total debt reached a record $348 trillion at the end of 2025, an increase of $29 trillion from the previous year — the sharpest annual rise since the early phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, when emergency spending drove an unprecedented buildup in borrowing.

Governments accounted for more than $10 trillion of that increase. The United States, China, and the euro area were the largest contributors to the jump in public debt.

More broadly, the global debt cycle is now shaped less by households or businesses and more by persistent fiscal deficits in major economies. Bond markets absorbed record levels of sovereign debt issuance at the start of the year.

By the end of 2025, global public debt stood at about $106.7 trillion. Debt held by nonfinancial corporations reached around $100.6 trillion, while household debt rose more moderately to $64.6 trillion. Financial sector debt totaled roughly $76.4 trillion.

As a share of global GDP, total debt edged down slightly to about 308% in 2025. But debt ratios in emerging markets continued to climb, surpassing 235% of GDP — a new record.

In advanced economies, total debt rose to about $231.7 trillion, while emerging markets accounted for approximately $116.6 trillion, both historic highs.

Walid Kéfi