A defensible top 10 of countries with the lowest public debt cannot be established from the figures currently available here: they do not provide a complete, comparable country ranking for one year. The clearest available example is Turkmenistan, whose International Monetary Fund (IMF) April 2026 World Economic Outlook (WEO) profile reports general government gross debt at 3.7% of GDP for 2026. That figure is an estimate or projection as applicable, not proof that Turkmenistan ranks among the ten lowest.
Why there is no reliable top 10 here
The available official results do not expose a complete country series using the same debt measure and reference year. A list assembled from isolated country figures would risk comparing different definitions, years, or data products. Missing observations also cannot be treated as zero: the IMF Global Debt Database view marks many countries as having no data.
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For a defensible ranking, every country must be compared on one common year, one consistent measure, and one data vintage, with missing observations identified rather than filled by assumption.
What “public debt” should mean in this comparison
Use the IMF WEO indicator general government gross debt as a percent of GDP. The measure specifies the government perimeter (general government), the basis (gross rather than net debt), and the denominator (GDP). The IMF’s WEO notes that its figures draw on country-desk information and historical data; estimates may be used when complete information is unavailable, and WEO values can differ from other official sources. IMF World Economic Outlook
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A debt-to-GDP percentage expresses government debt relative to the size of the economy. It is not the country’s total debt in currency terms, nor does a low ratio on its own establish fiscal health or ability to repay.
What the available figures do show
| Source and data view | Country | Reported value | What it can establish |
|---|---|---|---|
| IMF WEO, April 2026; 2026 observation | Turkmenistan | 3.7% of GDP | A country-level WEO result for 2026; it does not establish a top-ten rank. IMF DataMapper |
| IMF Global Debt Database, 2025 view | Turkmenistan | 4.62% of GDP | A value shown in that database view; do not combine with the WEO 2026 observation. |
| IMF Global Debt Database, 2025 view | Kiribati | 9.92% of GDP | A value shown in that database view; the observation-year mapping should be verified in the underlying series before use in a ranking. |
| IMF Global Debt Database, 2025 view | Estonia | 23.62% of GDP | A value shown in that database view; the observation-year mapping should be verified in the underlying series before use in a ranking. IMF Global Debt Database |
The WEO and Global Debt Database values are different data views and should not be presented as though they were observations from one ranking series. The Global Debt Database view also contains substantial missingness, so these three displayed country values do not establish which countries occupy the bottom ten.
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How to interpret a future ranking
- Check the vintage and reference year. Name both: a published data edition and the year its observation represents are not interchangeable. The IMF describes WEO publication as twice yearly, in April and October. The latest edition identified here is April 2026; an October 2026 edition may supersede it for a publication made after that release. IMF WEO database description
- Keep the measure consistent. Do not mix general-government gross debt with central-government debt, net debt, or another public-sector definition.
- Distinguish estimates and projections from reported observations. WEO data may include estimates or projections, and may differ from national or other official statistics.
- Show coverage and missing values. State which countries have no comparable observation. Missing data are not evidence of zero debt.
Which country has the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio?
The available figures do not identify the global lowest or verify a top ten. Turkmenistan’s 3.7% WEO result for 2026 is one example, not a demonstrated rank. A ranking requires extracting the full country series for the chosen WEO vintage and year, then checking coverage and whether each value is reported, estimated, or projected.
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