Ukraine: Central government debt, total (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2020, Ukraine's central government debt, total (% of GDP) rose 10.39 percentage points on 2019 (from 48.33% to 58.72%).

Across the 12 yearly changes before that (2000 to 2019), the average change was +1.49 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 11.64 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 28.03 percentage points in 2014 and the biggest yearly fall was 17.25 percentage points in 2000. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2011 to 2020 the straight-line trend is upward, about 3.14 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 33% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

Closest to Ukraine in the 2020 ranking

• Bahrain — 1st of 6: 111.6%
• Bhutan — 2nd of 6: 111.01%
• Jamaica — 3rd of 6: 97.87%
• Micronesia, Fed. Sts. — 5th of 6: 27.8%
• Lesotho — 6th of 6: 2.99%

What this measures

Debt is the entire stock of direct government fixed-term contractual obligations to others outstanding on a particular date. It includes domestic and foreign liabilities such as currency and money deposits, securities other than shares, and loans. It is the gross amount of government liabilities reduced by the amount of equity and financial derivatives held by the government. Because debt is a stock rather than a flow, it is measured as of a given date, usually the last day of the fiscal year. Central government is the part of general government that includes all administrative departments of the national executive, legislative, and judicial functions, other central agencies and those non-market producers controlled by the central government, whose competence extends normally over the whole economic territory. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.

Limitations: For most countries central government finance data have been consolidated into one account, but for others only budgetary central government accounts are available. Countries reporting budgetary data are noted in the country metadata. Because budgetary accounts may not include all central government units (such as social security funds), they usually provide an incomplete picture. In federal states the central government accounts provide an incomplete view of total public finance. Data on government revenue and expense are collected by the IMF through questionnaires to member countries and by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 15 values

Central government debt, total (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Albania — 49.96% (2024)
• Belarus — 33.24% (2019)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina — 39.74% (2024)
• Georgia — 40.1% (2024)
• Hungary — 81.99% (2024)
• Iceland — 80.09% (2023)
• Kazakhstan — 20.89% (2023)
• Kyrgyz Republic — 38.72% (2024)
• Moldova — 37.48% (2024)
• Russian Federation — 17.85% (2024)

More public sector data for Ukraine

• Arms exports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 120 million (2025)
• Military expenditure (current USD) — 84.11 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (current LCU) — 3.51 trillion (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 39.56% (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of general government expenditure) — 62.9% (2025)
• Armed forces personnel, total — 298,000 (2020)
• Armed forces personnel (% of total labor force) — 1.43% (2020)
• Intentional homicides (per 100,000 people) — 3.78 (2021)
• Net acquisition of financial assets (current LCU) — 39.09 billion (2024)
• Net acquisition of financial assets (% of GDP)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Ukraine's central government debt, total (% of GDP)?

58.72% in 2020, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1999?

It is down 2.26 percentage points from 60.98% in 1999. The highest value was 71.81% in 2016 and the lowest 13.23% in 2008.

Is the latest change in central government debt, total (% of GDP) unusual for Ukraine?

In 2020, Ukraine's central government debt, total (% of GDP) rose 10.39 percentage points on 2019 (from 48.33% to 58.72%). Across the 12 yearly changes before that (2000 to 2019), the average change was +1.49 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 11.64 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator GC.DOD.TOTL.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.