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

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Uruguay's central government debt, total (% of GDP) rose 3.9 percentage points on 2023 (from 61.41% to 65.31%).

Across the 26 yearly changes before that (1991 to 2023), the average change was +0.53 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 12.9 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 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 54.62 percentage points in 2002 and the biggest yearly fall was 20.18 percentage points in 2004. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2015 to 2024 the straight-line trend is upward, about 2.14 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 79% 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.

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about 69.54% for 2027. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2022 to 2024 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 3.32%, against 4.95% for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

How it compares

In 2024, Uruguay had the 11th highest value of the 28 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Uruguay in the 2024 ranking

• Brazil — 8th of 28: 81.86%
• Bahamas, The — 9th of 28: 71.46%
• Colombia — 10th of 28: 71.2%
• Malaysia — 12th of 28: 64.57%
• Canada — 13th of 28: 64.13%
• Thailand — 14th of 28: 61.86%

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 29 values

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

• Bahamas, The — 71.46% (2024)
• Barbados — 125.03% (2016)
• Brazil — 81.86% (2024)
• Colombia — 71.2% (2024)
• El Salvador — 107.28% (2024)
• Jamaica — 97.87% (2020)
• Mexico — 50.27% (2024)
• Peru — 35.24% (2021)

More public sector data for Uruguay

• Military expenditure (current USD) — 1.95 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (current LCU) — 80.38 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 2.28% (2025)
• Grants and other revenue (current LCU) — 227.93 billion (2024)
• Grants and other revenue (% of revenue) — 19.49% (2024)
• Social contributions (current LCU) — 350.48 billion (2024)
• Social contributions (% of revenue) — 29.96% (2024)
• Revenue, excluding grants (current LCU) — 1.01 trillion (2024)
• Revenue, excluding grants (% of GDP) — 30.6% (2024)
• Taxes on goods and services (current LCU)

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 Uruguay's central government debt, total (% of GDP)?

65.31% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1990?

It is up 33.71 percentage points from 31.6% in 1990. The highest value was 105.6% in 2003 and the lowest 21.88% in 1993.

How does Uruguay rank?

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.